Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla

Fiesta Babies Reviews

• 
  Crystal Sleeman

  Text to Self: My good friend's husband has a rich cultural Mexican heritage and throws many fiestas with salsa dancing. They are where I learned how to salsa. This story reminds me of these parties because there are always children around and lots of dancing.
  Discussion Questions:
  1. What are besos?
  2. What is the main idea of this story?
  3. What would result if the fiesta babies didn't take siestas?
  4. Based in the photographs, can you infer the feelings of the fiesta babies? What are they and how can you tell?
  5. Can you predict the outcome of this party if the fiesta babies were kept in the playroom instead of allowed into the party with the adults? What do you think would occur?
  6. What is your opinion of the fiesta babies' party? Does it look fun or not? Explain.
  Citation:(2010, February 15). Booklist.
  http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=f...
• 
  Liz

  Audience: Pre K - Kindergarten, children that love a good party, or poetry as well as students wanting to learn some Spanish words. Children of Hispanic origin would also like to read this book because it celebrates a cultural tradition of a fiesta.
  Appeal: The bright oil-paintings, with the rhyming text draws a reader into the storyline. The children are of various skin tones which also helps the reader feel like they are apart of the story. Students can also use the short glossary of Spanish words in the back of the book, to check their guesses that they made of the Spanish words in the text.
  Awards: Pura Belpre Award Illustrator Honor - 2011
• 
  Donna

  A delightful poetic, picture book. The illustrations of the 'Fiesta Babies' are stunning and the diversity shines through. Each page captures you with the colorful displays of culture. Primary students would love this book. One thing that stood out with me was the varying shades of the babies.....some were light and some were dark. True diversity showing that Latinos come in every color of the rainbow. Also, at such an early age the Fiesta Babies are embracing their culture and learning the customs of their heritage. I loved this book!!!
• 
  Rebecca

  Bright acrylic paintings by Amy Cordova; text is rhyming and reads well. Includes a short glossary at the end of Spanish words used in the text. The size and feel of this is like a board book; as a picture book, it's pretty small for group sharing.
• 
  L12_Robyn

  Fiesta Babies is a 2011 Pura Belpre Award winner for outstanding Latino literature. The book illustrates how babies enjoy celebrations of Latino cultures, while immersing the reader into the joys of life. The characteristically bright colors, Spanish words mixed in throughout the text, rhythmic text and authentic pictures depict an inside view into the fun Latino celebrations. This book would be considered an early childhood picture book due to the simple text and expressionist illustrations. Although the text of this story is very simplistic, the illustrations convey the excitement and joy of the fiesta.
  
  My educational recommendation for this text would be Pre-K or Kindergarten. The text could be used as a companion to the study of Latino holidays and celebrations. Also, the illustrations depict a stereotypical view of clothing, the practice of afternoon siestas and some Spanish language. I would enjoy this book in board book format to read to my children when they were babies. Toddlers would enjoy the bright colors, the happy expressions of the people in the story and the simple text.
• 
  Gabriela

  Fiesta Babies is a sweet and fun little book, great for very young children. The book has few words with bright and colorful illustrations depicting little children in a fun atmosphere. The accompanying text is simple and short with a fun rhyming scheme. Carmen Tafolla incorporates words in Spanish into the english stanzas. The children in the book are seen having fun with different aspects specific to the Hispanic culture, such as mariachi songs and chips with salsa. The book ends with a sweet illustration of the babies with their loving family. This would be a wonderful book to introduce children to a culture while emphasizing the similarities with their own culture. Within the book, the babies are seen playing around and having a good time, but still loving a good nap, and sharing kisses and hugs with their family. These are qualities that all young children can relate to, even within a different culture.
• 
  Cheiree Domet

  Reflection - text to self - In our classroom we have studied Mexico in a multicultural unit. We had a fiesta where our students broke a piñata, samples Mexican foods such as salsa and pan, did the Mexican hat dance and even "flew" to Mexico.
  
