Review by Booklist Review
This bilingual book of playful rhymes showcases an eclectic cast of competitors presenting their most challenging tongue twisters. Kanellos uses well-known and original twisters in his circus-inspired tournament, where a ringmaster-type emcee welcomes each entrant to the stage. For example, a lizard steps into the spotlight to try out a tongue twister about tornadoes. A chupacabra also takes part in the competition and riddles away on a rhyme about his meal preferences. A beauty queen, a soccer player, and many more take their turns in hopes of winning the trophy. Vega's garish illustrations offer close-ups of the stage and will make young readers feel like they are part of the audience. While tongue twisters are the name of the game, most of the verses fall short and feature loose rhymes instead. The rhythm and wordplay of the Spanish is frequently lost in translation as well. Perhaps the strongest part of the book is the appended anthology of actual tongue twisters written in their original language, which readers can use in their own competition.--Rodríguez, Sonia Alejandra Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A ringmaster in a top hat serves as a guide to the "grand Tongue Twister Tournament," where competitors (including a lizard, chupacabra, and soccer player named Fuchi Futbolista) vie for the grand prize trophy. Readers should enjoy seeing how the rhymes and names change in the English and Spanish versions of each tongue-twister, most of which are twistier in Spanish ("Beto rebota la bola/ la bola que Beto rebota/ rebota la bola Beto/ la bola de Beto rebota"). Vega spotlights each competitor's star moment in posterlike scenes set on a dramatically lit stage, and a closing section of English and Spanish rhymes presents additional tongue-twisting challenges for ambitious readers. Ages 6-10. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-A group of interesting characters come together for a tongue twister tournament in English and Spanish. One character after another presents a tongue twister until, at last, a champion is chosen. Readers will find tongue twisters they are familiar with as well as some that they might never have heard before and will appreciate how well they are translated-an extremely difficult task. The characters-some, like the Chupacabras, will be recognizable from Hispanic folklore-take the stage with uniquely illustrated stage backdrops, and none hide their disappointment when the winner of the trophy is chosen. An anthology of tongue twisters in English and Spanish follows the story. VERDICT A well-translated addition to Spanish and bilingual collections, especially valuable for its recording of traditional tongue twisters.-Selenia Paz, Helen Hall Library, League City, TX © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Words and phrases are bent, massaged, twisted, and thrown together in tricky sequences in this bilingual book about a competition for performers of tongue twisters. With all the text offered in first Spanish, then English, the tournament participantsincluding a soccer player, a cat-wrangling Grumpy Granny, and a chupacabra (the famed Latin American goat-sucking creature)lay down a set of twisty verses. How twisty? "Mara Marufa was roofing her roof / When asked by a roofer: / 'What do you roof, Mara Marufa? / Do you roof your own roof or another's roof?' / 'No, I roof not my roof nor another's roof. / I roof the roof of Mara Marufa." Each text-heavy page of Spanish and English faces a full-page portrait of the tongue-twister creator on stage, which adds a nice dimension of characterization to each offering. But the book's format is so rigid that each introduction is exactly the same, and the winning entry may strike some as far from the best of the bunch. Luckily, the twisters are well-translated; whether in English or Spanish, they read smoothly, and an additional 14 bonus twisters presented in their original languages in the backmatter keeps the fun going. A great read for anyone learning to grapple with the musicality of two languages at once, the book more than makes up for the paltry story with the bounty of tongue-twisting treasures on offer. (Bilingual picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
