BOOK FIESTA!

Mora, Pat. Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day; Celebremos El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros. Bilingual ed. ABRIL: Rayo, 2009. ISBN 978-0-06-128877-7

PLOT SUMMARY:
A bilingual (Spanish and English) picture book celebrating Children's Day/Book Day; El Dia de los Ninos/ El Dia de Los Libros. Children celebrate the holiday by embracing their favorite books. Through children's imaginations, reading takes place everywhere from inside a whale to inside a submarine.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
On April 30, 1996, Pat Mora organized the first Day of the Books to coordinate with the Day of the Child. This book is a perfect introduction to students, teachers, and librarians to get their creative juices flowing. After reading the book, everyone will want to embrace their own Day of the Books! The book is truly bilingual, with most double page spreads having English on one side, and the Spanish on the opposite page. The multiculturalism shown in the illustrations is what makes this book so special. The children are depicted from many different cultures, and all are shown enjoying reading. There is even a child in a wheelchair. Even the books are multicultural if you look closely; many of the covers show Chinese characters or Spanish words. The bright, vivid paintings show expression. Different cultures are evidenced in the paintings, from houses and animals of different backgrounds, to different parts of the world. At the end of the night the children read to the moon; letters hang down from the moon (READ BOOKS) while the boy reading in the house has letters leaving his window and snaking up to the night sky.

After the story, Pat Mora offers suggestions to parents, schools and libraries to start their own Children's Day/Book Day; El dia de los ninos/ El dia de los libros. She calls the celebration a Book Fiesta. Pat Mora's webpage is also mentioned (www.patmora.com). Through her webpage, readers can get many further ideas to celebrate as well.

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

ALA-Pura Belpre Award winner
School Library Journal:
His upbeat iconic style shows how much fun this celebration can be and portrays round-faced kids reading to a variety of pets and riding an elephant or sailing with a whale. Students will be encouraged to join in the book-based activities. This lively selection will motivate and excite children about the adventures they can go on through reading.

Booklist:
The straightforward, bilingual text in Spanish and English is beautifully illustrated in bright, bold, acrylic paintings that integrate books and letters into timeless scenes of multicultural children cavorting, exploring, and, of course, reading.

CONNECTIONS:

* Plan and organize a Children's Day/Book Day. Decide whether this should be for one class, a grade, or the whole school. Who should organize? Parents? Teachers? Students? Find ideas on Pat Mora's webpage (www.patmora.com). The ideas are limitless! Start small and add on each year. Generate excitement!

* Do you have Spanish speakers in your class? If so, have them help read the Spanish translations. Talk about the differences between English and Spanish, such as the accents over certain letters. What do they mean and how do you read them? Are there any of these in the English language?

* Try translating a simple children's book into Spanish. Have Spanish speakers help you or use a Spanish dictionary. You can also use online translators such as babelfish. Have students illustrate their new books. Either have each student create their own book, have small groups work together, or have each student responsible for one page. These would be fantastic to display at an Open House or for Children's Day/Book Day on April 30.