“Acosta illustrates the tale with swirling, thick-lined tropical scenes in which form takes second place to vibrant, emphatic color. The eye-catching visuals. . . and the author’s natural-sounding language. . . make the tale a promising candidate for reading aloud.”
Booklist, October 1998

Letter from Cristina

   Growing up the oldest child in a family of seven children, books were my salvation. I could open a book and shut out the rest of the world. Reading was not only my way to lose myself, it led me to find myself.
    As a very young child I remember staring at the images in books, imagining myself in those worlds. As I grew up, I continually read to my younger siblings, often memorizing entire books, especially my favorite Dr. Seuss titles. I feel such gratitude to the artists and writers that crafted the beautiful and expansive words and pictures that were those books. They led me to my life as an artist and writer.
    When I became a mother, it was important to me to contribute to a book that would influence my daughter's life. Susan Struass wrote When Woman Became the Sea, a Hispanic creation story (based on myths from the indigenous people of Costa Rica), and I illustrated it. When I read my dedication of that book to my daughter I feel gratitude and pride to be a member of the group of authors and illustrators that have so positively influenced generations of children.

The following images are examples of my work. See my art book Paint Happy! (North Light Books©2002,2004) for examples of my art and instruction concepts. To see my art exhibited in series, take a look at my Art Exhibits page. To explore writing and/or illustrating your own Children's literature check out the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators SCBWI.

Bella & Her Puppy	El Circo	Laundry on the Line	Animal Parade
Dog Circus	Rainforest Frog	Santa & Birds	Juggling Stars
When Woman Became the Sea	Page 1 & 2 Sibu Creating the World	Pages 3 & 4 Sibu Called for Thunder	Pages 5 & 6 Her Name was Sea
Pages 7 & 8 Sibu gave Sea a Walking Stick for Thunder	Pages 9 & 10 Thunder was Furious to be given a Old Man's Gift	pages 11 & 12 Oh, How the World is Changed When a Woman Begins to Wonder	Pages 13 & 14 A Snake bit her & Sea fell into a deep sleep.
Pages 15 & 16 Sibu & Thunder wrapped Sea in a burial bundle. .	Pages 17 & 18 Sibu put a frog on the bundle. It hopped after the first fly.	Pages 19 & 20 A Beautiful tree grew from the burial bundle	Pages 21 & 22 Leaves & Blossoms burst from the tree branches inviting birds of every color.
Pages 23 & 24 Two birds broke the tree, releasing the waters of the world.	Pages 25 & 26 Water filled the valleys of the world.	Pages 27 & 28 Sea & Thunder dance in the mist.	Pages 29 & 30 Tropical Waters, end pages for the book.