Niño Wrestles the World

Wow, I really adore this one with its drama and silliness and the embedded Mexican/South American culture. The text styles jump off the page as if an event announcer was calling them into a microphone, but it also has the visual artistry of circus posters—almost causing one to salivate, so effective it is at whetting one’s appetite for entertainment. I love, love, love the clever tricks Niño uses on his “opponents”—and how his little sisters are the ones who almost unmask him.

In his rec room, a mild-mannered niño dons a máscara and strips to his undies, becoming...Niño, the luchador who outwits his otherworldly opponents by cleverly deploying the toys at his disposal. But when his baby sisters' naptime is up, does Niño finally meet his match?

Bright, engaging page design and just the right amount of text make this book a contender for raucous read-alouds. Consider using props to focus the audience interaction: What move will Niño use to win the next bout (puzzle pieces, doll decoys, marbles, popsicle slicks, Legos, cars, baby rattles, tops)?

The whole story is told in the format of the reader witnessing wrestler 'Nino' take down a series of imaginary enemies with the help of the toys in his room. Then he's faced with his strongest enemy yet- his twin infant sisters waking up from their nap. It's not looking too good for Nino, as they "fight", and his only hope at saving himself; is to join forces with them. The message is very clearly pushing the importance of teamwork, a common value amongst childrens literature. The art in this book is unparalleled. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed just staring at this book. It's got very classic comic book-esque elements to it- but with warmer, more vibrant colors, lots of textures, and varying font sizes/colors/styles. If I show more were to pick a true standout of this story it would be that it's a subtle introduction to Mexican culture. Nino isn't just any wrestler, he's a lucha libre. Mask and all. Throughout the book, all of his enemies names are listed in Spanish, and for the most part link directly to Mexican cultural elements (ex: cabeza olmeca). For anyone unaware of the connections the text is making, the book features fighter profiles of all the enemies in the front and back of the book, featuring phonetic spellings for reading the Spanish properly, a brief history fact, and the fighter's "lucha style". The books fun, short, and to the point. show less

With endpapers that introduce some fierce competitors, this picture book also introduces a new luchadore, Nino, in his red mask and competition undies, who is able to take all comers until the arrival of Las Hermanitas. Described as "Twice as terrible, double the diapers!" Las Hermanitas "are rudas," executing their signature cuchi-coo against the outnumbered Nino. "How is Nino going to win this time?"

"Nino Wrestles the World" is pure fun and, with stellar illustrations redolent of lucha libre posters, competitors like "La Llorona" and "Olmec Head," as well as an author's note "About Lucha Libre" at the end, every lucky nino gets a delicious wallop of Latino culture to boot.

With endpapers that introduce some fierce competitors, this picture book also introduces a new luchadore, Nino, in his red mask and competition undies, who is able to take all comers until the arrival of Las Hermanitas. Described as "Twice as terrible, double the diapers!" Las Hermanitas "are rudas," executing their signature cuchi-coo against the outnumbered Nino. "How is Nino going to win this time?"

"Nino Wrestles the World" is pure fun and, with stellar illustrations redolent of lucha libre posters, competitors like "La Llorona" and "Olmec Head," as well as an author's note "About Lucha Libre" at the end, every lucky nino gets a delicious wallop of Latino culture to boot.

A sweet story of a boy, Niño, who is ready to take on whatever comes his way! He battles different characters of Mexican folktales through the book, until he receives help from his two sisters. Then they become a force majeure!

Nino Wrestles the World is a children’s fiction picture book written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. It was published by Macmillan publishers in 2013 and can be used for ages four to eight. This book is about a boy who is pretending to play lucha libre with different rivals and at the end he meets his ultimate match -his little sisters.I liked this book because of the writing and illustration throughout the book. The art is eye-catching and uses vivid colors against a white background and fits the story extremely well. The text format was something I especially liked because it evoked lucha libre and the bold poster type font made me read some of the words in an announcers voice. The writing is engaging and imaginative and is paced show more well. The story is so funny and a lot of fun to read. It is easy to follow as there is not too much text on any page and you are able to read it in a way that flows. I also really appreciated the use of Spanish words throughout and how there were cards for stats on the characters and the pronunciations for their name on the end pages. At the end of the book, there is a short blurb on what lucha libre is. Overall, I enjoyed this book because it offers representation for Mexican students and includes things that they might have grown up hearing about such as, lucha libre or La Llorona and it teaches other kids about something they usually are not exposed to. There is not a specific message this book sends except for maybe “if you can’t beat them, join them” and how nino was hand in hand with his sisters at the end. It does however, expose students to some basic Spanish vocabulary and teaches them a bit about lucha libre. show less