One is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by John Parra
One Is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers
illustrated by John Parra
Review Copy from Chronicle Books
One is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers is the companion to Round is a Tortilla: A Book of Shapes and Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors. A bilingual book with a glossary that includes definitions and pronunciations, the concept (counting, colors, shapes) serves the Spanish vocabulary. Thong and Parra include culturally significant details, from the auguas frescas and calaveras to the frutas eaten with chile and lime juice, the papel picados and the kid in the lucha libre mask. There are a few moments that feel like missteps, perhaps in service of the rhyme scheme, like putting salsa on rice and the fact that, as a counting book, the numbers when they are part of the story are only in English, although they do appear on the side of each page in both languages. That said, I love the celebraciones on every page and the Spanish vocabulary that Thong has chosen. With a student population that is more than 80% Latinx, I am always asking my students what the words for things are in Spanish and many of my favorites are here. In fact, we were just blowing bubbles in the library yesterday and I asked the kids what the word in Spanish is (burbujas) and it was great to see it here. And, as with The Piñata the Farm Maiden Hung, consulting a review of this book revealed issues with inaccurate phonetic pronunciations in the glossary.
