A brown-skinned girl speaks glowingly of her abuelo, who works as un pregonero, or singing street vendor, in his Cuban town. As he pushes his cart through the town singing out the names of the fruit he has for sale, his song is “as powerful as an opera singer’s glorious voice.” The girl describes other sights and sounds she witnesses, from customers arguing about prices to other pregoneros selling tamales, herbs, sweet potatoes, and, best of all, candy, each one with a special name and song. On New Year’s Eve, people rush to buy their 12 grapes per person so they can make a wish for each month of the coming year. Palacio’s sprightly illustrations bring the busy streets to life, as the story concludes with the narrator describing how difficult it is to visit her grandfather in Cuba, and how they keep in touch through letters, each syllable “a hug made of words.” An author’s note provides more information about Spanglish, Cuban street vendors, travel restrictions between the United States and Cuba, and the Latinx tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve. (Ages 4-7)

From Pura Belpré Award–winning author Margarita Engle comes a lively, rhythmic picture book about a little girl visiting her grandfather who is a pregonero—a singing street vendor in Cuba—and helping him sell his frutas.

When we visit mi abuelo, I help him sell
frutas, singing the names of each fruit
as we walk, our footsteps like drumbeats,
our hands like maracas, shaking…

The little girl loves visiting her grandfather in Cuba and singing his special songs to sell all kinds of fruit: mango, limón, naranja, piña, and more! Even when they’re apart, grandfather and granddaughter can share rhymes between their countries like un abrazo—a hug—made of words carried on letters that soar across the distance like songbirds.