Carmela Full of Wishes

by Matt de la Peña Narrated by Matt de la Peña

Overview

An Instant*New York Times*Bestseller!

In*Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson's first collaboration since the Newbery Medal- and Caldecott Honor-winning Last Stop on Market Street*comes a poignant and timely new book that's sure to be an instant classic: now adapted for audio, with narration by the author

When Carmela wakes up on her birthday, her wish has already come true--she's finally old enough to join her big brother as he does the family errands. Together, they travel through their neighborhood, past the crowded bus stop, the fenced-off repair shop, and the panadería, until they arrive at the Laundromat, where Carmela finds a lone dandelion growing in the pavement. But before she can blow its white fluff away, her brother tells her she has to make a wish. If only she can think of just the right wish to make . . .

With lyrical, stirring text and evocative narration,*Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson have delivered a moving ode to family, to dreamers, and to finding hope in the most unexpected places.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Juman Malouf

The visuals, like the story, have a more muted and somber tone than Last Stop on Market Street, but it is moving in similar way.

From the Publisher

Praise for Carmela Full of Wishes:
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Most Anticipated Fall Book – Ages 3 to 5
An Amazon Best of the Month Pick October 2018 – Ages 3 to 5
An Amazon Editor’s Gift Pick - Ages 3 to 5
A Publishers Weekly Most Anticipated Children's Book - Fall 2018
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of 2018
A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book of 2018
Four Starred Reviews

★ "The award-winning team behind Last Stop on Market Street portrays Carmela’s Spanish-speaking community as a vibrant place of possibility, and Robinson’s acrylic-and-cutout spreads introduce readers to street vendors, workers in the fields, and sweeping views of the sea. Sensitively conceived and exuberantly executed, Carmela’s story shines."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “Full of rich details, sharp and restrained writing, and acrylic paintings that look textured enough to rise off the page . . . Another near-perfect slice of life from a duo that has found a way to spotlight underrepresented children without forgetting that they are children first.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Carmela’s journey of wishing, waiting, and wanting resonates on many levels; an important addition to bookshelves everywhere."—School Library Journal, starred review 

★ “[A] beautiful book about the love of siblings and community. . . . A must read for everyone.”—School Library Connection, starred review

Praise for Last Stop on Market Street:
Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
A 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
A New York Times Bestseller

“It’s also the warmth of their intergenerational relationship that will make this book so satisfying, for both young readers and the adults sharing it with them.”—The New York Times Book Review 

★ “This celebration of cross-generational bonding is a textual and artistic tour de force.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“That material poverty need not mean spiritual or imaginative poverty becomes beautifully clear in the quietly moving pages of ‘Last Stop on Market Street,” a picture book by Matt de la Peña filled with Christian Robinson’s vibrant naïf illustrations.”—The Wall Street Journal

★ “Like still waters, de la Peña and Robinson’s story runs deep. It finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared by an African-American boy and his grandmother.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Matt de la Peña’s warmhearted story is musical in its cadences…Christian Robinson’s angular, bright illustrations are energetic and vibrant... [A] celebration of the joys of service, the gifts of grandmothers and the tenderness that the city can contain.”—The Washington Post

★ “De la Peña and Robinson here are carrying on for Ezra Jack Keats in spirit and visual style. This quietly remarkable book will likely inspire questions… it will also have some adult readers reaching for a tissue.”—The Horn Book, starred review

“The sharp illustrations — in bold, and cheerful primaries — get CJ’s restless energy and curious postures exactly right. The voices of CJ and his grandmother carry the story along in subtle point and counterpoint so that at this book’s quiet close you feel like you’ve been listening to a song.”—The Boston Globe

★ “With the precision of a poet, Matt de la Peña chronicles a boy's heartwarming Sunday morning routine with his nana. Christian Robinson's uplifting palette and culturally diverse cast brightens the rainy-day backdrop.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2018-08-14

On her birthday, a young girl accompanies her brother on his errands for the first time and makes a wish, but not exactly in the way she was expecting.

When readers meet 7-year-old Carmela, she is scootering past workers in fields, excited to tag along with her older brother on her birthday. It's fun for her, but it's also necessary: Their mother works in housekeeping for a fancy hotel, and their father was a day laborer who is no longer home. As they run errands, Carmela plays the annoying little sister, but when she falls off her scooter and loses a dandelion wish she was counting on, her brother takes her to a place where her wish is carried further than she could have imagined. This second de la Peña-Robinson collaboration after Last Stop on Market Street is no less powerful and beautiful. It touches on immigration, class, and loss without belaboring each. And it's full of rich details, sharp and restrained writing, and acrylic paintings that look textured enough to rise off the page. In one brilliant sequence, Mexican papel picado depicts what Carmela imagines, ending with "her dad getting his papers fixed so he could finally be home" and a cutout of a kneeling father embracing his daughter. It's a bracing page, the best in the book, and just as sublime as the text.

It's another near-perfect slice of life from a duo that has found a way to spotlight underrepresented children without forgetting that they are children first. (Picture book. 3-8)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171612290
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/09/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	Up to 4 Years

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