Category: ESL/ELL Title:Señor Pancho Had a Rancho Author: René Colato Laínez Illustrator: Elwood Smith Publisher: Holiday House Year:2013 ISBN Number:978-0-8234-2632-4 Number of Pages:22 Reading Level:1st - 2nd Genre: Fiction/Nursery Rhyme
Summary: This book takes the classic nursery rhyme song of Old MacDonald Had a Farm and turns it into a bilingual book for young students. Old MacDonald and Señor Pancho both have roosters, dogs, sheep, horses, chicks, and cows on their farm/rancho. The sounds the animals make are a little different and at the end, the two cows embrace the differences and decide to throw a dance party for all of the animals!
Main Themes: This book is mainly just a fun and silly book that teaches students the Spanish animal sounds; however, this book also has an underlying theme of embracing who you are, even if you sound different. I love how the animals each express themselves and they find it really cool that they are different. At the end of the book, all of the animals enjoy a dance party together which sends the message that we can all get along even if we sound different.
Critical Review: Strengths: (Author perspective) At the end of the book there is an Author's Note from Laínez talking about how he was inspired to write the book by the bilingual students in his class. He believes that the book "is a celebration of languages" and that "in every celebration, we need music and dance." I feel like this statement is very powerful life lesson and relevant to this book he wrote. (Multidimensionality and interconnections) This book does a great job of bringing the two animals who sound different together. The differences between the two animals are drowned out by their similar feelings about dancing and singing. This book uses a unique approach to show the connections between the English sounding animals and the Spanish sounding animals. At the beginning, the book is separated with one page having the English text and the next page having the same text in Spanish. As the book progresses, the English and Spanish join onto one page and shows how they are connecting despite the different languages-see image. (Cultural details) The book has a glossary at the beginning with all of the Spanish words, sounds, and pronunciations the reader needs to know. I found this page very helpful when reading this book so I could make sure I was using the proper pronunciations. The way the book is set up, also allows readers to understand what is going on in the story. For example, with the English words on one side and the Spanish words on the other, the reader knows exactly what is being said. (Illustrations) I love how the illustrator uses similar ideas and setups for the pictures, but is able to change them to represent each language. For example, at the beginning of the book, there is a page that is introducing Old MacDonald and Señor Pancho. On the page with Old MacDonald, he has a farm that is full of grass, but on Señor Pancho's page, there is a farm with a cactus to show that the landscapes are different. I think the illustrator was brilliant for incorporating small but important details like this into the story.
Weaknesses: I cannot find any weaknesses in this book, I absolutely loved it! I truly believe younger students will enjoy this book and easily pick up the Spanish words and animals sounds. This book is great for early elementary students and is a fun way to integrate languages into the classroom.
Resources: René Colato Laínez Official Website- The author of Señor Pancho Had a Rancho has a website with information about himself, videos, links to his blog, and other books he has written. Students who are interested in this book, may find interest in other bilingual books he has written as well. renecolatolainez.com/ Elwood Smith Official Website - The illustrator of Señor Pancho Had a Rancho has a website for students to explore other books he has written, short animations he has created, and much more. www.elwoodsworld.com/ Spanish Animal Sounds Video - On YouTube there is a video that shows the Spanish animal sounds. Before using the book, this video could be used to show students the sounds so when they do read the book, they can sing along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhsy6epaJGs
Cinco de Mouse-O!
Category: ESL/ELL Title:Cinco de Mouse-O! Author: Judy Cox Illustrator: Jeffrey Ebbeler Publisher: Holiday House Year:2010 ISBN Number:978-0-8234-2194-7 Number of Pages:30 Reading Level:Pre K - 2nd Genre: Fiction
Summary: This book tells the story of a little mouse experiencing a Cinco de Mayo festival. However, Mouse is not alone on his festival experience, he has a sneaky cat following his every move waiting for the perfect time to pounce! At the festival, he finds new things he has never seen before. For example, he found a mariachi band, yummy food, fireworks, and a piñata. Mouse is fascinated with the piñata, and decides he wants to get the candy out of it. He climbs up to the top of the piñata and tries to chew through the string but had no luck. As he is up there, the children start hitting the piñata and they eventually break it open. While everyone is scrambling for the candy, cat's tail is stepped on and all of the candy is gone before mouse can find a piece. As mouse is about to give up, he spots a shiny lemon drop in the grass and realizes the Cinco de Mayo festival was really fun.
