A Book About Numbers and Animals in Spanish and English

Eight Animales on the Town
Written by Susan Middleton Elya
Illustrated by Lee Chapman

Published by Penguin Putnams Books for Young Children
Copyright 2000
31 Pages

Fantasy

 

I chose this book because it has a funny front cover. Anytime you see a horse holding maracas and a cow holding a tambourine there is bound to be an interesting story that goes with that illustration. The book did not disappoint me at all. As the title indicates, the book is intended to help familiarize children with simple and everyday Spanish words and phrases. I feel as though the author did a great job of accomplishing that goal with this easy to read and clearly written story. By using animals as illustrations, the author takes us on a journey through the local market. Each of the animals is numbered (by a Spanish number) and they are each going to the market to buy something particular. While there is no apex in action, or really much of a storyline, there is also no eventful ending. The animals just get together and all go for a car ride home.

The illustrations in this lovely book were created through oil painting on canvas. I think the illustrations are just about as great as the text is. The colors are extremely vibrant and distinct. I love how deep each color is. Each page contains a border around the page. This does not seem to take away from the picture for me. The text placement is very informal. The book has a dual-image cover with a small photo on the back. The proportion of the animals to the buildings and several other pictures do a great job giving the reader a perspective from their point of view.

The teacher could use this book in a Spanish lesson on counting. The teacher could read this book and then go back through and allow the students to pick out all of the Spanish words. Once they finished, the students could try to discover the meanings of each word. The teacher could use this book in a Language Arts lesson on rhyming. The students could actively engage in calling out the rhymes after the teacher stops on each page and point at them to do so. The teacher could use this book in a mostly Spanish speaking classroom to teach them more English. The humor and language variations within this book will delight the students.