Juana and LucasMuchos Changes
Review posted February 21, 2025.
Candlewick Press, 2021. 90 pages.
Review written September 28, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review
The Juana & Lucas series is one of those exactly-perfect-for-beginning-chapter-book-readers books. There are thirteen short chapters, with friendly, happy, cartoon-like illustrations on each page, and an interesting story about a kid whose life is relatable -- though she lives in Bogota, Colombia.
Juana is the one who narrates this book, in a friendly tone, peppered with Spanish words. Lucas is her furry amigo, a little dog who goes everywhere with her that she can bring him. The Spanish words happen throughout the book, but there's enough context that English-only speakers won't be confused and may pick up some Spanish.
In the first book, Juana's Mami got married. In this book, her Mami is going to have a baby. She's not sure what to think. Her friends tell her that babies make everything complicado.
The other big sopreso of the summer is that Juana's Mami signed her up for roller skating camp. And none of her friends are there. And on her very first skate by herself across the rink, she tripped on a pebble and skinned her chin. So all the pictures after that show Juana with a scrape on her chin.
But Juana deals with all these things with spunk. Plus the help of her loving family, including her grandparents, and of course Lucas.
The book ends up being a happy story, with vibrant pictures full of motion, and you again feel like you have a friend in this kid from Colombia.
At the back, author Juana Medina shows herself at the character Juana's age, holding her baby sister.