Book Description
for Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away by Meg Medina and Sonia Sánchez
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
"A big truck with its mouth wide open is parked at the curb, ready to gobble up Evelyn's mirror with the stickers around the edge, her easel for painting on rainy days, and the sofa that we bounce on to get to the moon." Evelyn Del Rey is Daniela's best friend, and the book focuses on how the two best friends spend Evelyn's moving day. The van is being loaded and the apartment emptied, while the girls use an empty box to pretend they are driving around the city in a bus. Their sadness as Evelyn drives away with her parents is as strongly evoked as the delight of their earlier escape into play. The final page shows an older Daniela with a box of letters, clearly still friends with Evelyn. There are many books about a best friend moving away but Meg Medina portrays this reality with vivid emotions and childlike details. Sonia Sánchez's digital illustrations are filled with texture, character, and color, reminiscent of the picture books of Ezra Jack Keats. Both girls are Latina, and Evelyn Del Rey is also of African descent. (Ages 3-7)
CCBC Choices 2021. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2021. Used with permission.