Author/Illustrator: Victor Villasenor/Felipe Ugalde Alcantara
Plot Summary: A fable that explains why birds fly away from people. The story is told by a father to his son and also delivers a message that everyone has something to teach no matter what your age. The story is paralleled in English and Spanish with the English section on the top of the page and Spanish at the bottom.
Comments: This is a bit different than the other Spanish/English bilingual books I have seen. Others have been in English with a few Spanish words thrown in for good measure. When I spoke to our Spanish teachers about these books(we have a Spanish immersion program at our school), they didn't like them and preferred books that where entirely in Spanish. I am curious to see what they think of this format as it seems that I could read the book in English and they could repeat it in Spanish. Note the vast difference in the ATOS and Follett reading levels.
Extensions:
1. Teacher or librarian would read the book in English to first graders. Students would make puppet crows - the father and son(one larger and one smaller.) They would be made with stiff, white paper and glued to popsicle sticks. After they were finished and dry, the Spanish teacher would read the book in Spanish and the students would "act" out the story with their crows and each other.
2. A lesson in teaching children not to throw rocks which is part of the story. Kindergarten or first graders would decorate rocks so that they were so pretty, they would never want to throw them at anyone.
3. Kindergarten or first graders would decorate origami crows that were pre-made by their industrious teacher or media specialist.
Themes/keywords: crows, human-animal relationships, Spanish language materials, Spanish/English bilingual
Age/Reading Level: Interest Level: k-3; ATOS - 4.1; Follett - 2.2
Standards:
This would be a book to read for fun and to teach a lesson that had nothing to do with standards.
ELA1R6 The student uses a variety of strategies to understand and gain meaning from grade-level text. The student
a. Reads and listens to a variety of texts for information and pleasure.
b. Makes predictions using prior knowledge.
c. Asks and answers questions about essential narrative elements (e.g., beginning-middle-end, setting, characters, problems, events, resolution) of a read-aloud or independently read text.
d. Retells stories read independently or with a partner.
e. Distinguishes fact from fiction in a text.
f. Makes connections between texts and/or personal experiences.
g. Identifies the main idea and supporting details of informational text read or heard.
h. Self-monitors comprehension and rereads when necessary.
i. Recognizes cause-and-effect relationships in text.
Publisher's Info: Pinata Books, Houston, Texas. 2005
ISBN-13: 978-1-55885-430-7
ISBN-10: 1-55885-430-4
Awards/Review Sources:
School Library Journal 02/01/06 | Kirkus Review 11/15/05 |
| Multicultural Review 06/01/06 | Criticas 10/01/05 |
Genre/Dewey: Fiction; Easy/Everybody. Could be tagged/labeled as a bilingual book; could also be considered a fable and shelved under Dewey
Websites:
Author's primary website
Author has an interesting side business
Another project of the author - Snowgoose Global Thanksgiving
Notes for Booktalk: interesting adult and young adult books
Vocabulary:
Comments