A Peruvian child describes family and community preparations during a three-day period prior to the first night of Carnaval. His story is illustrated with brightly colored folk-art wall hangings (arpilleras), which were sewn by women in Lima, Peru. A final double-page spread entitled "How Arpilleras Are Made" includes captioned color photographs of the artists at work, adding another dimension of cultural detail to the book. A Spanish language edition of this book was also published in 1991. (Ages 4-8)