The Tinaja Tonight

PreS-Gr 3–Bissonette crafts a factual, engaging narrative in this nonfiction picture book about tinajas. Tinajas, which are found in deserts, are “formed by a natural hollow in the rock where rainwater or melting snow collects.” Factual information is featured throughout the narrative. Readers get a well-developed introduction to the desert and its inhabitants, and the author’s note and resources provide additional information. Weiler’s illustrations are reminiscent of lithograph-style vintage posters from the last century, and the soft layers and sunset palette used throughout the book lend an ethereal quality to each page. This book could be a good read-aloud and would work just as well at bedtime as in the classroom. The text has a gentle flow, and the illustrations capture the purples and blues of twilight.