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.

Welcome to the Latin Baby Book Club!

For those of you who have recently discovered our site, bienvenidos! I am so happy you’ve found us! This is the official blog of the Latin Baby Book Club. The LLBC is a result of my work with Latin Baby, and is inspired by the many Latino families who are actively seeking a way to supplement and support their children’s education.

I just want to take a moment to share with you the goals of the LBBC, which have not changed since we began, as you can see from our very first article published on this site.

We know the value of literacy, and the important role it plays in our children’s academic success. The book club’s main goal is to encourage families to spend time reading together. All parents should spend part of each day reading to their children to develop a love of learning and to spark their imaginations.

We also believe that children should be able to see their own faces and experiences reflected in the stories they read. The LBBC promotes books that are bilingual, or that describe Hispanic culture and traditions. So many of our cultural traditions are being slowly lost with the passing of our abuelitos and the evolution of America. Toys and electronic games are quickly replacing traditional children’s games, and Latin American folksongs and nursery rhymes are being forgotten. Part of our desire is to create a resource for parents who are interested in preserving our culture.

As such, the Latin Baby Book Club strives to support Latino authors, illustrators, and songwriters who are writing down our traditions to save them for future generations. These talented artists are developing understanding, and even acceptance, in an age struggling with ignorance and intolerance. They are the whispers of our past and they give voice to la sangre hispana that is coursing through our veins.

I encourage you all to dig through the pages of this blog to find reviews of bilingual songs and literature for children (ages infant to young adult), book suggestions for Latino parents, interviews with emerging and established authors and illustrators, the official LBBC's Book of the Month/Libro del Mes, special events being held at local libraries and/or bookstores, and mucho, mucho más!

We have been honored to publish articles and reviews by a fantastic group of people, including authors, teachers, bloggers, and parents. Together they bring their Hispanic heritage to the site and I am so happy to have such a diverse representation of the Spanish-speaking world at the book club.

In the last three years, we have created a valuable resource for bilingual families. This site contains over 300 articles available for your review. And because we value the education of our Latino children so much, we encourage you to also visit our sister site, MommyMaestra.com, where we share additional resources for parents who want to be more involved in their children’s education.

So if you are a Latino parent looking to find reading material for your niños that encourages cultural pride not shame, or if you’re a non-Latino parent looking for a way to supplement your child’s bilingual education, then you have found the right place! Bookmark this site, or join our Facebook page and enjoy the beauty and richness of being bilingual.

Con mucho cariño,

~Monica


Disclosure: This post enters me into a giveaway by FlanboyantEats. However, everything expressed within this post describes the current and original goals of the LBBC.

Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match

Written by Monica Brown

Illustrated by Sara Palacios

Bilingual in English and Spanish 

32 Pages 

Ages 4 to 8 

8 ½ x 9 ¾ 

Hardcover ISBN 978-0-89239-235-3 

Available September 2011

My name is Marisol McDonald, and I don’t match. At least, that’s what everyone tells me.

Marisol McDonald has flaming red hair and nut-brown skin. Polka dots and stripes are her favorite combination. She prefers peanut butter and jelly burritos in her lunch box. To Marisol, these seemingly mismatched things make perfect sense together.

Other people wrinkle their nose in confusion at Marisol—can’t she just choose one or the other? Try as she might, in a world where everyone tries to put this biracial, Peruvian-Scottish-American girl into a box, Marisol McDonald doesn’t match. And that’s just fine with her.

A mestiza Peruvian American of European, Jewish, and Amerindian heritage, renowned author Monica Brown wrote this lively story to bring her own experience of being mismatched to life. Her buoyant prose is perfectly matched by Sara Palacios’ mixed media illustrations.

Monica Brown is the author of many award-winning bilingual books for children, many of which are inspired by her Peruvian American heritage. Monica is a Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Sara Palacios was born in Mexico City. She holds degrees in Graphic Design, Illustration, and Digital Graphic Techniques, and is pursuing her MFA in Illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She divides her time between Mexico City and San Francisco, California.

HBO Presents El Perro y El Gato Series

The bilingual series, El Perro y El Gato, (on HBO Latino and HBO Family) is now in print! I had not seen this show before, but after seeing a few clips of the show and reading the books, I am completely hooked! This series is best suited for second language learners, but really, I think any child would get a total kick out of these stories. My five-year-old was immediately intrigued by the covers of the book and demanded we sit down and read them together.

I think what impresses me most, is the amount of time and effort that seems to be put into this series. Take a look at this video that tells about the making of El Perro y El Gato...

The books are just as adorable. The writing is very simple, and includes full text in both English and Spanish. The illustrations are also simplistic, but together with the bold colors, it is perfect for young children.

The books are sold individually, or as a 4-book collection in the HBO online shop. The first four titles are: La granja/Farm, El doctor/Doctor, El cumpleaños/Birthday, and La nieve/Snow. I think our favorite is La granja (because the facial expressions are just so hilarious!). What a fun way to learn Spanish....or English!

