¡Marimba!
Written by: Pat Mora
Illustrated by: Doug Cushman
Published by: Clarion Books in NY in 2006
ISBN: 978-0-618-19453-7 / 0-618-19453-3
Genre(s): Picture Book, Concept (Alphabet) Book (Multicultural Work)
Reading Level: Grade 2
Activity Level: Grade 2
Summary: This book is about a monkey who lulls two zookeepers to sleep by singing and then leads a party in the zoo. It links every letter of our alphabet to an animal in the zoo. (For the letters “U” and “X,” the authors uses the fantastical animal the unicorn and the musical instrument the xylophone, respectively.) Although certain words are in Spanish in this book, the non-animal-naming words are in English, much to the advantage of the many teachers who do not speak Spanish. Each animal that the book lists is the Spanish cognate of an animal’s name (illustrated on that page) in English. The animals partake in several activities that are a part of the Hispanic culture such as: dancing la bamba and la marimba, eating enchiladas and flan, making piñatas, etc. Each page in this work rhymes with the next, so it flows very well and has a rather sing-songy appeal to it, with which younger children will absolutely be able to identify and enjoy. This book not only detail animals students are already familiar with, but also introduces them to ones they may not be aware of at all, such as manatees, nutrias, ocelots, quetzals, vicuñas, wapitis, yaks, and zebus/cebúes.
Written by: Pat Mora
Illustrated by: Doug Cushman
Published by: Clarion Books in NY in 2006
ISBN: 978-0-618-19453-7 / 0-618-19453-3
Genre(s): Picture Book, Concept (Alphabet) Book (Multicultural Work)
Reading Level: Grade 2
Activity Level: Grade 2
Summary: This book is about a monkey who lulls two zookeepers to sleep by singing and then leads a party in the zoo. It links every letter of our alphabet to an animal in the zoo. (For the letters “U” and “X,” the authors uses the fantastical animal the unicorn and the musical instrument the xylophone, respectively.) Although certain words are in Spanish in this book, the non-animal-naming words are in English, much to the advantage of the many teachers who do not speak Spanish. Each animal that the book lists is the Spanish cognate of an animal’s name (illustrated on that page) in English. The animals partake in several activities that are a part of the Hispanic culture such as: dancing la bamba and la marimba, eating enchiladas and flan, making piñatas, etc. Each page in this work rhymes with the next, so it flows very well and has a rather sing-songy appeal to it, with which younger children will absolutely be able to identify and enjoy. This book not only detail animals students are already familiar with, but also introduces them to ones they may not be aware of at all, such as manatees, nutrias, ocelots, quetzals, vicuñas, wapitis, yaks, and zebus/cebúes.
The illustrations in this work are very well-done. They are nearly all double-page spreads of vibrant colors of remarkable likenesses of the creatures they depict. Very few of the pages contain white backgrounds, most, instead, contain tera-cotta looking colors, which are, again, akin to the Hispanic nature of this book.
Teaching Connections:
Critical Thinking Questions:
1. Why do you think the money lulls the zookeepers to sleep once each year?
Teaching Connections:
Critical Thinking Questions:
1. Why do you think the money lulls the zookeepers to sleep once each year?
a. Possible answer: He does this so that all of the animals in the zoo can have their annual party!
2. There is a great deal of personification within this book. Some examples of this are when the sloths salsa, the otters make piñatas, gorillas play their guitars, coyotes conga, etc. Does anyone know what that word means? Can you break it down into its root word? Do you hear the word person in it? So, it must have something to do with people. Does anyone now have a guess about what this word could mean?
a. Possible answer: This term means animals acting like humans. The animals take on human characteristics.
3. Outside of what we just read about in this book, explain how some of these animals get along in the wild.
a. Possible answer: These animals are not really friends in real life because the koalas and orangutans would likely be enemies, jaguars would eat birds if they could catch them, lions would prey on llamas, and otters and ocelots would also not be friends.
4. So, if the animals really would not get along in the wild, but they are personified (made to have the actions of people), then what can we as humans learn from this book?
a. Possible answer: We can learn that we all need to be friends with one another and try to get along as best we can and be accepting of others.
Activity:
A teacher could use this book in a second grade classroom. It is an alphabet book, but it is also a book of Spanish and English words and likely contains words that kindergarteners and first graders would not know. A good activity to do with these students regarding this book would be to read this book to them, ask them the above critical thinking questions, and then teach them about English and Spanish cognates. (The teacher can get some information regarding this from the author’s note in the back of the book.) The teacher could have pictures of all of these animals with their Spanish and English names on them in plastic bags for each of her students and give them the opportunity to look at the words and animals and see the difference between the words, if any, in both languages. Then, they could, as a class, read each word in each language and practice their pronunciation skills.
Activity:
A teacher could use this book in a second grade classroom. It is an alphabet book, but it is also a book of Spanish and English words and likely contains words that kindergarteners and first graders would not know. A good activity to do with these students regarding this book would be to read this book to them, ask them the above critical thinking questions, and then teach them about English and Spanish cognates. (The teacher can get some information regarding this from the author’s note in the back of the book.) The teacher could have pictures of all of these animals with their Spanish and English names on them in plastic bags for each of her students and give them the opportunity to look at the words and animals and see the difference between the words, if any, in both languages. Then, they could, as a class, read each word in each language and practice their pronunciation skills.
Once students are familiar with these words, perhaps the teacher could project this book on the board with a document scanner/projector and the class could read it together.
What Students Learn: Although these words are cognates and the majority of them are spelled very similarly in both languages, this activity would be very beneficial because it can help students see slight differences and learn pronunciation in both languages. From this book, the critical thinking questions, and the subsequent activity, students learn about animals that represent all twenty-six letters of our alphabet, the definition of personification, gain a lesson in accepting others, learn a little about the Hispanic culture (because many of the activities in which the animals participate are of that culture), cognates, and how to pronounce several words in Spanish.
Image Retrieved From: http://www.metrolibrary.org/graphics/spotlight/hispanicamerican/2007/easyfiction/marimba.gif
What Students Learn: Although these words are cognates and the majority of them are spelled very similarly in both languages, this activity would be very beneficial because it can help students see slight differences and learn pronunciation in both languages. From this book, the critical thinking questions, and the subsequent activity, students learn about animals that represent all twenty-six letters of our alphabet, the definition of personification, gain a lesson in accepting others, learn a little about the Hispanic culture (because many of the activities in which the animals participate are of that culture), cognates, and how to pronounce several words in Spanish.
Image Retrieved From: http://www.metrolibrary.org/graphics/spotlight/hispanicamerican/2007/easyfiction/marimba.gif
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