15 book reviews of spanish children books

15 Children’s Books Review- for Spanish Americans


El Cucuy!, as told by Joe Hayes, Illustrated by Honorio Robledo.Published by Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, Texas.

This story was about three sisters that lived alone with their father. The mother had died. The youngest daughter would cook and clean the house to help her father. But the two oldest daughters would never help. All they wanted to do was play. One day when their father came home the two oldest girls were making big messes for the younger sister to clean up. They even tied knots in their father’s clean shirts that were hung out on the clothesline. The father yelled for El Cucuy to come get them. This was the boogeyman that takes misbehaved young children. The El Cucuy came and took the girls while they were eating dinner. He took them to a dark cave and made them stay in the back. Their father started missing them and began to look for them, but could never find them. Then one day a goat farmer found the girls and helped them get out of the cave and back to their father. As the girls grew up, and had children of their own, they were the best behaved family for generations.


I’m going to California, Author Mary Dodson Wade, Illustrated by Virginia Marsh
Roeder. Published by COLOPHON HOUSE, Houston, Texas.

This story is about a small girl who dreams of being a movie star. She talks about how she will live in a big house and drive a fancy car without a top. She also wants to wear sparkly dresses and turn letters on a show. She also talks about different movie parts that she would want to do like: being in the gorilla’s hand, (King Kong); help free a killer whale, (Free Willy); leap tall buildings, (Superman); or she wants to be a vampire. She also wants a star on the sidewalk with her name on it. In the back of the book it gives the reader ideas of things to do in many of the cities of California.



Cinco de Mayo, by Janet Riehecky, Illustrated by Krystyna Stasiak. Published by Wing Park Publishers.

This story was about a little girl who was very excited because it was Cinco de Mayo. All of her family was getting ready for the big celebration. She wanted to help too. First, she tried to grate the cheese with her mother but the cheese was too big and she dropped it on the floor. Next, she went out side to help her father set up some straw animals in the yard. But when she was hammering in a stake it hit her father’s thumb instead. So, she went inside to see if her big brother needed any help. Her brother, Ramon, was practicing in his mariachi band and didn’t want any help. As Maria walked back into the house she saw her Sister Anna hanging up lanterns, streamers and flowers. Anna asked Maria to get a lantern out of the box. But when she did, it tore. Maria started to cry. Then her sister told her about a contest that the library was having. All the children in the city were to draw pictures that celebrated Cinco de Mayo. So Maria entered the contest. She drew pictures of all the things her family was doing to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. When Maria and her family went to the fiesta in town she found out her picture had won. Maria was so happy.


The Story of Colors, by Subcomandante Marcos, Illustrated by Domitila Dominguez.
Published byCinco Puntos Press.

This story was about an old man telling a folktale about how the world got its colors. He started out the story saying that there used to only be white and black. But then one of the Gods (there were two of them) stumbled on a rock and fell. He bumped his head and red was coming out, blood. The other God wanted to find a color too, he found green. So these Gods went back and forth until they found: red, green, blue, yellow. Then they put the colors in a box under a Ceiba tree, because they wanted to go to sleep. It started raining and the Gods woke up. All the colors had mixed and made new colors. The Gods liked this, but they were so tired. They started throwing all the colors all over the world. That is why things are not black and white anymore. For safe keeping they gave the macaw bird all the color to hold so the colors would not be forgotten. This is why there are so many different colors of people, and so many different ways of thinking in the world.


The Tamale Quilt, Written and Illustrated by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli. Published by ¼
Publishing, Murrieta, Ca. 92563

This story was about a Nana who came to visit her grandchildren. She showed her grandchildren her tamale quilt, and the children laughed. Nana told how when she was a young girl her mother and father would make tamales together in the kitchen and laugh. Her mother made them every year around Christmas time. Her mother ground the corn, added lard, and chili, and then spread the masa. In the middle of the tamale her mother would put one olive in the tamale before wrapping it up. Then she and her brother could eat all the olives that they did not need. While the tamales were cooking the family would get ready to go to mass at the church. When they returned it was very cold so her mother would make hot chocolate for everyone. They also could eat their tamales until they were stuffed. Then they would snuggle in their beds and wait for Christmas. When it was time for her grandmother to leave she gave the tamale quilt to her granddaughter, and asked her to not forget the tamale story to tell her own children.
This book had a pattern to make a tamale quilt, and a recipe for how to make tamales.




CHATO’S KITCHEN, by Gary Soto, Illustrated by Susan Guevara.Published by G.P.
Putnam’s Sons, New York, NY 10016.

