What Are You Doing?

A picture book that captures a child’s discovery of the power of reading.

Before he leaves for his first day of school, Chepito runs outside to play. He comes across all kinds of people in his neighborhood who are reading. ＂Why, why, why?＂ he sings, and they each have a different answer for him, whether it’s a man reading a newspaper, a young girl enjoying a comic, a couple of tourists consulting a guidebook or an archeologist studying hieroglyphics. Later that day, Chepito discovers the fun of reading for himself, and he even brings home a book to share with his little sister.

Elisa Amado has written a perfect introduction to the pleasures and uses of the written word. Set in a delightfully retro world by illustrator Manuel Monroy, this book is a true celebration of reading.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4

Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4

Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

Elisa Amado is a Guatemalan-born author and translator. She has written Barrilete: A Kite for the Day of the Dead / Un barrilete para el Día de los muertos, Cousins (Primas) and Tricycle (El triciclo), which is on the Américas Award Commended List and is a USBBY Outstanding International Book. She is also the author of Why Are You Doing That?, a companion volume to this book. She lives in Toronto.

Manuel Monroy is one of Mexico’s most celebrated illustrators who has exhibited his art in Mexico, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan. He has won the A la Orilla del Viento and the Noma Concours Encouragement Prize, and he has been included on the IBBY Honour List. His illustrations appear in Rooster / Gallo, Be a Baby (Se un bebé), When I Was a Boy Neruda Called Me Policarpo and Why Are You Doing That? He lives in Mexico City.