¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market, written by Raúl the Third, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Student Reviewer: Anastasia C. 
Summary: The story, created by Raúl the Third, follows the journey around town with a fox named Little Lobo and his pet dog, Kooky Dooky, to run errands and see the different sights around town. Throughout the story, the fox character and dog run across new friends and animals that live in the town; incorporating cultural characteristics of a Hispanic-influenced town. As Little Lobo arrives in the market or mercado as translated into Spanish, the pages are filled with color and various activities that take place in the plaza. He pauses to watch a mariachi band along with folk dancers before continuing on to deliver supplies to a theater. Little Lobo continues to make errands and buy food as well as hats, and a magazine while bringing clothespins and other things to store owners. Along his journey he comes along a handful of surprises before heading home to rest before the next day.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This book can be utilized in many different settings to aid bilingual education in children or Spanish-learning beginners. For example, in a classroom it could be used to introduce students to new words in spanish or vice versa in english. Libraries who hold this book could make it available to parents with younger kids who are hoping to teach their young children both Spanish and English. The interaction aspect of the book draws the reader in to spend time looking at the pages and discovering the small text in Spanish labeling different symbols within each page. This book further includes a glossary at the end with the majority of words. Along with the sequential plot, the dialogue creates an important connection between cultural aspects found in some Hispanic countries and visual depictions of traditional clothing or food. The reader is taken along a journey through the town and allows for discovery of new vocabulary and excitement. Lastly, the artwork within this book portrays and excellent visual depiction of Little Lobo’s journey; incorporating a contrast between warm and cool colours that follows the adventure through the town. Overall with Gonzalez’s combination of bilingual vocabulary, sequential plot, and cultural references really makes this book exciting. This is a great purchase for high school spanish classes. It’s a great book for a visual arts teacher. It would also be a good choice for an elementary school library where there are a lot of spanish speakers. Having materials available in both languages shows that the school/library value the use of both languages and reflects the reality of many communities.