Nuestra California would be a strong addition to any Spanish text collection. The illustrations and the text would be a welcome to a Spanish-speaking child beginning to understand California.

What a scrumptious book! The lyrical language of this text is as lush as the colors used in its acrylic on wood grain illustrations. In Nuestra California, Pam Munoz Ryan provides a four-line description of the many and varied regions of her home state, complemented by Rafael Lopez's folksy paintings spanning each region's two-page spread. Canetti's translation is accurate but uses words that may be unfamiliar to lower level readers. At the end of the book, each region is revisited by Ryan for a bit more historical background and a look at the state's seal, flag and flower. While Our California does not provide enough information on which to base a full-blown research project about this state, the book does offer a tantalizing tease that will encourage young readers and researchers to delve deeper into other meatier books about this "terrestrial paradise."