cover image My Family Adventure

My Family Adventure

Jacqueline Jules, illus. by Kim Smith. Capstone/Picture Window, $4.95 trade paper (96p) ISBN 978-1-4795-5790-5

Three three-chapter stories comprise this humorous first book in the Sofia Martinez series, which features a highly personable elementary schooler and her tight-knit Hispanic family. In the first tale, Sofia struggles to stand out from her two older sisters, opting to take a cue from Baby Mariella and her oversize, attention-getting hair bow. Sofia and her cousins have a messy time making a piñata for their abuela in the second story, and an escaped pet mouse wreaks havoc in the third. Spanish words and phrases, printed in pink, appear throughout the text and dialogue (a glossary is included, though most of the Spanish words are decipherable through context), and Smith’s illustrations give Sofia and her family warmth and style—they look ready to headline an animated series of their own. Ages 5–7. Illustrator’s agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Feb.)