Laughing Tomatoes and Other Spring Poems / Jitomates Risuenos y otros poemas de primavera

Rating:
Summary: What a find!
Review: As a bilingual teacher I was thrilled to discover such a wonderful book. It can be compared to Carmen Lomas Garza's book, Family Pictures. The author, Francisco X. Alarcon weaves cultural, historical, spiritual and nature themes into poems that sing from the page, touch the soul and even inspire reflection. Each poem shares a snapshot of life - bringing back some of my personal memories. The bright, colorful illustrations by Maya Gonzalez complement the poems and further bring them to life with a Latin flair. My sixth grade students enjoyed this as well as my four year old nephew. I am sure it will become a timeless treasure in everyone's library.

Rating:
Summary: Colorful celebration of life!
Review: My third grade students loved this book! Only a handful are English language Learners but all the kids got a kick out of the gorgeous illustrations and the fun poetry. We read the poems together in both English and Spanish and the kids had fun painting their own impressions of the poetry. I strongly recommend this book for any K - 6 classroom!