You Be You/Sé Siempre Tú

October 10, 2011
The follow-up to Kranz’s Only One You features dozens of small, smooth stones painted to look like rainbow-colored fish; each one bears a slightly different pattern of design and color, reinforcing the story’s theme of difference. It has the same hero, too—Adri, who spends his day noticing the many kinds of fish in the ocean: “Some fish are colorful,/ Some fish are plain./ Some fish look different./ Some fish look the same.” Photo images of waves and sky serve as a backdrop: the “plain” fish are inked in black but left uncolored, while the colorful ones are festooned with Peter Max–style dots, stripes, and rainbows. “We can learn so much from each other,” says Adri’s Papa, when Adri returns home to share his discovery with his parents. “Life is a grand journey,” adds Adri’s mother. “You be you.” The combination of the colorful, jewellike objects and affirmative messages is likely to make this book as popular as Kranz’s first, which has a loyal following. An added bonus: readers can hunt for Adri, who’s hidden among the other fish on every page. Ages 4–8.