"Today is a special day for Francisco. It is his saint day, which means it's time to celebrate with a feast! Francisco is most excited about dessert - delicious mangos, right from the tree. And he is finally old enough to go pick the mangos all by himself. But getting the mangos back home is not easy. There are lots of bees, and family members with whom to share. When it's finally time for the feast, Francisco has no mangos to offer! But as his papá assures him, "Mijo, no hay mal que por bien no venga. Nothing bad happens that good doesn't come of it."
This humorous, warm story filled with inspirational and universal proverbs will remind readers that "Es mejor dar que recibir. Sometimes, it's better to give than to recieve." (inside jacket cover)
Just in case you couldn't tell from the description above, this is a very lengthy book - definitely not for storytime (unless your attendees are Stepford children). However, if you have an older and/or patient child, this book may be worth looking into.
The story was lovely and taught good character, focusing especially on sharing and bravery. Though, while it is supposed to be "a story told through proverbs", some of the proverbs themselves were difficult for me to understand, let alone younger children. The story also makes me want to learn more about Cuban culture - for instance, I had always thought young children drinking café con leche was a stereotypical myth.
While the pictures were also cartoon-y cute, my favorite part of the book was how the author used Spanish words and phrases used to make the book somewhat bilingual. In case you can't figure it out (most of the sentences are repeated in English immediately after the Spanish), there is a "Glossary of Spanish words and phrases" at the end of the book.
Amazon recommends this book for 4 and up, but as I mentioned earlier, it would have to be a very patient 4-year-old.
My rating:
No comments:
Post a Comment