Bebé Goes Shopping

I read books like this to my Story Hour kids when the theme is Mexico or Cinco de Mayo etc. this one is my very favorite!! Especially when Bebé is eating animal crackers. The kids easily can figure out what the Spanish words mean by Elya’s clever placement and the illustrations. So very well done! ¡Mí favoríto!

This is a great book for introducing Spanish to younger kids. Even if your knowledge of Spanish is limited to a couple of classes you took as a gen ed requirement, you can read this to your kids easily.

Caring for young children often entails bringing them along to the grocery store for food shopping, an adventure in patience as well as an opportunity for learning. This brightly illustrated book cleverly combines these types of experiences for mother and child as Mamá takes Bebé to the supermarket to purchase the household groceries. Bebé, not content to take in the sights sitting still, helps himself to anything he can reach until Mamá keeps his hands and imagination busy with a box of animal crackers. This lively book not only does an excellent job weaving Spanish vocabulary into the text, it also incorporates some key economic concepts related to consumers and markets.

When Bebe goes to the supermercado with his mama, he gets into mischief, eats animal crackers, and gets a balloon. The brief, rhyming text, with one or two couplets per page, contains a variety of Spanish words, and the author includes a glossary in the back with translations and phonetic pronunciation. The lively, brightly colored artwork, done in gouache, watercolors, colored inks, and colored pencils, moves the action along quickly, and the characters' whimsical, almost cartoon-like design will appeal to children of all ages. The exaggerated artwork is particularly effective when Bebe chases a gigantic bear animal cracker with a bite already out of it--"Mama checks her watch as Bebe eats an oso, so grumbly and growly--so delicioso!" Children will identify with the everyday activity of a trip to the supermarket, and parents will certainly identify with the challenge of shopping with active toddlers. A charming book suitable for ages 2 and up, particularly two to five.

My 20 month old daughter loves this book! She likes the pictures and hearing about Bebe's fantastico day at the market. This book is written extremely well and incorporates Spanish words perfectly into this story that all parents are so familiar with. My daughter has started repeating some of the Spanish words from the book-which I think is great. I would recommend this book to anyone-especially Hispanic famillies who can just hear their own mother yelling at them, "Cuidado!"

This is a delightful mix of language (Spanish and English) with a great adventure in a supermarket (supermercado), as a young mother takes her baby to shop the colorful aisles of the store, every bright color catching his eye and stimulating him to touch and explore. The illustrations are rich and energetic; as the text uses unfamiliar words, the art work easily indicates the context, making critical connections for young readers. Adding to the fun of the adventure, the text is rhymed, the Spanish words sprinkled among the English, the result a potpourri of sounds to tickle the palate and engage the imagination. The baby (Bebe) is attracted to everything he sees, eager to smell and touch and play with and eat, his mama scrambling to keep some things out of reach, while offering him those that are safe for little hands, "Cuidado (careful)!" Squealing with delight, baby and mother have a grand adventure, doing the most ordinary of chores; but from the perspective of the child, the world has suddenly expanded to include the magic of shelf after shelf of new things. Given a sorpressa (surprise), after a helping hand from mama to open the box of animal cookies, baby devours a leon (lion) and an oso (bear). The end of the book has a helpful glossary to wed the Spanish with the English words, even the correct pronunciation. This book is a delightful introduction to the Spanish use of familiar words, combined with a cheerful and loving mother and baby, the happy pairing of two cultures. Luan Gaines/ 2006.