Merry Banks

I really liked this book for a variety of reasons. This is a rhyming book that outlines the preparations for and celebration of the Christmas season, with Spanish words for each letter of the alphabet translated in the glossary. The first thing that made me really enjoy this book was the writing style. I liked how the book was organized in a alphabet format, while at the same time talking about a part of the Christmas holiday that starts with each individual letter. I language of the text show more had a rhyming aspect and I think that's great for kids reading the book because they can get into a rhythm and read along at a nice pace. The final part of the book that I thought was really cool was the glossary at the end of the book. For each word in Spanish throughout the book, there was a description in English in the glossary. This is great way for kids learning Spanish or English because it has text in both languages. show less

I personally thought this book did a wonderful job at merging both the English and Spanish language into one book that will engage all readers. The story's main idea is about a boy's family and how they prepare and celebrate the Christmas (Navidad) holiday. The book does a great job teaching simple Spanish vocabulary words to children that relate to Christmas; its a great introductory book for students that are learning Spanish as well. I would recommend this book to any Spanish teacher to show more use within their class because it does a great job at using the language while teaching students the Spanish alphabet too. The illustrator does a wonderful job at using multiple colors in the illustrations to engage the readers. The illustrator does a good job at capturing the emotion on all the people's faces that match with the text. The author bolds the Spanish words throughout the book to point out to the readers the words that are in Spanish. I like how the author includes a glossary at the end of the book as an added text feature that can help readers translate the words into Spanish to English while reading the book. show less

This title is an alphabet book that celebrates Christmas Latino-style. Each letter introduces a new Spanish word and the illustrations relate that word to a Latino Christmas tradition. At the end there's a nice dictionary of the words with a pronunciation guide. There's also a little bit more information to explain some of the traditions.

The illustrations are angular and kind of blocky, but the colors are vibrant and attention-grabbing. The paint looks thick and very textural. I think it'd show more be a nice title to use as part of a Christmas storytime. It's definitely not too long, and depending on your audience you could spend time talking about how different familys and cultures celebrate Christmas. show less

I liked this book for two reasons. It is written very creatively as a way to display components of Latino Christmas, known as Navidad. It is written with each letter of the alphabet on a page, accompanied by something that begins with that letter and corresponds with celebrating Navidad. For example, “ B is for buñuelos” is the example given for B. I like that the book shows different aspects of the holiday by writing one for each letter of the alphabet.
Next, I liked that this book show more rhymed. For example, A is for angel, hung by Papa. B is for buñuelos”, fried by Mama.” This creativity keeps readers interested while explaining how or why these items are used at Navidad. The phrases were also accompanied by big, colorful pictures which I really enjoyed. The pictures demonstrated to readers what the object being described is. Without the pictures, readers may not know what the word or phrase is.
I think the big idea of this book is to inform readers about traditions or items associated with the Latino holiday, Navidad. Through creative word use and illustrations, I believe this author conveyed this message very well. show less