Review by Booklist Review
The plump forms in Morales' illustrations paradoxically float as lightly as the titular song in this bilingual English-Spanish picture book. Glowing colors, further brightened by golden-pastel highlights, work along with gently curved hills, tree branches, and postures to carry the story forward, complementing its magic realism. On Anita's seventh birthday, she comes home to find her mother literally floating on air as she sings. It's been happening all day, Anita, every time I sing. Singing makes me so happy, Mama explains. The happy music also lifts the spirits, and bodies, of those who hear Mama which leads, alas, to trouble when local animals fly from their owners. Scolded by Anita's abuelita, Mama stops singing, but the resulting sadness is too much for the little girl to bear. Seeking a cure, she discovers the family secret. The story flows smoothly, with the English prose hovering over the Spanish and easing along this pleasant folklorish collaboration from debut author Lacamara and the Pura Belpré Award-winning Morales.--Cruze, Karen Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lacamara debuts with a whimsical bilingual tale of a family whose love of music takes a magical turn when the narrator, Anita, turns seven. Anita arrives home to find her mother singing: nothing unusual there, except that she's floating in the air while doing so. Mother and daughter are delighted, but Anita's grandmother is displeased, as are the neighbors. Promising not to sing breaks Anita's mother's spirit, and it's up to Anita to set things right. Morales's luminous paintings are a vision, rife with sly characterizations, warm familial bonds, and the joy that music brings. Ages 4-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Anita comes home from school on her seventh birthday to find her mother singing opera and floating in the air. Outside, her dog, Tito, is also floating. "'It's been happening all day, every time I sing!'" says Mama. Then Anita realizes that everyone who hears the music floats, too. But, when some nosy neighbors complain that their pig, goat, and cow are floating, Grandma orders her daughter to stop singing. Mama grows sad, the cow won't give milk, the pig won't eat, and the goat won't sleep. Everyone is miserable. An old picture with a cow stuck in a mango tree helps Anita, Grandma, and Mama discover the special gift that all the women in the family have. Lacamara's debut weaves together a stirring Caribbean tale inspired by her Cuban roots and her mother's opera singing. Both the English and Spanish versions of the story are fun and easy to read, and also well translated. The fusion of Morales's collage illustrations, with bright energetic colors, large warm brown characters, and real photographs interspersed with digitally enhanced foliage, will help children's imaginations take flight. A grand addition to most bilingual collection.-Angelica Sauceda, Anaheim Public Library, Anaheim, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When Anita's mom sings she floats in the air, and everyone who hears her floats as well. The neighbors complain, Mama stops singing, and then things go bad with the village animals. Anita discovers a secret about her grandmother that solves the problem. Morales's incandescent illustrations support Lacamara's lovely text, an exercise in Latin American magical realism for picture book readers. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
