My Name is Gabito / Me llamo Gabito

Starred review from March 1, 2008
Gr 2-4-This luminous picture book describes the Colombian author's childhood and influences. Brown does a wonderful job of articulating García Márquez's complex literary style (called magical realism) in a way youngsters can grasp. Even better, she shows how his imagination was nurtured and encouraged from a very early age by the things around him. The text is written in blocks of English and Spanish with words of both languages sometimes incorporated into the page design. Colón's brilliant watercolors float off the page, anchored by his penciled outlines; his use of swirls and scratches gives depth to the clothing and backgrounds of each illustration and captures a sense of García Márquez's creative imagination. Brown calls this book a character study, but it will be at home in many places in the library, including bilingual, picture book, or biography sections."Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZ"

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