When the Pigs Took Over by Arthur Dorros, illustrated by Diane Greenseid
When the Pigs Took Over is a story of two brothers who operate a restaurant in a small Mexican village. The older brother, Don Carlos, always wants more (más) of everything. One day he decides to add snails to his restaurant menu. Of course he gets too many snails which causes more and more problems for the village. Eventually the younger brother, Alonzo, saves the day for the village.
This is a cute and funny story. It is also good introduction to the Spanish language (a glossary is included for the eight Spanish words and phrases that are introduced). The illustrations are quite comical as Greenseid attempts to fit more snails, pigs, and birds into each and every picture. Kids will enjoy studying the pictures to see some of the strange places where the animals find themselves.
Ages: 3-8
Keywords: Brothers, Animals, Mexico, Spanish language, Self-control
Lesson Plan Ideas: Math: For younger children have them count the number of snails, pigs, or birds on a single page. For older children have them create a pictograph of the number of snails, pigs, and birds in the book.
This is a cute and funny story. It is also good introduction to the Spanish language (a glossary is included for the eight Spanish words and phrases that are introduced). The illustrations are quite comical as Greenseid attempts to fit more snails, pigs, and birds into each and every picture. Kids will enjoy studying the pictures to see some of the strange places where the animals find themselves.
Ages: 3-8
Keywords: Brothers, Animals, Mexico, Spanish language, Self-control
Lesson Plan Ideas: Math: For younger children have them count the number of snails, pigs, or birds on a single page. For older children have them create a pictograph of the number of snails, pigs, and birds in the book.
3 Comments:
I just want to say that I love your blog. I ran across it when I clicked on the children's literature link in my profile. This sounds like an amazing book to read to future class of mine. In the first-grade class I just completed my student teaching with, there were 6 students who spoke Spanish as their native language and had a hard time understanding English when spoken at school. I know a book like this one would help them to feel comfortable and understand that their language is accepted in the classroom. I have to check it out. Thanks for sharing and publishing such a useful resource. Keep up the good work, as I will come to rely on recommendation sources such as this one in my future teaching career.
Thank you very much for your kind thank you note. It is reassuring to know that someone is actually paying attention to what I am doing.
I used to teach 4th grade in the Washington, DC area and a large portion of my class was made up of native Spanish speakers, so I know the struggle you that it can be. I think it is great that you are working to connect with those children with the use of stories with Spanish. Another thing you will find is that the other kids in your class will love to learn the Spanish words and phrases also. Everyone
wins!
Here are two other stories with Spanish words that I reviewed previously that you might enjoy:
http://booksforkids.blogspot.com/2004/08/my-pig-amarillo-by-satomi-ichikawa.html
http://booksforkids.blogspot.com/2004/09/skippyjon-jones-by-judy-schachner.html
I personally enjoyed Skippyjon Jones very much (especially if you are willing to make a fool out of yourself while reading it) and every child that I have read it to has also enjoyed it. Some might think the story promotes Mexican stereotypes, but I read the book more as filled with a youngster's beginning imagination (which is often flawed). Read the book for yourself, before deciding to read it to a class.
Now that I know there is a reader out there who enjoys the books with some Spanish, I will attempt to include them more frequently. I also try to include other books with multi-cultural themes, not so much to be politically correct I just really like a wide variety of stories.
If you have any good suggestions for books that you think I should review please don't hesitate to tell me.
Congratulations on finishing you student teaching, and good luck as you begin your teaching career!
Hi there, just wanted to say thank you for including our book on your blogsite! I'm the illustrator of this book, and it's fun to read your nice comments.
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