Silvia Lopez

A "Hispanic" take on Tikki Tikki Tembo. I really hate that they call it that....but honestly, it was marketed that way.

Me, I love the rhyming names. I see kiddos having so so much fun with the LONG name! I love the Spanish uses for family names instead of "grandma" we have abuela and so forth. I LOVE exposing readers to bilingual phrases. And remember, we never might know who is in our storytime audience.

The illustrations are precious too. I wanted to hang out with Pacho and his brother....Juan

When their first son is born, Mama and Papa can't agree on a name, and ask la familia for help. They end up choosing ALL the sames - but when Pacho Nacho's little brother is born, they can't think of ANY names, so he's just called Juan. When Pacho Nacho falls in the river, Juan runs for help, but before he can get his important message to his mother, father, and the carpenter who has the oars for the boat, he has to say his brother's whole long name.

Lively, clever, and fun. The art reflects show more the Central American setting. See also: Federico and the Wolf by Rebecca Gomez, The Three Billy Goats Buenos by Susan Middleton Elya.

Back matter includes an author's note on the origin and evolution of the story of a kid with a long name (see also: Tikki Tikki Tembo) and a glossary. show less

Another one that tugged at my heart and made me cry. This book is about a little girl coming to terms with her parents adopting another child. The books starts out with her and her parents, and how everything was perfect with just them three. Then, one day, the parents asked how she would feel about expanding the family? She thought they were talking about a puppy, they were most definitely not talking about a puppy, but a new baby sister from Haiti. We go through the little girl's process show more of accepting the new sister, and the very last page the two sisters have a beautiful moment that had me in tears. More and more people are adopting, and having stories like this are vital in a classroom. I loved how patient the parents were and how we see the little girl's character have a change of heart with the help of the adults around her. Both of the little girls have maps in their room and the parents put stars on where they were from and I thought that was the cutest thing ever. Even if a young reader hasn't dealt with adoption, many go through accepting a new sibling and I think this book does a beautiful job of capturing many topics. show less

What a fun little book! It was fun to read Pacho Nacho's long name over and over. You can really feel the frustration of his little brother, Juan trying to get help but forced to say his brother's entire, beautiful name each time he spoke to someone. The illustrations are so cute and the inclusion of the Spanish language sprinkled throughout is a bonus!