It does feel a little strange to read about a character’s struggles learning in English… in English. But the book describes Juana’s frustrations in a very empathetic way. It left me very impressed with everyone who learns English as a second language and who is bilingual. The book is full of visual interest from the character diagrams to the bright watercolor illustrations. Even the text varies in size and shape adding to the story in a similar way to the text in the Geronimo Stilton paperback series, though the effect in Juana and Lucas is used more sparingly and less obtrusively. Spanish is sprinkled throughout the book always accompanied by context clues to aid comprehension.

La Madre Goose by Susan Middleton Elya is a retelling of several famous nursery rhymes. I adore this author because she incorporates Spanish vocabulary words into the text. The book also has a glossary at the front of the book in case the reader does not know a word. The reason I would love to use this book in my classroom is that it would serve a dual purpose. Students who are transitioning from speaking only English to being bilingual will benefit from having a book like this to read. All students in the classroom who are interested in learning about another language will have the option of adding vocabulary words from another language to their vocabulary. 

Lexile: AD490L 

La Princesa and the Pea by Susan Middleton Elya is a retelling of the famous story "The Princess and the Pea" from the perspective of a different culture. The story is drawn with a massive influence on the culture in Peru, but the text is bilingual. Throughout the story, there are words in both English and Spanish. I believe the book would be excellent for students who are transitioning from speaking Spanish to English as well as for students who are interested in exploring a different language. I would use this in my classroom to help my students learn about different cultures! We would have a week where we read stories with the same storyline from an arrange of different cultures. As a class, we would compare and contrast all the books we've read. I believe teachers play a huge part in making students aware of various ethnicities, cultures, and traditions.  

Lexile: AD530L

I just realized that when my podcast interview of Gillian Fleming about her biography of the Spanish queen Juana I went up on the New Books Network website I forgot to share the good news here. This one is a momentous one, too, as it means I've reached the century mark in terms of podcasts posted! Here's hoping you've enjoyed some of them.