I loved this story. It is about a cat living in the barrio who likes to chase, and eat birds. Then a mouse family moves in so he invites them to dinner. He wants to eat the mice for dinner but has to act like he is their friend. At first the mice are reluctant to go, but agree if Chato will let them bring a friend. Chato agrees only because he thinks it’s another mouse to eat. For five hours Chato is cooking rice, enchiladas, beans and home made tortillas. Chato’s friend, Novio Boy, comes to help him prepare the feast. Both cat’s think they are very tricky when they hear a knock at the door. The mice’s friend is a big dog. The cats are scared and hide under the table, and also climb up the curtains. But then they realize Chorizo the dog is nice. They all sit down to a wonderful meal that Chato and Novio Boy made. Nobody ate the guests at this meal. Very cute book.


!FIESTA!, by Ginger Foglesong Guy, Pictures by Rene King Moreno. Published by
Greenwillow Books, New York, NY 10019.

This book is a Spanish- English book. The children are shopping for a birthday party or fiesta. The children start with uno or one to show they have a basket. In this basket are all the treasures they find for their party. The book counts up to diez or ten. When the children get home they make their own piñata and stuff it full of all the things they bought. Then they hang it up in the yard. When all their friends and family arrive they take turns hitting the piñata and have a fiesta. The book is beautifully illustrated with a big font for the words. Easy to read and nice to look at.


The PINATA QUILT, Written and Illustrated by Jane-Tenorio-Coscarelli.
Published by 1/4 Inch Publishing, Murrieta, CA 92563.

This story was about how a boy asked his Tia, or Aunt to make him a piñata for his birthday. She was remembering when she was a young girl that her father would make piñatas with a clay pot in the middle to hold the candy and toys. However, now they use a blown up balloon. First they put three layers of paper and glue around the piñata, and then they put different colored tissue paper around the piñata. While making the piñata, the boy, Albert, started thinking he wanted everything for himself that they bought to put in the piñata. So every time his Tia would turn her back he added more glue than was necessary. He thought if he added to much glue then the piñata would not break and he could have everything for himself. At the party no one could break the piñata. The guest started making fun of his Tia because she didn’t make the piñata right. Albert felt guilty and decided to confess. After he confessed his father stuck a knife in the piñata to make it easier to break. This time when Albert hit the piñata it broke open and he shared the candy with all the kids.
When Albert grew up and was going to move away to college this same Tia made him a piñata quilt to take with him. Albert was so happy to have this quilt on his bed while he was away from his family. The quilt was a happy reminder of family times together. It was special because it looked just like the piñata she made for him years ago.

BIG BUSHY MUSHACHE, by Gary Soto, Illustrated by Joe Cepeda.
Published by ALFRED A. KNOFF, New York.

This story was about a boy whom everyone always said that he looked exactly like his mother. Ricky hated that when people would say he looked like his mother. He wanted to look like his dad. One day his teacher wanted the children to pick out a costume because they were going to put on a play about Cinco de Mayo. Ricky picked out a bushy black mustache to wear for the play. He was so happy because he thought he looked just like his dad. The teacher told all the children to leave their costumes at school but Ricky didn’t listen. Instead he put the mustache in his pocket. He walked home from school that day and as soon as he was out of sight he put the mustache on and walked the rest of the way home. Merchants and town’s people commented on how big he looked. But by the time he got home the mustache was gone. He retraced his steps but he couldn’t find the mustache. He was so worried his teacher was going to be mad. His dad felt sorry for him, so at the breakfast table the morning he had to go back to school, his dad shaved off his mustache and gave it to Ricky. The mustache looked just like the one he got from the school. Ricky tried it on. Now he looked like his dad, and his dad looked like Ricky, because he didn’t have his mustache anymore.


On Ramon’s Farm, written by Campbell Geeslin, Illustrated by Petra Mathers.
Published by Simon and Schuster, New York.

This is about a boy who lives on a farm in Mexico. His mother weaves blankets so Ramon has the job of taking care of the animals. He makes up rhymes about the funny way that the animals act on the farm. Words are written in Spanish and English in book with pronunciations of words too. He has sheep, a rooster, a young goat, a burro, and a pig. The sheep do not like to give wool and cry until Ramon gives them a pretty bow for their necks. The rooster wants to fight with a bucket of water because he thinks it’s another chicken. The goat wants to climb on everything including the roof and wakes Ramon up at night. The burro is needed to go to town but takes one step forward and two steps back. So Ramon puts a blindfold on him and makes him walk backwards to town. The pig is lazy and won’t play with Ramon unless he feeds him. So Ramon feeds the pig, but then the pig won’t play because he is too full. I liked this story because of the pictures, the silly animals, and it helped me pronounce the Spanish words correctly.


This House Is Made Of Mud, Written by Ken Buchanan, Illustrated by Libba Tracy.
Published by “rising moon”, Books for young readers from Northland Publishing.

