Pura Belpre Award Book

Title: Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day

Author: Pat Mora

Illustrator: Rafael Lopez

Grade Level: Preschool to Grade 3

-This book is better suited for the lower grade levels as the content is focused for younger students. It is written very simplistic with simple sentences and vocabulary. It is also a picture book which focuses a lot on the illustrations to tell the story as well.

Summary: This picture book focuses on the celebration of Children's Day/Book Day. In the book, the characters are celebrating the day by reading in all different possible ways and places. The storyline is mainly focusing on the importance of reading and how fun and exciting it can be. In the book, its shows children reading all over the place as well as listening to different stories. This book uses amazing illustrations to capture the excitement of this celebration as well as to encourage students to drop what they are doing and pick up a book to read.

Classroom Strategies: This book would be a perfect addition to the classroom especially during the time when the celebration is occurring. The book can be introduced while the teacher is talking about the celebration and explaining to the students what takes place during this time. In the classroom, this book would be a great item to focus a lesson on about reading literacy and how exciting and fun it could be. You could read this story to the class, have them write their own description of celebrating the holiday, and then have them draw illustrations to go along. This book is also extremely helpful in the classroom if you have students who speak Spanish and English because it would be a great learning tool for them to compare the different ways to read and enjoy books in both cultures. 

ESOL Strategies: This picture book is such an amazing option for teaching ESOL students about reading. The story focuses on the Children's Day/Book day which would be a holiday they could relate to. The use of English and Spanish language throughout the book allows Spanish speaking ESOL students to be able to follow along with the text as well as be able to then look at the writing written in English where they can practice the pronunciation of the words in English as well as see them written. This side by side comparison of the two languages allows the students to see and practice reading. The amazing illustrations also lend to the students ability to understand the topic. With the extremely detailed illustration, the student is able to form pictures in their head to remember the topic of the book or to remember the English language if they are still working on it.

Read Aloud: I would read aloud this entire book due to the small size of it. There is minimal text throughout the book but the use of the astounding visuals helps to explain the celebration and really lends to the overall comprehension of the book.

Personal Opinion: I really enjoyed reading this picture book because it was a celebration that I was unfamiliar with but really excited to learn about. I loved how the written portions of the book were first presented in English and then in Spanish. I thought this is a great way for Spanish speaking students to learn English and vice versa.