MARTA: BIG AND SMALL BY JEN ARENA

I work at a dual language school. Some of our students speak English as their first language. Some of our students speak Spanish. Our goal is that students will graduate from eighth grade fully bilingual and fully bi-literate. I'm always on the lookout for ways to help students and their families bridge between the two languages. MARTA! BIG AND SMALL, which I encountered at CCIRA, will definitely be added to our library.

Marta is una niña pequeña. She visits the jungle, where she encounters many animals.

To a horse, Marta is lenta. Slow, very slow. To a turtle, Marta is rápida. Fast, very fast.”

She also encounters a snake, who thinks Marta looks very sabrosa (tasty!).

The use of repetition, and movement between English and Spanish will be really helpful to students, who are learning a new language. It's also a great book for thinking about adjectives and opposites. And it's really, really fun besides!

The illustrations in this book are simple and way fun, but also tell a great story; the book reminds me, a little, of ROSIE'S WALK, which I have always loved reading to kids.

Definitely one to own, put in your classroom or school library, buy for gifts, etc!