del Mazo, Margarita. Charlie’s Great Big Backpack. Guridi, Illus. Translated from the Spanish by Cecilia Ross. nubeOcho, 06/2024. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $14.99. 978-84-19607-50-8. GRADES Kindergarten–2. ADDITIONAL.
Little tiny Charlie is paired with Big Louis during a class camping trip. Charlie loves to be prepared, which comes in handy as Louis becomes the inadvertent target of Charlie’s inept helpfulness. Plenty goes wrong, each event prompting Charlie to pull out ever more unusual things from his pack, each of which is somehow helpful to the problem he caused. Using lots of white background, the sketched, outline-like illustrations focus on kids with white skin wearing clothes with muted colors. First published in Spain, the US editions (Spanish and English) were simultaneously published with the same illustrations and matching storylines. The Spanish text has some words used more often in Spain, but should not be a problem for most Spanish speakers.
Joshua Rees—Daly City Public Library