Manzano, who plays "Maria" on
Sesame Street,follows up her first picture book,
No Dogs Allowed (2004), with another story centered on a Puerto Rican neighborhood in the Bronx. This time, the setting is the 1950s, and little Ruthie is obsessed with the TV character of Superman, hoping to become a superhero herself. Opportunity arrives when she is sent to sit with her very pregnant, near-delivery aunt. Her aunt's cravings for sweets send Ruthie leaping and bounding up and down stairs, like the superhero of her dreams. But on her the last trip to the bodega, Ruthie discovers three kittens and becomes completely entranced, ignoring her aunt's calls, the cop on the radio, and the siren, until she realizes an ambulance has come for her aunt, who is in labor. Ruthie feels like a failure until her aunt honors her at the baby's welcoming party. Phelan's watercolors give verve and bounce to this charming story.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Sonia Manzano is best known as "Maria," one of the first Hispanic characters on
Sesame Street, a role she has delighted in for more than twenty years. She has earned fifteen Emmy Awards as a member of the
Sesame Street writing staff, and this is her picture book debut. Sonia Manzano lives in New York City with her husband and daughter. What would she bring on a trip to the lake? Sonia wouldn't dream of going to the lake without her harp!
Matt Phelan's black-and-white illustrations first appeared in
The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty G. Birney. His picture books include
The New Girl...and Me and
Two of a Kind, both written by Jacqui Robbins. Matt lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
