Let's Eat! - Hardcover

Zamorano, Ana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590134442 ISBN 13: 9780590134446

Publisher: Scholastic, 1997

Synopsis

Enjoying the tempting dishes that his mother prepares every day, from chick pea soup and empan+a1adas to sardinas and roast pollo, Antonio helps his other family members prepare a feast when his mother has a baby.

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Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2. This charming debut from the daughter of illustrator Julie Vivas is just right for story time. Little Antonio introduces his extended family and explains that Mama is the biggest because "she is going to have a baby any day now." Everyday she sends the boy to gather the family for their midday meal. On Monday, Papa can't leave his busy carpentry shop. On Tuesday, his sister Alicia is learning to dance the sevillanas for the summer fiesta. Day after day, when there is an empty seat at the table that Papa built and Mama has filled with inviting food, she sighs, "Ay, que pena! What a pity." Eventually, it is Mama herself who is missing because it's time for her to have baby Rosa. Children will delight in Antonio's grown-up responsibilities and enjoy the comfortable but unique predictability of the text. They will understand exactly how Antonio feels when he sighs, "Ay, que pena!" because it's Mama's chair that's empty. While not specified, the setting is obviously Spain and several Spanish words, primarily related to food, are interspersed. The vibrant watercolor illustrations are accentuated by a crisp white background. As in Mem Fox's Possum Magic (Harcourt, 1990) and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Kane/Miller, 1985), Vivas's distinctive style is unmistakable. This is one happy, active family and the pictures exude warmth and vitality.?Alicia Eames, Brooklyn Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a winning celebration of the many loving circles of relationships in an extended family, newcomer Zamorano and veteran Vivas have collaborated on a snapshot of two weeks in the lives of a large Spanish clan. Antonio, the narrator, is the smallest, and ``Mam  is the biggest. She is going to have a baby any day now.'' Every day at two o'clock, the family gathers at the big wooden table in the kitchen for a meal: ``When we are all at the table Mam  is happy.'' On Monday, one of the seven chairs is empty because Pap  must work. ``Ay, qu‚ pena,'' sighs their mother. ``What a pity.'' A different person is absent each subsequent day. On Saturday, the missing person is Mam , who has gone to the hospital to have a baby girl. It is Antonio's turn to sigh at the empty chair: ``Ay, qu‚ pena!'' Two weeks later they're all together again, and Mam  sighs, ``Qu‚ maravilla! How wonderful that everyone is eating together!'' Set in the author's native Spain, there is an effortless use of Spanish words and phrases (a glossary is included) throughout this enveloping and big-hearted book. Vivas's handsome, stylized watercolors make use of rounded forms- -bowls, table, Mama's belly, and, finally, the small head of Rosa, the new baby--to convey the warmth of the family circle. Qu‚ maravilla, indeed. (Picture book. 4-7) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 3^-7. A menu of traditional dishes--identified in the glossary at book's end--is presented within the context of the daily lives of a large and loving Spanish family. Each day of the week, Mam serves gazpacho or empanadas or sardinas or pollo to her family when it gathers around the large table at two every afternoon. But Mama sighs, "Ay quepena! (What a pity)" each day when, for one reason or another, a family member misses the meal--Papa is busy with work on Monday, sister Alicia is learning to dance the sevillanas on Tuesday, Granny is picking tomatoes from the garden on Thursday, and so on. Then Saturday, it is Mam 's chair that's empty--she is at the hospital giving birth to baby Rosa. The following Sunday, however, the newly expanded family gathers once more to prepare and enjoy paella together. Vivas' active, affectionate characters happily help serve and share their dinners around their healthfully laden table. The jovial watercolors add zest to Zamorano's first and flavorful book. Ellen Mandel

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590134442
• ISBN 13: 9780590134446
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32