( 7 reviews )
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Posted: Sep 21 2008
This is a delightful book about an abuela's preparations for her granddaughter's birthday. She is diligently making her preparations during the week, but she keeps encountering setbacks, like a missing napkin, missing candles, and most of all, missing mousetraps. "No importa," she says, it's not important, she always manages a solution. What is important is having her family and celebration, not the individual trappings. I love the way Ryan sprinkles Spanish words in her text, in a way that is comfortable for english speakers but will also bring the story home for spanish speakers. I admire the grandmother's easy, low key reaction to each setback, and her clever problem solving - arranging 6 candles in the shape of a 7, and I talked about that with my daughter, about how she didn't have to be upset even though things weren't perfect. We loved the book: the funny mice, the wonderful illustrations, and the sweet story. We read it three times in a row because it was so much fun.
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Posted: Dec 29 2007
I read this book to my class of 1st grade students, many of whom are bilingual (Spanish/English). They really enjoyed this story upon first reading and re-reading. The plot and drawings allow the students to make predictions about what is going to happen next - thus allowing them to interact with the book in a dynamic way. The scattering of Spanish words and Latino/a culture helped to encourage the interest of my student - both those who are Latino/a, and those who are not. Overall, it is a cute, fun, sweet story about a loving and forgetful grandmother preparing a birthday party for her granddaughter.
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Posted: May 22 2004
My children, now 6.5 years, have loved this book since they were 4. It's simply and wonderfully written, has a number of great messages between the lines, introduces non-Latino kids to a bit of language and culture, and the illustrations are delightful as well as quite brilliant. We notice new things in the pictures every time we read it, which adds a treasure-hunt aspect to our readings. This is one of my daughter's all time favorite books.
