The main thing I enjoyed about this book was the fact that it was written in both Spanish and English. The beginning of the book contained a glossary with Spanish words and their English translation. This book could be used in both an English class during a Social Studies unit, or a Spanish class to teach vocabulary. The length of this book was longer than I expected, and would definitely be used for higher primary grades. I didn't enjoy the pictures because I didn't think they enhanced the story very much. While the text is in both English and Spanish, the English portion still contains some Spanish words. The pictures could have been used to help reinforce concepts and words that students may have had difficulty with, but a lot of the pictures were similar with the same color schemes and did not reflect on the action going on in the book. The characters were believable and realistic, but I did think the story went on a bit too long. Overall, I think it was a clever book that was a positive representation of Hispanic culture. ( )

This book is a story about a burnt tortilla, and how children’s imaginations can be powerful and creative as they conjure up several images in the tortilla’s scorched markings. There are several aspects of this book that I like, but I am disappointed with the irrelevance of some of the illustrations to the text. To start, I like how the entire story is written in both English and Spanish. Opposing pages are completely filled with text in both languages, with one illustration that usually ties them together. I like how there is a glossary at the beginning of the book, which defines Spanish words that are used in the story such as anteojos, lumber, and zacate. I like how the reader needs to use context to understand the meaning of certain Spanish words. Hijitos, which I have deduced is an affectionate term for “grandchildren” or “kids”, is used throughout the book in both the English and Spanish text, but not defined in the glossary. Unfortunately, I found myself a little confused with some of the illustrations. On pages 4 and 5, the illustration is of a rat being chased by a cat, being chased by a dog, being chased by another rat. Of all that is written about on those pages, the only text having anything to do with animals is when Grandpa states “Our barnyard animals need breakfast, too.” The illustration on these pages, to me, stretches mightily to match the story. ( )

This book is filled with imagination. The children in the book see animals on the tortilla and believe it to be magic. This goes to show how the imagination of children run wild if you allow them to because when an adult saw the tortilla she right away said she didn't see anything. This book would be great for students in grades 2nd and up. The words are understandable. ( )