A young Dominican American girl in New York City moves from jealousy to empathy as her parents babysit children whose families work the overnight shift in this honest and warm picture book debut.
Night after night, a young girl watches her mami set up a cot in the living room for guests in their Washington Heights apartment, like Raquel (who's boring) and Edgardo (who gets crumbs everywhere). She resents that they get the entire living room with a view of the George Washington Bridge, while all she gets is a tiny bedroom with a view of her sister (who snores). Until one night, no one comes, and it's finally her chance! But as it turns out, sleeping in the cot in the living room isn't all she thought it would be.
With charming text by Hilda Eunice Burgos and whimsical illustrations by Gaby D'Alessandro, The Cot in the Living Room is a celebration of the ways a Dominican American community takes care of one another while showing young readers that sometimes the best way to be a better neighbor is by imagining how it feels to spend a night sleeping on someone else's pillow.Full-color illustrations were created digitally.
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Gr 2-4–This noble effort to explain both the scientific method and the insect life cycle falls short in storytelling. Leaf and Lou are two hardworking ants who have made friends with Gramma Tinker, a 77-day-old eastern tent caterpillar who lives in the tree above the ant hill. Gramma Tinker studies the wings of flies, bats, and hummingbirds, and is working on a new invention: the Wingmaker 77. After completing the mysterious invention, Gramma Tinker disappears. She returns a couple of weeks later as a moth, to the ants’ surprise. The titular Wingmaker is never seen, obscuring the pupa stage from readers. Instead, back matter provides a scientifically accurate explanation of the moth’s life cycle. Some of the art compositions are chaotic, resulting in a wordy text to explain what’s happening in the scene. VERDICT The colors are bright, the ants are cute, and the other wildlife is not without charm, but this is an additional purchase at best.–Chance Lee Joyner, Haverhill P.L., MA