When his mother says invite anyone you'd like for birthday cake, a boy's party becomes a 24-hour fiesta of friends, food, music, and dancing. In this deliciously imaginative chain tale, the boy recounts sending a simple invitation to his friend Jack: Bring along whoever you want and whatever you like to eat. So Jack comes with Larry, a soccer ball, and two kinds of coconut cookies. Jack tells Beto and Antonieta, who arrive with their parrot, pineapple, mangoes, and passion fruit. Antonieta's best friend, Fatima, brings her brother Djamal, their dog, and tajine with olives and pickled lemons. The international buffet grows along with the guest list: pizza, springerle, flan, sushi. As the partygoers are introduced, close-ups of their smiling faces look outward from the page as if inviting readers to come along. Indeed, the last three spreads, done in warm, glowing acrylic-and-pastel paintings, depict the backyard jamboree from a below-eye-level perspective, allowing readers to feel like they are there. Warning: they may not want to leave this delightfully diverse celebration.--McDermott, Jeanne Copyright 2010 Booklist

If a boy crafts a highly open-ended invitation to his birthday party, there's no telling what might happen. "Come to my party. It's my birthday. Bring along whoever you want and whatever you like to eat," he writes. Machado (Wolf Wanted) structures the book as a hypothetical cautionary tale for readers, and each character she introduces brings food, family members, friends, and sometimes animals to the celebration: "And if Fatima, who is Antonieta's best friend, decides to bring her brother, Djamel, maybe they'll have to drag along their dog." Moreau's acrylic-and-oil pastel illustrations set a celebratory tone, with smiling children from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and an assortment of globe-spanning foods, from "tajine with olives and pickled lemons" to sushi that Mrs. Tanaka sends along with her son. With the arrival of a rap group, salsa dancers, and a reggae band by dusk, the party is in full swing. It's a big-hearted vision of community, generosity, and the benefits of a little chaos-as well as a birthday party that any kid would be lucky to have. Ages 4-7. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A birthday party demands some pretty careful planning. If you're not careful, when your mother suggests that you invite a friend over for it, you might ask if your friend can bring someone (thinking of his "really cool brother"), plus some food. Your mom, distracted, will probably say, "Why not? Of course. Invite anyone you'd like." So unless you're careful, Jack will bring his cool brother, Larry, and they will bring two different kinds of coconut cookies. Beto and Antonieta will bring both their parrot and some tropical fruit. Fatima will bring her brother Djamel and their dog, along with tahini and pickled lemons. And so on. If you really lose control, the entire community will arrive, complete with salsa dancers and reggae band, and "your birthday party could turn out to be the craziest, wildest, funnest party ever." Rio de Janeiro native Machado conjures a beguiling, joyful twist on the if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie scenario, constructing, guest by "carelessly" invited guest, a vibrant fiesta. Moreau's acrylic-andoil-pastel paintings complement the buoyant prose, populating the book with a cast of characters sporting a great variety of skin tones and hair colors, meticulously including their cod cakes, olives, sushi and more. Readers may well be inclined to emulate the drooling cat and dog under the jam-packed picnic table. An effervescent celebration of the best possibilities of urban multiculturalism. Readers will want to move right in. (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Why can't all parties take place in the multicultural smorgasbord that is Brazil? In this festive tale, told in the second person, the birthday boy is urged by his mother to "invite anyone you'd like." You can see where this is going. If Jack comes with his brother, Larry, they'll bring a soccer ball. Beto will bring his parrot, and mangoes. Fatima will show up with her dog and some tangine with olives. Machado, a prolific Brazilian writer for young children and the winner of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award, offers an inspired vision of what the "craziest, wildest, funnest party ever" ought to be.

The narrator mock-warns readers that a birthday-party invitation saying "bring along whoever you want and whatever you like to eat" could turn into "the craziest, wildest, funnest party ever." En route to that tantalizing pronouncement are warm, expressive paintings of diverse friends and descriptions of their delectable party offerings (sushi, tajine, springerle, etc.) and giving-it-their-all gifts (rap music, salsa dancing). (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.