Review by Booklist Review
PreS. The bright, beautiful oil-wash illustrations for these 15 lullabies, nursery rhymes, and finger-play games reflect the diversity of the Latino experience. The settings vary-- from city streets to picking fields; from cozy bedroom to library, school, art gallery, and grocery store--and the caregivers who soothe the children in the pictures include mother, father, sibling, and grandparent. The bilingual text appears first in Spanish, with the English translation beneath or by its side, and most selections are accompanied by instructions for a finger-play. Musical notation and comments about the melodies are at the back. A native of Puerto Rico, editor Delacre lives in Maryland, and she draws the songs from 14 different countries to show and tell about children who grow up learning and loving two cultures and two languages. Some of the verses don't rhyme in translation, but in the best of them, the rhythm and poetry travel with music and fun. --Hazel Rochman Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Lulu Delacre collects and illustrates comforting lullabies, in Spanish and English, in Arrorro, Mi Nino: Latino Lullabies and Gentle Games. The rhythmic poems-presented side by side in both languages-also offer a line of simple instructions for how to play games with each. The end of the book provides sheet music (with arrangements by Cecilia Esquivel and Diana Saez) so youngsters can sing along with the rhymes. Full-bleed spreads and panel illustrations convey many tender moments, such as toddlers sleeping on luminous clouds set against a rich blue sky in "Lindo Angelitos" ("Lovely Little Angels"). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Intended to be used by adults as they sing young children to sleep, this book presents 15 lullabies and fingerplays collected from 14 different countries. Fingerplay instructions, where applicable, are printed underneath the rhymes in italics. The short, rhythmic compositions are accompanied by large watercolor illustrations showing Hispanic mothers and children. Warm colors and nurturing situations work well with the rhythms of the lullabies to produce a reassuring whole. Music for the melodies is given for 11 of the offerings, scored for the original Spanish versions, but with English translations given in the wide left margin. While this is a sound enough offering, it suffers in comparison to Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy's aP'o Peep! (HarperCollins, 2003), which is more engagingly illustrated and boasts inspired English translations that use truly poetic approximations to retain the sense of the original. More often than not, Delacre is completely literal in her translations, which results in an English version that seems stiff and unappealing; the lyrics have the flatness of bald statement rather than the rhythm of a lullaby. Still, there is room for this title in most collections that serve Latino populations. It could be added to such venerable standards as Jose-Luis Orozco's Diez deditos (Dutton, 1997) or Margot C. Griego's Tortillitas para Mama and Other Nursery Rhymes (Holt, 1981) to offer parents an intriguing set of rhymes for rocking their toddlers to sleep. (c) Copyright 2010. 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 Horn Book Review
(Preschool) In the foreground of the cover illustration, a mother is shown cradling her infant, but not in the nursery--she is standing in a field, while farm workers in the background are picking the crops that spread out in green rows behind her. In a gift to mothers everywhere, Delacre includes all of the best known lullabies from the Latino culture--a veritable Latina Mother Goose. The fifteen lullabies and fingerplays are presented bilingually, and the English versions are literal translations of the original Spanish, some of which work better than others. ""Pat-a-Cake"" doesn't have the hand-clapping rhythm of the Spanish original, ""Tortita,"" and the lack of rhyme in the English verses throughout limits the book's appeal. However, the literal translations will make this book useful for bilingual literacy and for young English speakers trying to learn Spanish. Delacre's oil wash illustrations capture many lovely scenes of mothers and grandmothers with young children. The pictures also offer glimpses of Latino life, from markets to playgrounds to fields to a librarian sharing a rhyme at a storytime. Instructions for the fingerplays are printed below the rhymes; for those rhymes that have known melodies, the music is included at the end of the book. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Warm illustrations with earth-toned backgrounds and more brightly dressed characters provide settings for this collection of 15 Spanish-language nursery rhymes. Delacre offers an English version of each rhyme--most in free rather than rhyming verse; some more literal than others--and, at the back, musical settings for 11 of them. Several are pat-a-cake-style rhymes, involving hand movements and basic rhythms. Others end with a child-pleasing tickle under the arm, and others are for soothing hurts or preparing a child for bed. Given the mostly free-verse settings of the English versions, these will be more useful as guides for non- or limited-Spanish speakers who want to use the Spanish, rather than as free-standing poems for chanting together. A tender collection, most welcome for the home and perhaps also appropriate for some daycare or lapsit settings. (Poetry. 0-5) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