Main Themes: The main theme of this book is to introduce and embrace the Mexican Cinco de Mayo holiday to young readers. The book describes all of the activities that go on at the festival and the overall experience. I think an underlying theme could also be to take time to enjoy the small things in life. When mouse finds the last lemon drop, he is so excited, and I think we can all learn from this example.
Critical Review: Strengths: (Cultural details) I think this book does a great job of integrating the customs of a Cinco de Mayo celebration into the story. Students may not have heard of this or experienced this festival before, and this book does an accurate job of portraying it. The descriptive words also add to the authenticity of the book and to the festival itself. (Illustrations) This book has very coloful and vibrant illustrations to show what Cinco de Mayo is all about. I love how real and detailed the images are, and I think they do a great job of representing the Mexican culture. Students will get a feel for what a Cinco De Mayo festival would like like as well - see image. (Sterotyping) I feel that the author did a great job with this story and shows respect for the Mexican culture and holiday. She uses positive language to discuss the festival which shows that she feels this way about Cinco de Mayo herself. When the author ties in the Spanish words, she wants others to become familiar with them.
Weaknesses: (Multidimensionality and interconnections) I think this book was very well written and does an amazing job of bringing to life a real life Cinco de Mayo festival. The only weakness I found in this book is that I think there could have been more connections between the mouse and the people. The book mainly focuses on the activities at the festival, and not the people.
Resources: Cinco de Mouse-O! Audio Book - This Youtube video is an audio book version of the story. This video gives some background information as to what a fiesta is. I also like how this video gives expression and proper pronunciation to the Spanish words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqvNsSk6VpE Judy Cox Official Website - The author of Cinco de Mouse-O!has a website with lots of cool information. She has her biography, other books she has written, and she even has a page where teachers can contact her to come speak at their school. http://www.judycox.net/index.htm Cinco de Mayo Books - This website shows other books that talk about Cinco de Mayo. These books would be a great resource to use in lower elementary classrooms on May 5th, or when talking about other cultures. http://www.brighthubeducation.com/preschool-crafts-activities/65912-cinco-de-mayo-books-for-preschool/
Fiesta!
Category: ESL/ELL Title:Fiesta! Author: Ginger Foglesong Guy Illustrator: René King Moreno Publisher: Greenwillow Books - William Morrow & Company, Inc. Year:1996 ISBN Number:0-688-14331-8 Number of Pages:29 Reading Level:Pre K - K Genre: Fiction
Summary: This book is about 3 children who are out shopping to fill up their piñata with toys and goodies. The children count out the items they get in Spanish and the English text is underneath. At the end of the book, the children, have a party, break open the piñata, and celebrate!
Main Themes: The purpose of this story is to be a counting book for young children in both English and Spanish. This book is a fun way to count and for students to guess what they are going to make with all of the goodies the children bought.
Critical Review: Strengths: (Author's perspective) Ginger Foglesong Guy lived in many different places as a child. One of the places she lived was in Mexico. This book may be a tribute to her time there and focuses on things children do in Mexico. Guy also stated that she thinks Spanish is a beautiful and easy language to learn and she wants all children to be exposed to it. (Cultural details) This book shows an accurate portrayal of young children in Mexico, and shows something they might actually do. There are many vendors in the book where the children buy their goodies from that would be similar to the vendors that are in Mexico as well - see image. (Illustrations) I love how the illustrations in this book are fun and colorful, yet also realistic. Students will know what the marketplaces look like in Mexico, based off the pictures of this book.
Weaknesses: (Multidimensionality and interconnections) This book is for lower grades and stresses mostly on counting while also briefly touching on the Hispanic culture. One thing I think is missing from this book that would be important to add especially for older students, would be to show the connections between the group of children in the book and with the people they buy their items from. I think more personal interactions will show students how to act in this situations, and what sort of behavior would be appropriate in a similar setting.
Resources: Ginger Foglesong Guy Official Website - This website has many different features that go along with this book. Guy's background information, other books, and more are offered on the website. I personally love how many of her other books are bilingual books as well and I think teachers could use these books in their classrooms. http://readginger.com/ Fiesta! Lesson Plan Ideas - This PDF shows a unit over piñatas. This unit includes the history of piñatas, how to make them, and the presentation of the piñatas. I think this would be a fun unit to go along with this book for older students especially. http://etls.dpsk12.org/documents/alma/units/pinatas.pdf Fiesta Fiasco Books - This is an audio book about fiestas. This book would be a great resource to use in elementary classrooms to show another account of a Mexican fiesta. This audio book also uses proper pronunciations which can be helpful for students and teachers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nutxE4A11s8