The Rainforest Paparazzi / El mono paparazzi (English and Spanish Edition) - Hardcover

Yazmin Ross; Illustrated By: Ruth Angulo; Translated By: Jeana Paul-Urena

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9968960349 ISBN 13: 9789968960342

Publisher: Pachanga Kids, 2008

Synopsis

The Rain Forest Paparazzi is a delightful bilingual book with beautiful illustrations of the Costa Rican rainforest. When a squirrel monkey finds a camera, he begins to take pictures of the rainforest animals in the most inconvenient moments, forcing them to hide or put on disguises. The book is accompanied by a music CD featuring a song in Spanish, along with an English version, as well as an instrumental version for karaoke. The music is interpreted by Juan Carlos Urena and Jeana Paul-Urena, a well known Costa Rican duo.

About this title

About the Author:

Yazmin Ross is originally from Mexico, but has made her home in Costa Rica. She studied and Latin American Sociology and Political Science at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and began her writing career as a journalist for the Agencia Oficial de Noticias de Mexico as a foreign correspondent in Argentina and Costa Rica in 1983. In addition to her work as an author of children's books, Ross has also published a historical novel La flota negra, about the story of Marcus Garvey; and beautiful book describing history and culture of the Atlantic coast, La Pasion por el Caribe, with photographs by Luciano Capelli.

Jeana Paul-Urena, translator of the book and author of the English version of the music, is a Spanish Professor in the United States, as well as a professional musician. She has published articles on women writers from Central America, included Yazmin Ross, and with Juan Carlos Urena, has recorded four albums of original music.

Review:

Varios artistas participan en esta aventura ambientada en un Parque Nacional de Costa Rica, que bien puede ser Manuel Antonio, donde abundan los monos titis y las camaras de los turistas que intentan, a toda costa, capturarlos. El protagonista de esta historia hace de todo por capturar a las estrellas mas famosas del bosque lluvioso en sus momentos mas intimos. Para despistarlo, la rana, la iguana, la mariposa y otros personajes se disfrazan de otra cosa y le juegan una broma. El cuento fue escrito por Yazmin Ross, quien ha formado una mancuerna muy pachanguera con la pintora, arquitecta e ilustradora Ruth Angulo, en El coyote y la luciernaga y otros proyectos en curso. La musica es obra del conocido compositor Juan Carlos Urena y de su esposa Jeana Paul-Urena, ambos residentes en Texas, Estados Unidos, con una larga experiencia en el movimiento de la Nueva Cancion y en musica para ninos. Juan Carlos, lider del desaparecido grupo Oveja Negra, tomo como base una cancion tradicional infantil y la adapto para incluir parte de la trama del libro. Por su parte, Jeana no solo hizo la traduccion del cuento al ingles, sino que escribio y canto su propia version de la cancion, recreando con mucho ingenio al personaje del mono que toma fotos a todos los que se descuidan, no importa si estan en pijama o en calzoncillos. Pachanga Kids nacio en enero del 2006 y su primer titulo fue El mar azucarado, el cual lleva varios meses de figurar entre los libros infantiles mas vendidos en el circuito de distribucion de la Libreria Internacional. --Diario Extra, January 16, 2009

What do you do when a monkey who lives in your area of the rainforest finds a camera and decides to start taking photos of you, even when you prefer him not to do that? This is the dilemma facing the frogs and iguanas, the butterflies and other local inhabitants in the new children's book The Rainforest Paparazzi. This recently released publication, the third for Pachanga Kids, comes with a CD, as did the first two. The story is told concurrently in Spanish and in English, which is always a plus in our ever-shrinking planet. It is also a nice touch to have the names of indigenous flora and fauna appear in the illustrations. The CD is a recording of Juan Carlos and Jeana Urena performing The Silly Monkey in both languages and then instrumentally, for the karaoke crowd. Jeana also translated Yazmin s story into English for the book. The story itself is sweet, endearing, and not without a subtle message to the kids about respecting others privacy. Actually, maybe that message could include the adults, too. I like the unwritten, illustrated explanation of how Titi, the monkey, found his treasured camera. I also enjoyed the methods used by the various animals as they lead Titi away from their lives and habitats, and toward that of other rainforest species. Part of the Pachanga Kids mission is to educate children through adventures and songs for every living thing in the Rain Forest. This book certainly does that, and makes it a fun education as well. The story was written by Yazmin Ross, one of the founders of Pachanga Kids. The wonderful illustrations are by Ruth Angulo, who has created the artwork for all three books. I think it is appropriate now to refer to them as the Pachanga Kids Collection . As with all the hardbound books in this series, the paper stock and ink are of very high, durable quality. The popular singer/songwriter Juan Carlos Urena is recognized as a leader in the nueva cancion movement in Costa Rica. He has recorded nine albums, four with his wife Jeana, who has been performing with him for fifteen years. The duo has always kept a very positive slant to their music. Their contribution to the book is an adaptation of the traditional children's nursery rhyme. --Tamarindo News, Januay 30, 2009 by Jaime Peligro

About this edition

• Publisher: Pachanga Kids
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 9968960349
• ISBN 13: 9789968960342
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 28
• Illustrator: Ruth Angulo