The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred is about a farm girl, while cooking, gets help from the farm animals. They gather plenty of different ingredients for her such as arroz, azugar, crema, and other ingredients for the Cazuela and the Arroz Con Leche. I think its important to read about other cultures in the classroom starting at a young age. Having the glossary in the back of the book for the Spanish words, along with a recipe for the Arroz Con Leche helps the students learn about and experience the Spanish culture themselves. Along with that, the illustrations in this book are very colorful and eye catching. Rafael Lopez does a great job of placing certain colors on each page to put emphasis on different parts of the story show more throughout the entire book. show less

I enjoyed this book very much. I enjoyed the illustrations, use of personification, the fact that there were spanish words included, and a glossary at the end where the reader can learn the words. I also enjoyed that story was told backwards in terms of the animals getting the different ingredients ready because I personally felt that it made it more clear to backtrack. For example, they started with the goal churning the butter for the farm maiden cazuela, which means pot, all the way to when the farmer planting the rice. I also enjoyed how the moral of the story was to show how working together and teamwork gets the job done. The animals all worked together to bring ingredients to the farm maiden for her to make arroz con leche, which show more is a traditional Hispanic dessert, for her celebration and everyone was able to enjoy. show less

This book is a tribute to the classic nursery rhyme "The House that Jack Built". It describes the steps the maiden takes to make rice pudding. Repetition appears several times in the book; each time a line is repeated, one of the words is replaced in Spanish. I had to go back a lot to remind myself of what some of the Spanish words meant. Still, I thought this book was fun. I think this book would be great to use for a Spanish lesson. It would also appeal to ESL students. I like that there is a glossary for the Spanish words in case a student doesn't understand what some of the words mean. The illustrations were vibrant and beautiful and I loved the bouncy rhythm of the text.

I really liked this story because it introduced the topic of Spanish cooking and food in a non-traditional way. It showed how the animals all worked together to produce and make arroz con leche for a Spanish family. The book also has the recipe for arroz con leche at the end of the book, which is a popular food in Spanish culture. Children can read this book and then taste the food that was the main focus of the story, which is a fun and culturally engaging activity for them to do.
The book is written in English, but all of the words relating to food are in Spanish. This could help a Spanish child connect to the story and give them context clues to figure out the English words. It could also help English speaking students learn Spanish show more vocabulary relating to food while improving their fluency in reading English, since the majority of the story is written in their native language. There is also a glossary at the back of the book for English speaking students, so every Spanish word in the story has a clear definition to refer to. The illustrations fill every page entirely and there are a lot of vibrant colors. The people and animals in the pictures look very friendly and happy, which keeps children engaged. While there was no conflict or suspense in the plot, it was still an interesting book to read, especially for younger children. The repetition of phrases and the sequencing involved in explaining a recipe will help children improve their fluency skills, so overall this story provides many cultural and educational opportunities to students. show less

Throughout the book, the reader learns about who is contributing to making a recipe that turns out to be rice pudding, or arroz con leche. Every time the author introduces another animal who brings a different ingredient, we learn the Spanish word for them on the following page. It makes this book really exciting to flip back and forth and try to remember the new words learned previously, since the story keeps building on itself. There is also a glossary in the back for quick references and a rice pudding recipe that would be fun to encourage kid's to try. This book would probably not be as exciting for students fluent in Spanish, since this book would be very easy to understand and they probably already know these words, while students show more who are not would be trying to keep track and figure them out. But it is still a way to read about a different culture and encourage student's to want to learn a different language. show less

The best way to pass on tradition, custom, knowledge and history happens when we get together in the kitchen for cooking. And, La Cazuela is written very well because it is written in both English and Spanish about a farmers wife preparing "arroz con leche" and ask the farm animals for help. Illustrations are a asset. The book is also great because its a predictable book and repetitive for beginning or struggling readers but isn't too easy. Best part is at the end author shares a recipe for arroz con leche.
Great way to introduce family history, customs, traditions, folklore, geography, cooking, food.

This multi-cultural book shares many words that I have never heard before. It's a great lesson about how to make rice pudding or "Arroz Con Leche". In the back of the book it has a glossary of Spanish words with their meanings. This is helpful in understanding the story of how the girl makes this recipe. The illustrations are fun with many animals helping out to cook. It's fun and whimsical and also shows another culture in a beautiful way. I enjoyed reading this to my daughter as I want to expose her to many different cultures and ethnic groups. In the classroom, I would love to have many different books from around the world. I would love to have a multi-cultural bookshelf for students to read about far away lands, foods, and culture. show more I think in our global society today, kids are going to be eager to learn about new places and maybe even dream of going there one day too. show less