How to Eat a Mango
by Paola Santos; illus. by Juliana Perdomo
Primary    Porter/Holiday    40 pp.
7/24    9780823453887    $18.99
Spanish ed.  9780823457984    $18.99

Carmencita dislikes picking up rotten mangoes that have fallen from Abuelita’s tree. She also doesn’t like eating mangoes: they are sticky, and the strings get stuck between her teeth. But Abuelita shows Carmencita that there is more to a mango than its fruit. It takes all five senses to appreciate a mango, as Santos describes in lush language. Listen to “long green leaves…in the breeze” and “the roots stirring”; look at the tree’s branches; smell the fruit’s “honey-sweet smell”; feel the “soft and firm” skin; and taste it: “The sweetness of Mamá Earth is endless when you bite a ripe mango. Your mouth fills with thick juices and pulp. Tiny strings play between your teeth, and the songs of our people dance on your tongue.” The heart of the story is the intergenerational love between Carmencita and Abuelita, which radiates warmth and comfort. Double-page spreads make up a large portion of Perdomo’s rich, colorful digital art, bright and full of musicality and movement. An illustration of Abuelita eating a mango with ancestors dancing on her tongue especially showcases the art’s meaning. An author’s note explains how Santos was inspired by her own childhood in Venezuela. Simultaneously published in Spanish as Cómo se come un mango.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.