Sundust- Polvo solar

Written and illustrated by Zeke Peña 

Publisher: Kokila

Print length: 48 pages

ISBN-10: 0593700112

ISBN-13: 978-0593700112

Item Weight: 1.14 pounds

Reading age: 4 - 8 years

CALDECOTT HONOR BOOK 

In his striking author-illustrator debut, the award-winning illustrator of My Papi Has a Motorcycle offers an immersive and fantastical desert adventure, where the sun reigns over the vast landscape and shapes all that it touches.

Where the rock wall ends, the desert beyond begins.

Following a blazing trail of sundust, two curious siblings hop the wall into a place that’s endless and free. Here, prickly old nopal trees beg to be climbed, empty turtle shells invite a closer look, enormous rocks model how to sit still and listen, and a colibrí offers an unexpected ride. In the desert, where life revolves around the Sun, brother and sister explore, imagine, and wonder, What if Sun’s power was inside me? until their mom’s whistle calls them back home again.

With spare, lyrical text, Pura Belpré Honor and Ezra Jack Keats Honor recipient Zeke Peña has created a fantastical tale that suspends moments in time with his radiant art and celebrates the bonds between the sun, the desert, and its people.

En su impresionante debut como autor-ilustrador, Zeke Peña ofrece una aventura inmersiva y fantástica en el desierto, donde el sol reina sobre el vasto paisaje y le da forma a todo lo que toca.

Donde termina la barda de piedra, empieza el más allá del desierto.

Siguiendo el rastro ardiente de polvo solar, dos hermanes curioses saltan la barda y entran a un lugar libre y sin fin. Aquí, las antiguas nopaleras picudas piden ser escaladas, las conchas vacías de tortugas invitan un examen más detenido, las rocas enormes enseñan cómo aquietarse y escuchar y Colibrí ofrece un aventón inesperado. En el desierto, donde la vida gira en torno al sol, hermano y hermana exploran, imaginan, y se preguntan « ¿Qué si el poder del sol estuviese dentro de mí? », hasta que el silbido de su mamá les llama de vuelta a casa.

Con un texto preciso y lírico, Zeke Peña (ilustrador de Mi papi tiene una moto), ganador de los honores Pura Belpré y Ezra Jack Keats, ha creado un cuento fantástico que suspende espacios temporales con su arte radiante y celebra los lazos entre el Sol, el desierto y su gente.

Review

“…stunning...Author-illustrator Peña breathes life into the desert setting…Kids who find magic in everything around them will appreciate this lovely reassurance that they are even more connected to the world than they think.”  —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

"In a wide-ranging solo debut, Peña (My Papi Has a Motorcycle) imagines two Latinx-cued children exploring a sweeping desertscape.... Speech bubbles add levity to energy-charged prose through this surreal exploration of the way the natural world endures and transforms."  —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A hypnotic joy.”  —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Spectacular…This book connects the magic of imagination, nature, and childhood beautifully.”  —School Library Journal, starred review 

“Pena offers a depiction of place and wonder that transcends borders and national identity…poignant and timely.”  —Horn Book 

Zeke Peña is a Xicano storyteller and professional doodler from El Paso, TX, the Sun City. Sundust, his author-illustrator debut, is a love poem to desert culture and people. Zeke received the Ezra Jack Keats and the Pura Belpré Illustration Honors for My Papi Has a Motorcycle and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for his illustrations in Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide. He also illustrated the New York Times bestseller Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man Novel. He is currently drawing more books in his tiny studio in NW Arkansas.