30 Days of Diverse Picture Books - Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez

It's Day 28 of our 30 Days of Diverse Picture Books. Sprout is fortunate that his school starts teaching Spanish in kindergarten. He absolutely adores it! They have class every Monday and I'll tell you, that kid bounces out of bed Monday mornings so thrilled for school and his Spanish class. As a result we've been seeking out bilingual books whenever possible, to give us more exposure and learning opportunities.

And tonight's pick, Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez, is one of our favorites! I first heard about this title when it won the Pura Belpré Illustration Honor last year, but it had fallen off my radar for a bit. Then Sprout grabbed it off the shelf at a recent visit to the library and we were both hooked - the illustrations are just so darn cute that you can't help but smile from the cover right on through to the last page!

As you might expect, Maria Had a Little Llama is a spin on the familiar nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb", but freshened up and set in Peru, and with a Spanish text added. Maria's llama loves her so much that he follows her to school, where trouble ensues (naturally) and the llama has to be sent out. But no matter, the two friends are soon reunited and the tale ends on a happy note. The story is simple enough to share with littles, but there are lots of points to talk over with older kids as well -- this would be a great springboard into reading about Peruvian culture, for example.

Maria Had a Little Llama is a terrific example of how to refresh a classic story: add a new location, throw in some cultural details and a second language to make the title accessible to a wider range of readers. Add to that the super adorable pictures, and you've got a title that wins on every level!

Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez, published by Henry Holt

30 Days of Diverse Picture Books - Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos by Susan Middleton Elya

It's Day 6 of our 30 Days of Diverse Picture Books. How have you been celebrating Picture Book Month? I hope it's by sharing great titles with kiddos, or even just reading some yourself (or to the cat. . .we won't judge!)

Tonight's pick is one that Sprout's super obsessed with lately - Susan Middleton Elya's Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos. It's not surprising that he loves this book, since one of his favorite things about kindergarten is his weekly Spanish class. And Bomberos is tons of fun to read, so I'm glad to have it in heavy rotation.

Elya's done something really terrific with this book in that she mixes the Spanish throughout without subsequently translating the words. That's great for an emerging reader like Sprout, as it teaches him to interpret the unfamiliar words through the context and pictures. It also makes Bomberos more appealing to bilingual readers, who must cringe at every book that uses a Spanish phrase and follows that right up with English phrase. It also makes the text flow a lot better and doesn't take away from the fun (though there's a glossary with pronunciation guide at the end - super helpful.)

Bomberos is lively and exciting, just right for kids who want to get into the action of firefighting. And thanks to Dan Santat's sly touches with the illustrations (we really love the expressive animals!), this is one picture book that works all the way around. Muy bueno!

Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos by Susan Middleton Elya, published by Bloomsbury

Bookish Halloween Treats

It's a dark and stormy night, just right for writing about Halloween! We're running a bit behind ourselves -- usually by this time we've had a trip to the pumpkin patch and have Sprout's costume sorted out, but not this year. Looks like we've got a busy weekend ahead of us, so it's good that our shelf is stocked with spooky reads to keep us in the mood.

It's no mean feat to find multicultural titles themed around holidays. Seriously, authors and publishers? We would love to see more fun, engaging holiday books with diverse characters, and I know we aren't alone! Luckily the library came to our rescue yet again, for some Halloweeny goodness picture-book style. Most of these are older books -- if you have trouble finding them, I'd suggest a trip to the library or used bookstore near you.

First up is Celie and the Harvest Fiddler by Vanessa and Valerie Flournoy. Celie plans to make a grand entrance with her very spooky costume, but things don't quite turn out like she wants. Then an encounter with the mysterious Fiddler nets Celie a magical mask that grants her Halloween wish -- with some very unintended consequences. Can Celie get the Fiddler to help reverse the mask's magic? This is a longer story great for older preschoolers and elementary ages, and its historical setting comes to life with paintings by the amazing James E. Ransome. Just the right blend of mystery and magic!

For kiddos who aren't so excited about spooky sights on Halloween night, Catherine Stock's Halloween Monster is a perfect reassurance. Tommy likes some things about Halloween, but he's really pretty scared to see witches, ghosts and monsters. . . scared enough that he doesn't even want to go trick-or-treating with his friends. But once Mom explains that all those ghosts and witches are just children all dressed up, well, then Tommy thinks he might want to give it a try himself. And soon he's transformed into a Halloween monster - just in time to go trick-or-treating with his friends! I love the simple story here, and it's been great to calm Sprout's apprehensions about spooky things. Now he can't wait for us to get his ghost costume ready!

