Senor Pancho Had a Rancho - Hardcover

Colato Laínez, René

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0823426327 ISBN 13: 9780823426324

Publisher: Holiday House, 2013

Synopsis

When it comes to having fun, everyone speaks the same language!


"Old MacDonald Had a Farm" goes multicultural in this rollicking Spanish-English rendition. An abundance of onomatopoeia and tongue-twisters encourages children to laugh and sing along. The colorful illustrations perfectly match the silly text, comparing the two farms and their playful, singing animals.

The barnyard animals on Old MacDonald's and Señor Pancho's farms have a hard time communicating. MacDonald's rooster says cock-a doodle-doo! while Señor Pancho's gallo says quiquiriquí. The English-speaking chick says peep, peep, but el pollito says pio, pio. Then the cow says moo—and la vaca says mu! Maybe they're not so different after all! The animals come together for a barnyard fiesta in a celebration of languages.

A pronunciation guide is included for readers and teachers. This book was awarded Bank Street’s Book of the Year.

About this title

About the Author

René Colato Laínez is an award-winning author born in El Salvador. He currently lives in Southern California where he teaches kindergartners in a bilingual classroom. Other titles by René Colato Laínez include ¡Vámonos! Let’s Go! and Mamá the Alien.

Elwood Smith has illustrated more than a dozen books for children, including Zoo Ah-choooo by Peter Mandel. A guitar player, Smith has written songs and two musicals. He lives in the Hudson River Valley.

Reviews

PreS-Gr 1–In this rollicking, sing-along picture book, Colato Laínez tells the story of two neighbors, Old MacDonald and Señor Pancho, pairing a new and vibrant bilingual English-Spanish version (just try to get the catchy “cha-cha-cha-cha-cha” chorus out of your head) with the classic children's song. Just like Old MacDonald, Señor Pancho has a farm bursting with animals. But he speaks Spanish, so his farm is un rancho, his dog is un perro, and his horse says “jii,” not “neigh.” The spreads feature the traditional verse on one side and its bilingual counterpart on the other. Things get really interesting when Señor Pancho's vaca and Old MacDonald's cow teach each other how to “muu” and “moo,” respectively; farm and rancho come together in a celebration of song and dance, with each verse expanding to include all the animals singing together in both languages. The multimedia ink and watercolor cartoons provide a visual feast, striking a solid balance between engaging detail and white space while ably moving the narrative forward. Smith's farmyard animals steal the show; they are full of humor and a playful energy to which young readers will relate. This is an excellent choice for read-alouds, but it also includes a glossary and pronunciation guide, making it useful in one-on-one contexts for young readers looking to develop Spanish vocabulary.–Ted McCoy, Oakland Public Library, CAα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This quirky reworking of Old MacDonald Had a Farm is more than just a Spanish translation—it is the tale of two farmers whose animals are clearly in charge. Señor Pancho and Old MacDonald are neighbors who live similar lives but for the fact that their animals speak different languages. Very little farming actually happens. Instead, dogs / perros bark woof woof and guau guau, sheep / ovejas take singing lessons from cows / vacas, while chicks / pollitos beat drums or shake maracas. Smith’s scraggly pen-and-watercolor art adds to the farm-fiesta frenzy, and young readers will appreciate the joyous, goofy expressions on the animals’ faces. Despite some obvious stereotypes, this humorous rendition of the song should be part of any library where singing is allowed. Each left-hand page features the English verse, while the right-hand page features Pancho’s Spanish counterpart. It ends, however, in a cacophony even the two farmers cannot resist: ¡Vamos a bailar! Preschool-Grade 1. --Amina Chaudhri

Edition details

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823426327
• ISBN 13: 9780823426324
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Smith Elwood
• Number of pages: 32