The new special El Perro y El Gato Keep On Dreeming/Sigue Soñando premieres on HBO Latino and will be airing on September 15 at 7AM/6AM CT.

And if you haven't seen the show, or don't have access to it, run over to mi amiga's blog, Thoughts of a Mommy, and enter to win a set of 4 DVDs. Tell her the LBBC sent ya!

Back to School: Carmen Learns English

As we prepared a new back-to-school booklist for Colorín Colorado this year, I had the pleasure to discover Carmen Learns English, written by teacher Judy Cox and illustrated by Angela Dominguez. I wasn't just charmed by our spunky heroine, though - I found myself cheering for her from the beginning of the story until the very last page of the book.

Carmen is a young girl preparing for the first day of school, and she is nervous about starting school without speaking any English. Things get worse when she arrives to school to find that none of her classmates speak Spanish.

Much to her surprise, however, her teacher (Señora Coski) greets her in Spanish! While her teacher's Spanish sounds muy terrible, Carmen knows that she has at least found someone who won’t laugh at her English. Slowly, Carmen begins to learn new words each day which she teaches to her younger sister, Lupita, at home. In the meantime, Señora Coski encourages her to teach her classmates new words in Spanish. Carmen's confidence blossoms over time, until she finally has the courage to confront a pair of bullies at the playground who make fun of her accent:

"I put my hands on my hips the way Mami does when something does not please her. 'Excuse me?' I said as polite as la Señora Coski. 'Excuse me? I don't got an accent. It's you who got the accent!'"

On the surface, this is an engaging story about a young girl learning a new language and assimilating into her new environment. Yet the story is so much more than that. Carmen is a wise and responsible older sister, preparing Lupita for kindergarten so that she doesn't have to confront the same obstacles the following year. Alternatively, the scene at the playground offers a chance to talk about bullying and respecting all of our classmates, no matter how different their backgrounds (or accents!) are.

Perhaps most importantly, however, this story offers a positive depiction of Carmen's first language rather than only celebrating her success in English. Not only does Señora Coski greet Carmen in Spanish to help her feel more comfortable on the first day, but she welcomes Carmen's language into the classroom whenever possible. When a classmate complains that Carmen recites her numbers in Spanish rather than English, Señora Coski asks Carmen to teach the class to count in Spanish, recognizing an opportunity for the class as well as the important knowledge Carmen has already learned. Señora Coski also serves as an important example for other teachers - even if you speak just a few words of a new language and it sounds muy terrible, it can provide a lifeline to a young English language learner.

Written with authenticity and filled with rich details, Carmen Learns English is a story that will inspire children of all backgrounds and will introduce young English language learners to a character that they will never forget.

For related stories, take a look at the following back-to-school booklists from Colorin Colorado and Reading Rockets:

• ELL Stories
• Are You Ready? School's Open!
• School Days

Finally, in honor of Grandparents' Day, don't forget these great titles in the Grandma's Stories and Grandpa's Stories booklists! Happy reading!

September's Book of the Month: Under the Mesquite

Under the Mesquite

by Guadalupe Garcia McCall

The LBBC’s recommendation for January’s Libro del Mes is Guadalupe Garcia McCall’s Under the Mesquite.

Under the Mesquite is the moving story of Lupita, the oldest of 8 children in a close-knit familia. Not long after they move to America, Lupita’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. This story chronicles Lupita’s struggle to keep her family together while dealing with the emotional burden that comes with knowing her mama may die. And it shows how Lupita discovers writing as an escape.

Written in free verse, Under the Mesquite immediately captures the reader’s attention with its poetic form. McCall’s descriptions are so vivid, that I felt as though I were sitting at Lupita’s kitchen table in Eagle Pass, Texas, or floating lazily on my back in the Rio Grande. I felt Lupita’s every emotion, and knew her most intimate thoughts. I really love that this story honestly depicts the struggle with poverty that Lupita’s family experiences, as well as the closeness and love that only families can understand.

Here is an excerpt:

It was Papi who first told me
I had the gift of words.
One night he said it was time
to put them on paper.
He opened Mami’s old blue suitcase,pulled out his notebook,
and leafed through
his sketches of horses,
which he worked on at night.
I caressed them as they galloped by,
page after beautiful page,
until he came to the blank pages at the back…

Under the Mesquite is written in English with embedded Spanish text. McCall does include a glossary in the back of the book.

Parents and teachers: this is a beautiful book dealing with the death of a loved one while providing hopeful ending. An excellent read if you are discussing family, dealing with family illness and loss. Other topics include extended family, immigration, Mexico, acclimating, and more. This book is best suited for older children ages 7 – 12.

If you would like to buy your own copy of Under the Mesquite, please click here. Or you can follow the link in our sidebar to the LBBC’s on-line store. We have both new and gently used copies available.