Mama Goose: A Latino Nursery Treasury/Un Tesoro de Rimas Infantiles

I bought this for my daughter who will be studying Spanish in college next year. She loved it. It is a beautiful book at a great price.

In my center we work with many immigrants, especially Spanish speaking immgrants. All of our bilingual staff of parent educators love this book. We are responsible to help these families get their children ready for kindergarten entrance and one of the requirements now is the child has to be able to recite nursery rhymes. Of course the children have no idea what Humpty Dumpty or London Bridge is talking about. So this puts them at a disadvantage. We encourage parents to share these rhymes with their children, which are the rhymes most of the parents grew up with. Nursery rhymes and finger plays, along with the lullabies of childhood become the first forms of wider world language comprehension in the child's brain. They develop sensitivity to sounds of language, variations in those sounds, similarities and differences, build receptive vocabulary. This book with its delightful translations can help both the parent and the child transition from native Spanish language to the target language English, all the while retaining the first culture for both parent and child. Since we all must learn by hanging what we want to know on what we already know, this book is a tool in forming an effective bridge for Spanish speaking families. Some English speaking families are using it also to teach Spanish to their children. I wish there were books like this 14 other languages! Do we know anyone who could write one in Arabic or Mandarin Chinese?

I thought I'd check this out from my local library before purchasing it. There are different sections involving games, finger plays, sayings, nursery rhymes, etc....What you usually get in a book of this type. The illustrations are what make this book interesting. Many bilingual books have really cheap and uninteresting pictures in them. I have several Spanish bilingual children's books and the same stuff is pretty much in all of them. I prefer Jose Luis Orozco as you can get a cd to go with every book. He's a really folksy singer so be prepared. He is the "real deal" though. My little girl likes the cds by Las Gatitas and Cri-Cri also. If you're interested, Pio Peep and Los Pollitos Dicen may be books your little ones would like.

Acclaimed authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy have combined their talents to present a collection of sayings, nursery rhymes, games, and more. MAMA GOOSE: A Latino Nursery Treasury expounds on heritage and how various cultures have contributed to what is now considered Latino tradition or folklore. My favorite portions of the book were the jump rope songs, proverbs, and birthday songs. Remembering my childhood, I was able to revisit some of my favorite songs and compare them to the ones presented in MAMA GOOSE. What I really enjoyed was that the book was written in both Spanish and English, allowing everyone, regardless of background, to appreciate the selections. I enjoyed being a kid again, reading, singing, and playing with the characters of this book. My daughter also loved listening and giving her own renditions of the colorful illustrations drawn by Maribel Suarez. MAMA GOOSE is a wonderful selection I'd recommend adding to any child's library as it's sure to be one of their favorites. Reviewed by Tee C. Royal of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers