The Youngest Sister
by Suniyay Moreno Moreno (Author) Mariana Chiesa (Illustrator)
"The small shall be large . . . that's how it must be."
In the Andean foothills, a five-year-old Quechua girl is entrusted with a big job: to collect a marrow bone from the neighbor for the family soup. A stunning debut from Indigenous author Suniyay Moreno.
Picu's family is very poor. In the dry Andean foothills, her mother must feed fourteen people--her kids, her relatives' kids, and the hired hand's kids--every day. One morning, Picu, the youngest sister, is sent to get a marrow bone from a neighbor. The bone will add flavor and nutrition to the lunchtime soup. Her mother warns her not to dawdle on the two-hour walk, each way, through the wild landscape.
But Picu can't help it! She marvels at the butterflies, samples the cactus fruit, and daydreams about using the marrow bone as a football. Will the neighbor let her family keep the bone after the soup is made? Will her mother let her play with it? And will she be punished for being so late?
Picu is a child of joie de vivre and resourcefulness. This story, like Picu herself, is tough, hard, and honest. And moving. And fun. The Youngest Sister features a glossary of Quechuan terms that are used throughout the story.
An Aldana Libros Book, Greystone Kids
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School Library Journal
Gr 1-3--This book was written as if in the voice of a member of the unique Quechua community of Argentina, according to the translator's note. In a fascinating look at a little-known culture, there are lots of chores to go around, but because Picu is the "smallest sister," she doesn't get an important job. She is sent to get the flavor bone for the day's soup. Her mother warns her not to goof off and to be home from the four-hour round-trip journey by noon. Picu successfully gets the bone, which is so used-up that Doña Ciriaca's tells her that she won't need to bring it back. On such a long and dull journey, Picu is unable to resist going astray. She is distracted first by sweet cactus fruit, then by practicing her throwing skills, tree climbing, following butterflies, and daydreaming about who will get the flavor bone as a prize and what fun game they will play using it. She is so late getting back that she fears getting punished and hides. Only when her grandmother Estanislada arrives does Picu decide to come out of hiding; trapping a guinea pig as meat for the family, she is awarded the flavor bone as a prize and all comes right. A palette of blues, yellows, white, reds, browns, and greens enlivens the folk-art illustrations of this long tale, more storybook than picture book. Back matter includes a glossary. VERDICT The penalty-free, surprising consequences of goofing off aside, this tale benefits more from the context provided by the publisher's cover copy, the glossary, and the translator's note, than the story itself.--Catherine Callegari
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
—The Bulletin of Center for Children's Books
The vibrant illustrations are eye-catching and have the look of vigorously applied pastels. Could possibly find use within social studies units on South America.
—School Library Connections
Suniyay Moreno is the name the author has chosen because it is the one given to her by her Quechua grandmother. She was born and lived in the mountains above Santiago del Estero in Argentina where she loved to climb trees barefoot, run after baby goats, and sing songs and make riddles in Quechua--her mother tongue. When she was six she moved to Santiago where she learned Spanish. As a grown-up, she became a librarian so she could climb around the stacks of books and children. She lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and this is her first book.
Mariana Chiesa is the author of Migrants and No Time to Play, which have won prizes and arepublished internationally. Her best known books are Migrando and No hay tiempo para jugar which are published and prize winning in many countries but not in English. In 2014 she won the Latin American Illustration Prize given by the University of Palermo. The Youngest Sister is her first book available in English.
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV014000 - Juvenile Fiction | Girls & Women
JUV030040 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Caribbean & Latin America
Fantasy
Self-reliance
Poverty
Bone marrow
