Praise for EL BARRIO:
*"The vibrant illustrations combine woodcuts, painting and collage, all seemingly jumbled together in a riotous blend of color and texture. Depictions of other Latino celebrations and sprinklings of Spanish words add to the beautiful chaos of the illustrations...Color, action and feeling are of utmost importance here and together create a dazzling, flamboyant impression of urban Latino life, bringing Diaz's work to a whole new level. A glossary gives phonetic pronunciations of Spanish words used in the text as well as defining those words. Highly recommended for all collections."--Kirkus Reviews , STARRED REVIEW
"The poetic text and glowing illustrations praise a type of neighborhood that is often derogated or ignored...the spreads shimmer with color and movement... By calling upon these images as treasure, the book shows some young readers that their neighborhood, too, is both normal and special--and shows others what lies in the neighborhood next to theirs."--School Library Journal
"The whole is an exuberant cacophony of colors and sights, useful in classrooms and multicultural settings for how it expands the often simplistic view of what makes up a barrio."--Booklist