  There are a lot of examples of Mexican culture in this story. The author talks about parades, coronas on their heads, mariachi songs, cha chas and siestas.
  
  Bloom's questions:
  1. Remembering - Name two things the babies did in the book.
  2. Understanding - Why is the story called Fiesta Babies?
  3. Applying - How are fiestas similar to your parties?
  4. Analyzing - What do you think is the most exciting part of the babies' day?
  5. Evaluating - If you were at a fiesta what part would you choose to go to first?
  6. Creating - Create a diorama of you favorite part of the story.
• 
  Whitney

  Honor book for the 2011 Pura Belpré (Illustrator) Award honoring a Latino illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
  
  There may not be many lessons to be learned from this book and some of it feels a little cliche, but it is adorable none-the-less. I love the rhyming and the Spanish words mixed in, and the illustrations are really beautiful and fantastic. It is just a short and fun book that would serve well as an story time book to introduce the idea of different cultures.
• 
  Jade

  The easy reader picture book, Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla is a poetic story of five babies who are delighted to acknowledge their yearly heritage celebration that embraces their culture and teaches them the customs. The babies participate in a parade wearing traditional clothing while waving the Mexican flag. Sharing the day with family and friends, enjoying customary foods, and listening to mariachi music makes the celebration special. The illustrations support the culture and provide the reader with an authentic experience.
• 
  Amanda

  Fiesta Babies is a pithy, fun story about babies who "go out on the town" and participate in various activities, such as eating, singing, and giving hugs. What I love about this book is Cordova's vibrant, colorful illustrations that make every page fun. Also, nearly every page has a new Spanish word to learn; i.e., salsa, coronas, abrazo, and beso. Tafolla has included a Spanish-English glossary in the back of the book. We read this book to our bilingual kindergarten classes and they enjoyed it.
• 
  Eileen Corbett

  FIESTA BABIES is a book that will introduce young readers to Mexican culture and vocabulary. Babies are shown spending time in town and enjoying Mexican food, music, dancing, and family.
  
  The award winning illustrations accurately depict the importance of families and celebrations to the Mexican culture. Young readers will be drawn to the babies and to the vivid colors. Each page introduces a new Spanish word. The glossary in the back of the book defines each word in simple terms.
  
• 
  Brenna Call

  I really enjoyed this cute book for young listeners. The book has a nice rhyme and the style of the illustrations go well with the cultural subject addressed in the book. I also loved the small amount of spanish vocabulary that was included. The amount was not overwhelming the words included where different that what you might normally see in bi-lingual books. I plan to use this book with our summer baby storytime kids. (6 mths - 3 yrs)
• 
  Marjorie

  A colorful picture book, little Latino children enjoy a fiesta and all the fun that goes along with it. From marching in a parade, to eating tasty salsa, to dancing along to a mariachi band, the children are busy. Until finally, they all settle down to take a siesta. This simple story could be used in the classroom to bring awareness of another culture. It could also be used to expand vocabulary as the back of the book includes definitions for all of the Spanish words used throughout the story.
• 
  Laura

  The premise for this book was sweet and enjoyable. I thought it did a good job of blending the Spanish words with a text that made it easier to understand the words. I liked the illustrations. I would recommend this book.
  
  *Taken from my book reviews blog:
  http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2011...
• 
  528_Mary F.

  Fiesta Babies is written by Carmenta Taffola. The babies have fun at the fiesta. The colorful drawings are cultural in nature.
  
  In the back of the book there is a Spanish-English dictionary page.
  
  Taffolla is an award winning Mexican American poet and author. She has an author website at
  www.carmentafolla.com.
  
  Amy Cordova, the illustrator, also has a website at
  www.amycordova.com.
  
• 
  Samantha

  A delightful children's book that features Fiesta Babies that dance, march, and sing to mariachi songs. With bright and colorful illustrations, the books gives a great look into Latino cultural traditions such as fiestas. This book would be useful in a younger classroom to showcase some of the different traditions that the Latino Culture has.