Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes: ¡Pío Pío! Canciones infantiles tradicionales Españolas (Bilingual English/Spanish)

Passing along traditional rhymes to a new generation of children is the focus of Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes, selected by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, English adaptations by Alice Schertle, illus. by Vivi Escriva. The 29 rhymes selected here celebrate childhood, from rising with the sun to playing pat-a-cake and other games to a last look at a sleepy mouse: "A sleepy mouse/ began to snore./ This tale is told-/ there is no more." The Spanish rhyme and its English counterpart appear side by side, and bilingual readers may sometimes wonder at the choices made in the English versions, which are not translations but "poetic re-creations." The softly rounded, glowing watercolors depict children mostly in modern dress amid lush natural landscapes. Copyright 2003 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 2-Following in the tradition of Margot Griego's Tortillitas para Mama (Holt, 1995) and Jos -Luis Orozco's Diez deditos (Dutton, 1997) comes this stellar collection of nursery rhymes. Selected from the rich oral tradition of Latin America and the American Southwest, most of the verses are known throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The rhymes cover everything from early morning birds to elephants to angels, and the reason for their enduring popularity is clear. Deeply rhythmic verses, compelling rhyme schemes, and words that "play trippingly on the tongue" characterize every verse. Schertle's excellent English adaptations are not literal translations but poetic re-creations. They retain the rhythm, meter, and general meaning of the originals, making the rhymes as memorable and memorizable in English as they are in Spanish. Escriv 's watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations use brilliant hues and detail to reconstruct a young child's world. Certain to become a staple for preschool and early elementary programs, this offering is also a wonderful, reassuring lap book. A must-purchase for libraries. Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"Delightful"—ALA Booklist