Diez Perritos, Adaptación de un canción infantil tradicional

Diez Perritos

Adaptacion de un cancion infantil tradicional

By Alma Flor Ada and F. Isable Campoy

 English version by Rosalma Zubizarreta

Illustrated by Ulises Wensell

My daughters and I go to our local big box book retailer all the time so we're familiar with their selection of Spanish children's books. It's not impressive; the books are either not age appropriate or we already own them. So the day I came across Alma Flor Ada's "Diez Perritos", I almost did a cartwheel!

Based on a traditional Spanish nursery rhyme, the book tells the story of a little girl with a lot of love for dogs. The little girl and her furry friends go everywhere together and this book tells the story of how easily distracted puppies can be. By the story's end, the little girl has discovered the dog she loves most. The use of repetitive phrases and rhyming words, make this a great book to help children develop a love for language and furry four legged friends.

I really love the story but I fell head over heels once the story ended and my daughters and I explored the extras at the end of the book. First, readers get the musical notes to the nursery rhyme. We've got a date with grandma's piano to make some music. My daughters have not stopped asking to sing the puppy song. And the icing on the cake is the dog breed section which shows an illustration and brief description of each dog breed depicted in the story. Who knew a Dalmation is a Dalmata in Spanish? My girls are dog people so they love to try and guess what dogs they encounter when we're out and about.

While we don't have a dog of our own (our condo association won't allow it), this book does an amazing job of satisfying my little girls' obsession for a  puppy dog. This is another beautiful book by Alma Flor Ada to add to your growing collection. But be careful, you might find yourself sweet talked into adding a new four legged friend to the family!

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Carla Molina is a weaver of words and creative collaborator. A Jersey girl at heart with lots of love for Boston, she spends most of her time raising two bilingual little ladies and brainstorming more ways to write her heart out. She blogs about being a woman and a creative creature at All of Me Now. And plays cheerleader to the local businesses serving families in her current home state at Petit Rhody.