Listen to the Desert/Oye al desierto

Before creating SpanglishBaby, I knew nothing about El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros which will celebrate its 12th anniversary on April 30th. In case you're not aware, Día was created back in 1997 by author Pat Mora in an effort to "link all children to books, languages and cultures."

This is the way Pat Mora describes how the idea came about: "As a mom, I knew that children often ask, 'Why do we have Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and not Children’s Day?' As a reader, I wanted (and want) to foster “bookjoy.” Ah, ha, I thought. What if we link a celebration of children with literacy, an issue central to the well-being of children." And, Día was born.

In honor of this awesome celebration, I decided to check some of Pat Mora's books and was happy when I found "Listen to the Desert/Oye al Desierto" because it is a simple enough read for my 2 1/2 year old daughter to actually enjoy, understand and follow.

The bilingual book is an invitation to the animals and sounds of the desert. It's described as children's poetry and before we read it, I wasn't sure if my daughter would "get" a poem. But, its simple text - the same line repeated twice first in English and then in Spanish - allowed my daughter to easily follow the rhythm of the book. She caught on fairly quickly and now knows to repeat the line after I read it to her once. Her favorite line?

"El coyote canta, ahúúú, ahúúú, ahúúú.
El coyote canta, ahúúú, ahúúú, ahúúú."

She's been making that sound herself lately and she was delighted to find out that an actual animal sounds like that.

The book's illustrations are just the colors you would expect in the desert and since each page talks about just one specific animal or sound, I like that the images reflect that. In other words, a child's eye can quickly identify what is being described. Also, I was happy to see that the illustrations were created by Pat Mora's son, Francisco - a family affair.

Pat Mora has written a long, long list of books for children with titles such as: "Abuelos," "Marimba" and more recently "Book Fiesta," in celebration of Día. I can't wait to get my hands on this last one.

By the way, most cities around the country will have some kind of event to celebrate Día. All you have to do is go here to check what's happening in your area. We're lucky to have a few options in our neighborhood and I am excited to participate with my daughter!