My Shoes and I (review)

Uno, dos, tres … a gift of new shoes arrives, and Mario and his father begin their dangerous journey from El Salvador through rivers and mountains, crossing the border into the United States to reunite with Mario's mother. The story centers on the shoes as they become, among other things, imagined packs of elephants, racing cars, and submarines to carry Mario through difficulties and into his mother's arms. Onomatopoeia, repeated sounds, and rhythmic phrasing keep the language lively and musical. The repetition of "Sana, sana, colita de rana" ("Heal, heal, little frog's tail," a rhyme sung from parent to child across Latin America), which Mario recites to reassure himself through the depredations, also provides a narrative anchor. The lighthearted tone and easy happy ending, though, belie the difficulties both of Mario's daunting and illegal border crossing and his challenging future in the U.S. Though the melodic language may appeal to young listeners, the story fails to contextualize Mario's journey (since it's never stated that his entry is illegal, it's not clear why it has to be so dangerous) in any way that would make his experience understandable to those unfamiliar with such journeys; the text's sunny simplicity, however, makes it an unlikely choice for more knowledgeable older audiences. Vanden Broeck's vivid artwork matches the energy of the text and heightens the tone, keeping the shoes as the focus while adding excitement through angled viewpoints. Wood grain shows through thick color paints, echoing the flowing lines of the draftsmanship and punctuating the glowing, brilliantly contrasting reds, blues, and greens. Despite the book's flaws, it offers a timely topic portrayed in an interesting, child-centered way; kids looking for reflection of familial experience or exploration of a kind of life they're not aware of may find reward in traveling with Mario.