La Guitarrista

If there was ever a more exuberant, delightful, exciting, and engaging picture book than Lucky Diaz and Micah Player’s Palatero Man (2021, HarperCollins), we can’t imagine it. The Latin Grammy-winning author and her celebrated Utah-based illustrator, respectively, have a new book out this month, La Guitarrista. Like the earlier story of a boy on the hunt for the perfect flavored ice in the barrio, the new title features an urban, contemporary character. This young girl is named Canta, and she finds a guitar in the trash. The fact that it’s busted and she doesn’t know how to play it doesn’t keep her from dreaming of rock stardom. Diaz has a gift for turning out rhymes melding English and Spanish that make any reader feel bilingual…and happy. The book comes with a link to the song that inspired it. (La Guitarrista will be released May 2.)