Siesta: Bilingual English-Spanish

PreS. Just as Fiesta! (1996) incorporated Spanish and English numbers into a simple story, this companion uses a bilingual approach to reinforce an understanding of colors. A few brief sentences per spread introduce a brother and sister who are gathering supplies for a mysterious activity: "Algo mas? Anything else? Mi libro amarillo. My yellow book." Highlighted text in the appropriate hue reinforces the color concept, as do Moreno's soft, appealing illustrations, in which the color scheme of each room (a rojo parlor, a verde den, an amarillo library) matches the sought-after item. Finally a beautiful woven anta (blanket), incorporating all the colors previously mentioned, becomes a tent into which the children retreat for their afternoon rest. Both English and Spanish words appear in roman type, making no assumptions about readers' native tongue; this feature, along with the absence of pronunciation guides, suggests the book most strongly to bilingual families, who will welcome something reflecting the fluid integration of languages. Jennifer Mattson
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