Our Celebración!
By Monica Encarnacion,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Festive rhyming book weaves in Spanish words.
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What's the Story?
OUR CELEBRACIÓN! is a festive storybook in which a community heads out to celebrate summer together. On a sunny day, the celebration features a large parade and brings families and neighbors together. There's also plenty of delicious food to try. Parade goers enjoy lemonade, watermelon, tacos, and ice cream. Readers follow along the parade route with a family of six as the festivities unfold. Bands of musicians playing clarinets, saxophones, flautas, trumpets, and more march by. The corn princess waves as her float goes by. And when a quick rain shower comes, the spectators duck for cover, and a colorful rainbow appears after the rain. Night falls, and back in the main plaza, the festivities end with fireworks. Pop, pop, pop! Bon, bon, bon!
Is It Any Good?
Engaging text and whimsical illustrations make this a great book to enjoy while learning some Spanish. Author Susan Middleton Elya beautifully exposes young readers to simple Spanish vocabulary, beautifully woven into the rhyming lines of this book. Ana Aranda's bright and festive illustrations in Our Celebración! are eye-catching and inviting, ready to delight young readers. However, the text may be a bit much for beginning readers to handle on their own, especially if they are not bilingual and are encountering these Spanish words for the very first time. A Spanish language learner at the beginner level may be able to look at the pictures for clues and use them to easily decipher the new Spanish words.
This a great book for families to read together as an introduction to Spanish vocabulary or as a celebration of language and culture for native Spanish-speaking families.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the different ways in which families and communities celebrate, just like the characters in Our Celebración! What parades or other large celebrations have you attended in your community or neighborhood?
What/when do you celebrate as a family? As a community?
Read through the glossary together at the back of the book and discuss the different ways in which we celebrate. Can you recall a recent party or fiesta? What did you do during this celebration?
Book Details
- Author: Susan Middleton Elya
- Illustrator: Ana Aranda
- Genre: Picture Book
- Topics: Friendship , Holidays
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Lee & Low Books
- Publication date: September 18, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 5 - 8
- Number of pages: 32
- Available on: Hardback
- Last updated: April 12, 2019
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Where to Read
Our Editors Recommend
Bilingual Books (English/Spanish)
Books with Latino Characters
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