Written by Daniel Chacón.
Illustrations by Steven James Petruccio.
ISBN: 979-8-89375-014-0
Publication Date: May 31, 2025
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 32
Imprint: Piñata Books
Ages: 4-8
This fanciful bilingual picture book follows a young girl who wakes up to an unfamiliar face in the mirror!
Young Lizzy fell asleep while her dad was telling her a story. When she wakes up, she’s shocked to see she has tiny legs and weird little feet! She looks in the mirror and wonders what she has become.
Her father is dancing while brushing his teeth and nearly steps on her! So she crawls into the living room and asks their cat if he knows what she is. The feline decides she must be a fun toy! Running outside, she finds their dog, who thinks she looks like a tasty snack! As Lizzy continues wandering, she encounters an assortment of animals—spiders, a beautiful butterfly, an army of ants—all of whom have different, confusing opinions about her.
Later, when she opens her eyes, she’s very happy to see her daddy—and he knows exactly who she is: his “sweet, precious girl!” This whimsical bilingual picture book for children ages 4-8 contains Steven James Petruccio’s beautiful illustrations of the gecko girl and the creatures she meets on her journey of discovery. This lively story is sure to encourage young children to tell—and write—their own tales about identity and the world around them.
DANIEL CHACÓN is the author of a novel for young adults, The Cholo Tree (Piñata Books, 2017), and several for adults. A professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, this is his first book for children.
STEVEN JAMES PETRUCCIO illustrated The Boy Who Touched the Stars / El niño que alcanzó las estrellas (Piñata Books, 2019), and has been a professional artist for more than thirty years. He has illustrated over eighty picture books, including for the award-winning series, the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection. He is the recipient of the Rip Van Winkle Award from the School Library Media Specialists of Southeastern New York for his contributions to children’s literature. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.