My Red Velvet Cape - Hardcover

Sullivan, Dana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585363936 ISBN 13: 9781585363933

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2018

Synopsis

Mateo is so excited. It's his birthday and he can't wait! Not only will there be a party later with friends but his grandmother is bringing him a very special gift: a red velvet cape. It's a cape for superheroes! Mateo imagines all the wonderful things that will happen when he wears the cape, from not needing to hold his big sister's hand on the way to the bus to being more popular at school. But is the gift really what he thinks it is? Or did Mateo misunderstand what his grandmother said?

About this title

About the Author:

Dana Sullivan lives near Seattle, where he loves to hike with his wife, Vicki, and dog, Bennie, when he's not drawing or writing. He wrote and illustrated Ozzie and the Art Contest and Kay Kay's Alphabet Safari and illustrated the Digger and Daisy early reader series. His favorite animal is the dog, and his favorite vegetable is peanut butter. Since he was a kid, he's wanted a red velvet cape, and now he has one!

Review:

The prospect of getting a superhero's cape for his birthday rocks Mateo's world. An ineptly handled misunderstanding sends this wild rumpus spiraling into the ground. When Grandma tells him on the phone that she's made him "a red velvet..." Mateo doesn't need to hear the rest: off he sails in his superhero jammies to envision himself walking his dog, Alonzo, using his new cape in school at recess and to fly to the restroom, and inviting all his friends to a super costume party. Come the party, his big sister's announcement before all of his friends that Grandma isn't bringing him a cape but a "red velvet CAKE!" brings Mateo crashing down in flames. But when he sadly opens Grandma's gift box what should be inside? Yes, a big, bright, splendid cape! In the illustrations, Sullivan surrounds his broadly grinning black-haired, pale-skinned lad with racially diverse peers and captures the overall mood of giddy excitement with exuberant pen and brushwork... - --Kirkus Reviews

Mateo is having a superhero themed birthday party. Grandma calls to wish him well and tell him she has made a red velvet... but before she can finish, Mateo becomes excited, certain that Grandma is bringing him a red velvet cape. He has many plans for how to use the cape, like walking the dog and getting to the bathroom on time. Then, his big sister punctures his excitement by telling him that Grandma is actually bringing a red velvet cake. Oh, what a difference one letter in a word can make! Mateo is devastated and sulks and pouts even when Grandma arrives with a package that contains a red velvet... The cartoon style watercolor and ink illustrations are full of action and expression. Details include bilingual color signs and superhero posters, a unisex restroom, multiracial friends, and a hip Grandma who flies with Mateo and his friends with her own red velvet cape. The back matter includes a section which teaches readers how to make their own red velvet capes. - --School Library Connection, Marion Mueller, Library Media Consultant, Mishawaka, Indiana Recommended

Readers will feel Mateo's excitement as well as his disappointment when he thinks he s not going to get what he imagined. The watercolor-and-ink illustrations are lively and cartoonish and the inclusion of a gender-neutral restroom and school posters in both English and Spanish are a nice touch. Directions for making a red velvet cape are appended. VERDICT Purchase where preschool books about being superheroes are in demand. Yep, everywhere. --School Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1585363936
• ISBN 13: 9781585363933
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Sullivan Dana