My First Book of Proverbs / Mi primer libro de dichos

An English/Spanish collection of popular Mexican American dichos, or proverbs, each exuberantly illustrated in colorful folk-art style, exhibits the wisdom, optimism, and joy embodied in the Hispanic culture.

Grade 2-5-Vibrant yellows, reds, oranges, greens, and blues decorate the pages of this collection of 27 Mexican dichos (proverbs). Except for a brief bilingual introduction by Sandra Cisneros, the text is comprised of the sayings themselves, in both English and Spanish. A few will be familiar to American children, such as "The early bird catches the worm" and "It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease," but most of the selections are uniquely Mexican: "What you don't like in others could be in your own house," "A good rooster can crow anywhere," and "Small, but very hot." The folk-art cartoons and dichos work together to reveal some typical aspects of this culture. Children will love the energetic paintings and amusing sayings, whether or not they understand the original Spanish.?Denise E. Agosto, Midland County Public Library, TX
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Brilliantly hued, precariously naif paintings-somewhere between a Southwestern sensibility and the look of urban graffiti-illustrate this slight roundup of 27 Mexican American dichos. Each expression is reproduced in Spanish (in a banner within the art) and in English (within the lower portion of the inventive borders). Though some of these brief sayings qualify as "proverbs," others snippets may baffle youngsters: e.g., "Small but very hot"; "You only visit the cactus when it's bearing fruit." And several dichos, though comprehensible, fall into the category of just plain silly ("Pig out while you have the chance"). Others are woodenly translated ("Quien canta su mal espanta" becomes "Sing every day and chase the mean blues away"). A worthy idea for a book, yet unfortunately the dicho featured on the back jacket seems prophetic: "It's a long way from the saying to the doing." Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.