A fun book that will help children navigate the breakfast table in two languages.
A bilingual English/Spanish children’s book celebrating food and family.
Young Sam is excited because today’s the day that his mother promised to cook him his very favorite breakfast. This premise serves as a vehicle to introduce young readers to some common English and Spanish phrases as Sam goes through his morning routine of washing his face (“lavando la cara”), saying “good morning” to his mom (“Buenos días mami”), and talking about various foods (“naranja,” “leche”). Unfortunately, as the book progresses, Sam finds that his mother hasn’t cooked him his favorite breakfast of milk, eggs, orange slices, and toast. Instead, she’s made him pancakes and juice. In the end, though, it turns out that she’s playing a simple trick. His mother gives the pancake breakfast to his siblings and gives him his preferred breakfast after all. This book pairs simple English and Spanish sentences together, allowing children to easily see the relationship between the two languages. The story’s subject matter is a good choice, as it will help children relate the words they’ve been learning to real life. Although the cartoonish illustrations, which depict Sam and his family as blue humanoids with antennae, aren’t spectacular—most are simple drawings set against a monochrome background—they’re amusing enough to keep children engaged. The book comes with flashcards of simple, useful phrases to help children practice certain sentences. It also comes with a DVD that features an excellent video reading of the book. (Two other videos, featuring English and Spanish conversations between a mother and child, aren’t quite as interesting.) What stands out about this book is how it presents children and parents with an opportunity to bond over language learning. By reading the book to each other, practicing phrases with flash cards, or watching the DVD, it will provide them with a great way to begin exploring English or Spanish together.
A fun book that will help children navigate the breakfast table in two languages.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9858763-0-2
Page Count: 30
Publisher: Technoria
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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