Lejos / Far

LEJOS / FAR follows a little boy as he explores the world around him, starting with the wide-open landscape right outside his home -- "El árbol de limones está lejos de mi casa." He moves on to "My house is far from the city" and ventures off with his dad to explore the world outside his fenced-in yard. He visits the city and travels to the ocean and mountains. Along the way he makes observations of what is far -- "The ocean is far from the mountains." This engaging little book ends with the introduction of a new concept -- over -- when the little boy says, "The sun shines over me."

Worth noting that this little book seems to pick up where the previous book in this series, Cerca / Close, left off. That book ended when the main character, a little girl, went over to her friend's house that was close by. On the first page of this book, we see the little girl sitting under a lemon tree with her friend, the boy, now the main character in this book. Juan Felipe Herrera teaches children about spatial awareness with these two bilingual board books, introducing the concepts of close and far. A lovely set of books for preschoolers -- easy to read and a fun way to introduce a second language!