This author has spent most of his life here in Arizona in a small town called Arivaca. It is seven miles north of the U.S. Mexican border. He and his family have built their own home in the Sonoran Desert. This story is about a adobe house being made from mother Earth’s mud. The house is built round so that wind can blow into the window. Insects live between the bricks, and mice live under the house. The book talks about the many visitors the house gets. In the night the moon and stars come, and in the day the sun, wind and animals come. The yard is as far as you can see, and the fence is the mountains that surround the house. The house was made with love and is shared by all God’s creatures. This book was also on Reading Rainbow.


THE LIZARD AND THE SUN, Written by Alma Flor Ada, Illustrated by Felipe Davalos. Published by Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers.

This folktale is written in English and in Spanish. It is a story about how the sun hid in a rock and no one could find her. All of the animals searched the world. The fish and the frogs looked in the water. The eagles, rabbits and jaguar looked on the ground. No one could find the sun, and the world was so dark and scary. The only animal that didn’t give up was the lizard. He kept searching until he found the sun. The lizard ran back to the palace to tell the emperor he had found the sun hiding in a rock. The emperor brought a woodpecker, and they all went to see the sun. The woodpecker pecked on the rock until it opened. But the sun kept falling asleep, so the emperor called his best dancers. The dancers danced until the sun raised high in the sky. This is why every year from then on there are celebrations with lively music and beautiful dancers so that the sun will never fall asleep again. This is also the reason why lizards like to lie in the sun because they remember when their ancestor gave light and warmth back to everyone.




The Tortilla Quilt, written and illustrated by Jane Tenorio-Coscarelli and published by ¼ inch publishing, Murrieta, Ca. 92563

This story almost made me cry. It is about a little girl named Maria who lives with her Grandmother Lupita on a ranch. Maria’s grandmother is a maid for a white family, named Olson. The Olson’s have a daughter named Sarah that is the same age as Maria. Sarah and Maria like to ride horses together and play.

Every morning Maria has chores to do like getting the eggs from the chickens. Her grandmother is busy making breakfast tortillas for the Olson’s. One day Sarah and her mother are making a quilt. Maria’s grandmother feels bad because she doesn’t have any cloth to give Maria so she can make a quilt. The only thing she has is the flour sacks she has saved from making tortillas. Maria is happy with that. She starts cutting squares for her quilt and Sarah even gives her material from old clothes, and helps her. Maria and Sarah sew the whole blanket together, and then Sarah’s mom, and Maria’s grandmother, help them quilt it. They all work hard together. Before the quilt is done Maria embroidered, “The Tortilla Quilt for Grandmother Lupita from her angels Maria and Sarah 1880”. Then she and Sarah give the quilt to her grandmother as a surprise.

This was such a warm and fuzzy book, I loved it.



CHATO and the PARTY ANIMALS, by Gary Soto, Illustrated by Susan Guevara.
Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York

This story is about a cool cat named Chato. He has a best friend who is sad because he came from the pound, and doesn’t know when his birthday is. He never even knew his mami or ever had a birthday party. Chato is like a brother or carnal to Novio Boy and decides to have a birthday party for him in the barrio or neighborhood. Chato buys a canary birthday cake and a fish piñata for the party. They party until the sun goes down, and the neighbors start throwing shoes at them. Novio Boy learns that even though he doesn’t have family of his own, Chato is the best brother in all of the el barrio.

This book has Spanish vocabulary located in the front of the book, with definitions, so one can use this as a reference for the Spanish words. I love this author, and illustrator. The pictures are very vivid and colorful.



DAY OF THE DEAD, A Mexican-American Celebration, by Diane-Hoyt-Goldsmith/ Photographs by Lawrence Migdale. Published by Holiday House, Inc., 425 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017.

This story is about a family who likes to celebrate the Day of the Dead. This tradition came from the Aztecs who came to Mexico in about 1325. They believed in many different gods. The grandmother of this family has Yaqui Indian ancestry. This family celebrates by making an ofrenda. This is made from many reeds tied together in an arch, and then decorated with flowers. The families light candles, and burn incense. They put on the ofrenda personal items of loved ones that have passed away. They also put food, like tamales, and skulls made out of sugar.

The children’s father is an artist who makes Mexican art. He shows his children how to make masks with plaster and cloth bandages. Then the family decorates the masks with paint, glitter, feathers and spangles. They wear these masks when they make their procession to the graveyard, and the grandmother dances. The Day of the Dead takes place on the same day as All Saints Day, which is November 1 and 2. All Saints Day is a Christian Catholic Holiday. The people in the procession carry marigolds because they have a strong odor to guide the spirits to find their way back home to visit their families.

This was a very informative story. I like the photographs of the family and the people moving through the cemetery with the procession. This family celebrates this holiday every year. The children are used to the skeletons and the masks, and know that this is a serious place. This is a place where they put pictures of loved ones that have died so that they can remember them.