Oh No, Gotta Go!

My 3 y/o loves this book! It made me happy when she told me one day, "Mom I have to go to the bagno!" The rhyming story is great with a spanish word at the end of the line!

I'm a elementary school librarian and happened to pick this book up in the bargain bin at a discount bookstore. What a great find! I read it to my 1-3 grade classes and they LOVED it. English learners love that there is some spanish and English speakers liked learning a little spanish. That the spanish rhymes is a big plus. Of course, most kids can completely relate to being on a car trip and suddenly having to go to "el bano".

A humorous story about a young girl who has to go to the bathroom "rapido". They are riding in the car and the daughter announces that she needs a bathroom. The story brings the car and the parents through town, in search of "un bano". One of the huge attractions of this story is the fact that it is a K-3 book with stores, buildings, colors, and common greetings which are all written in Spanish. Because it rhymes we are able to determine the pronunciation of most of the words: because of the paintings and context clues, we are able to determine the meanings of the Spanish words. The glossary and pronunciation guide contains spelling and translations of fifty-two words and phrases. This picture book will be a marvelous addition to the bi-lingual classroom. Children who speak or read Spanish will be able to explain greetings, colors and familiar buildings to their English speaking classmates. English speaking children will learn some Spanish and empathy for their ESL friends. The watercolor pictures in the book feature the parents in the front seat and the small girl in the back seat. There are single and double-page spreads, pictures of the girl bordered in flowers and colors. The street scene with buildings labeled in Spanish paints their red car angularly, in the middle of the street, to indicate it does not know which way to go. The double paged line at the bathroom appears interminable with strollers, grandmothers, infants, teens and women of color and diversity. Cut ending!

When we got this book, I thought that it was a cute book and nice the way they had both Spanish and English in the story, but when we brought it home our children just loved it!!! I would recommend this story to anyone it was fun to read to the kids and they enjoyed it as well.

This is a cute book that my six year old son and I got a good laugh from and had to reread immediately. It introduces some basic Spanish words and phrases in rhyme. The pictures are bright and colorful. An easy, fun read.