The Princess and the Pea (bilingual)

                     La Princesa Y El Guisante : By Francesc Boada

This bilingual book is one of many in the "los libros de chroicle/ chronicle books" series.  The publisher released nine other well-known fairy tales in the form of bilingual books. These books "adapted" and illustrated by different authors and illustrators.  Each book contains the same layout and serves a similar purpose: to immerse native Spanish speakers in literacy. The first end pages contain notes to the reader. The beginning note explains the significance of the books purpose while the end note provides information about the illustrator. Both note pages are contained inside a frame and the text is presented in both English and Spanish.  The other end pages contain only the color green and the silhouette of one character riding on a horse at the beginning, and two people riding the same house at the end of the book. This is a technique used by the illustrator to introduce and conclude the plot and story line. 

Each page includes both English and Spanish text; including the title page, advertisement for the other books in the series, and the summary located on the back of the book.  The information page, however, is only written in English.  I was very surprised to see this.  By not including the book information in Spanish, I feel as though the publisher is downplaying the importance of this information while sending the message that their targeted audience is English-speakers. What if a Spanish-speaking parent purchased this book (I purchased mine from Barnes and Noble) for their child and wanted to know a piece of information located on this page? If he or she was unable to read English, the retrieval of this information would be extremely difficult (if not impossible). 

 The book itself is very well designed and organized for both English and Spanish readers.  The illustrations reflect the Hispanic culture while the story adheres to the classic version of the fairy tale. I would use this book in a variety of classrooms. Spanish-speaking students students will be able to understand the language while non-Spanish speakers will be exposed to the Spanish language and culture. 


Too view the other books in the bilingual series or to purchase this book click on the following link:
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/kids-teens/multicultural/hispanic-bilingual