Bravo! By Ginger Foglesong Guy

• 03/31/2014
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Bravo!
Ginger Foglesong Guy
Greenwillow Books (2010)
ISBN 9780061731808
Reviewed by Madison Schlarman (age 4) and Mom for Reader Views (07/10)

A brother and sister are outside to play. Here, there and everywhere they take their treasure hunt! What will they find? What fun will they have with the treasures they find? Where are the treasures? Join brother and sister in their simple search for the treasures, while learning both Spanish and English phrases.

Madison: “It was really fun. They did a music show for their parents, outside. They went searching outside. They took everyone’s things to make a music band. They found stuff everywhere! They played in their sandbox. They have a big yard. There were Spanish words that were hard to say. Everyone clapped for them.”

Mom: “Bravo!” has wonderful elements to its composition but also lacks. It is colorful and appealing to the eyes, repeats key phrases for repetition in learning and keeps it simple. What it lacks is helpfulness to parents who may not speak Spanish. The Spanish words are not followed by anything in parenthesis to help with sounding out the correct way to pronounce the words. It was very hard for me to read these words to my daughter, considering I took French and not Spanish as a foreign language. Many children’s books that are in multiple languages are great tools to help teach both languages to children. My girls personally enjoy these types of books. This one however did not help the reader to make sure they were saying the words properly for the child to understand. In this case, the book kept the attention, was interesting, repeated for emphasis and repetition in learning, but should only be recommended to parents who already know Spanish. Without that knowledge it will be difficult for you to correctly read the book to your child. I agree with the recommended ages of 2-5 years. I also felt the price of this book was too high for what it is. I would only pay $10.99 to $12.99 for it.