Family Poems for Every Day of the Week/Poemas familiares para cada día de la semana

Review
By Booklist

Alarcón, who died in 2016, known in the children’s literature world for his bilingual poetry books, here celebrates the days of the week and the closeness of the family. A young boy shows readers, day by day, what each one looks like to him. Sunday, for instance, is spent with his grandparents, family, and friends; Monday is work day, and the boy worries about his parents, who have to rise at dawn. Happy Friday is a time to get ready to the weekend. Although much of the narrative poetry talks about everyday events, important concerns are tucked into the story. For instance, on “the fourth Thursday of November,” he recalls indigenous peoples. The text, in both Spanish and English, is heightened by Gonzalez’s buoyant artwork. With psychedelic colors and shapes, the pictures pop off the pages. Each day is introduced with information about the ancient gods who gave them their names, and though this is explained in an introduction, young readers may not understand the relevancy. They will, however, enjoy the peek into the narrator’s world and the lively tangents, in words and art, that follow.