by Jose Carlos (Illustrator), Kelly Carlos (Author)
Children will love this cultural twist to the classic rhyming tale, There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly. While the vivid illustrations teach us about the food chain of Northern Mexico's desert fauna, the text reminds us of the endearing term "ito", that Mexican Spanish inherited from its ancient Aztec culture. Although the direct translation of "ito" after any noun means "little", it also gives the word a loving quality (i.e. just as the Aztecs added the end phrase "tzin" to denote "venerable"). The Abuelito who Swallowed a Mosquito embraces the current "Spanglish" phenomenon. Most schools here in the U.S. teach proper English and proper Spanish in their curriculums (rightfully so ). Spanglish, however, is a common reality in millions of households throughout America. Whether your student is bilingual, or learning Spanish, this rhyming and sequenced prose will encourage children to participate in the reading. And most importantly, they will have fun So let's go see what that crazy abuelito is up to...