Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo!

April 28, 2014
Chico Canta, the youngest of 12 mouse siblings, saves the day thanks to his ability to “speak” Dog, proving just how important being multilingual can be. The father-daughter team of Mora and Martinez adapt their story from a Mexican folktale, and Carling’s mixed-media paintings create a cozy Latin American environment for Chico’s family, which lives and performs in an old theater. Despite threats from Little Gato-Gato the cat and Chico’s overall distractibility, the Cantas’ performances go off without a hitch. Spanish and Italian words are scattered throughout, giving readers a chance to pick up new words themselves. Ages 4–7.

March 1, 2014
A little mouse's foreign-language skills save his family from a cat in this mother-daughter debut. Reworking a Cuban folk tale (available in another version by Antonio Sacre and Alfredo Aguirre as The Barking Mouse, 2003), the authors introduce opera-loving mouse Mrs. Canta and her large family. Mrs. Canta speaks Cricket, Spider and Moth, as well as several human languages, so when the youngest, Chico Canta, echoes her "Dulces suenos, sweet dreams," she exclaims "Bilingual" in approval. But Chico speaks more than just two languages, as he proves when a family production of Three Little Pigs is nearly spoiled by Little Gato-Gato and he leads the audience in a loud chorus of "Bow-wow! Bow-wow! Bow-wow!" that averts the threat. Everyone cheers: "Bilingual!" (Mora explains in an afterword that the term was chosen to "move the story along" and invites adult readers to introduce a more accurate one when appropriate). Seeing the head of the Big Bad Wolf costume hanging from a nail like a trophy in one scene may give viewers a brief turn, but in general, Carling's illustrations capture the well-told story's sweetly spirited tone, with views of tiny mice in colorful costume scampering about and away from a much larger but obviously young ginger kitten. Food for thought for monolingual mouselings--not to mention their parents and teachers. (afterword) (Picture book/folk tale. 5-8)

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September 1, 2014

K-Gr 2-The Cantas, who live in an old theater, love the performing arts and are proud of being bilingual. In fact, Mrs. Canta speaks Spanish, English, Italian, Cricket, Spider, and Moth. After taking her dozen little mice (ninos) to see The Three Little Pigs, they prepare to put on their own play. However, her littlest mouse, Chico Canta, is not always where he is supposed to be, and he has an important role in the performance. In the end, he cleverly saves them from Little Gato-Gato. The illustrations, done in watercolor and mixed media, are colorful and fun to look at against the crisp white backgrounds. The animals' expressions make them endearing to readers. The text is fairly lengthy, making it more suitable for one-on-one reading rather than group sharing. The story celebrates bilingualism and shows how having dual (or multilingual) language skills might just save the day. A good supplemental purchase, especially for libraries providing service to children in bilingual or immersion programs.-Maricela Leon-Barrera, San Francisco Public Library

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