And speaking of spooky things, Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes is just right for those braver little ones who like a bit of thrill. Weaving Spanish words into her text about skeletons dancing under the harvest moon and witches flying through the night sky, Montes paints a pretty scary picture of one fantastic Halloween ball. But even the monsters and mummies are scared of something -- you guessed it, trick-or-treaters! (Maybe the monsters ran out of candy?) Yuyi Morales' pictures add the perfect setting to this rhythmic tale. And while the translations of Spanish words might impede the flow of the text a bit, it's still nice to see some cultural nuance to the Halloween canon.

For another cultural take, try Yangsook Choi's Behind the Mask. This is a moving intergenerational story that just happens to be set around Halloween. Kimin misses his grandfather, but he's afraid to look for costume makings in his grandfather's old trunks, as his mom suggests -- mostly because the last time he saw Grandfather at the trunks, he looked really scary! But then Kimin begins to investigate, and he discovers that his grandfather was a mask dancer, and he wore tal, special masks for use in the dance. Soon Kimin figures out why Grandfather looked so scary, and he has an idea for a Halloween costume like no other. I love the way the multi-talented Choi blends traditions from Kimin's home in America with elements from his Korean heritage. Children whose lives merge multiple cultures will appreciate this sensitive tale, and it's also a terrific look at the customs of Korean folk dancing.

And for the littlest ones, there's Sweets and Treats by Toni Trent Parker. I love this one because there's nothing babies love more than looking at photos of other children - Sprout was mesmerized by books like this. It's hard to find books like this, though, that aren't heavily populated by white faces. Parker's all-brown-skinned cast of characters includes a princess, a pumpkin and a very hearty pirate, every one of whom shines in their festive Halloween garb. Parker's other titles include books about Easter, Christmas and Valentine's Day - worth hunting these down for those who want a bit more color on their holiday bookshelves.

This Halloween, curl up with your little ghost or goblin, a big mug of hot cocoa and one of these delicious bookish treats. It doesn't get much sweeter than that!

Easy Readers - The "Max" Series by Adria F. Klein

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there is a huge need for early reader books featuring characters of color. Series titles in particular are thin on the ground. If you don't believe me, take a look at your local library or bookstore next time. Beyond Diego and Dora, and the occasional Little Bill title, it's pretty darn white over in the easy readers. And yes, I realize that there are excellent choices like "Frog and Toad" and "Little Bear" - but there's also a real lack of representation of diversity in this section of most collections.


Enter Adria F. Klein, a professor in the Education department at California State University and the author of the Max books, published by Picture Window Books. These are entries in the "Read-it! Readers" series, a set of leveled readers that is similar to "I Can Read" or "Step into Reading". The Max titles we've read are at the beginning end of the spectrum: purple and red, the first two steps in the "Read-it!" system.

There's a lot to love about Max. For starters, here's a character with some color! The Library of Congress info page lists Max as "Hispanic-American", which fits, but quite frankly Sprout thinks Max looks just like him, and we are good with that. In the titles we've read there aren't any cultural details clearly linking Max to a particular ethnicity, though if there were we'd welcome that too. What's important is that for once we have a series character of color who is book-based only. Love it! And bonus: many, if not all, of the Max titles are available in bilingual English/Spanish editions. Whether your focus is bilingual education or ESL, these books provide a high-quality option.

So far we've read three Max titles: Max Goes to School, Max Goes to the Barber and Max and the Adoption Day Party. Each one is charmingly simple, with vivid and bright illustrations that support the text in meaningful ways. These are great books not only for fostering reading readiness and supporting emerging readers, but also for introducing kids to new and different situations. Sprout's fascinated by the School title, as it walks kids through the essentials of Max's day: meeting his teacher, finding his desk, eating his lunch, playing at recess. Adoption Day Party provides a basic familiarity with adoption celebrations; while it focuses more on the party aspect rather than on the notion of what adoption means, the book's greatest strength comes from showing that being adopted doesn't mean you're different from everyone else.

A quick online search reveals lots more titles in the Max series. Name a situation, and Max probably has it covered, from staying overnight to going to the dentist to taking his dog to the vet. Fortunately our library carries several Max titles. If yours doesn't, I'd strongly recommend making a purchase suggestion, as these provide much-needed depth and diversity to the early reader section. We're looking forward to exploring more titles with Max -- can't wait until Sprout's reading these to me on his own!