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Spicy Hot Colors: Colores Picantes
Colors explode off the page as Sherry Shahan's energetic, jazzy poetry introduces young readers to colors in English and Spanish. In a style brimming with rhythm and syncopation, Shahan introduces nine colors by interweaving images and dance steps. Ecuadoran artist Paula BarragA-n's computer-enhanced cut-paper illustrations capture the rhythm and vivacity of the text.
24 pages, Hardcover
First published October 25, 2004
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Sherry Shahan
50 books15 followersSherry Shahan is a photographer and an author. She enjoys watching, photographing, and writing about the otters that play in the sea near her home in California. Sherry also wrote and photographed The Changing Caterpillar for Richard C. Owen Publishers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
May 20, 2017
Muy Bueno!
January 24, 2014
Caliente! Actually, that is about all of the Spanish I remember.
My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library this week. He likes the colors, and who could blame him?
This book give the names of color in both English and Spanish, which I liked. But what I really like, was how this book used those colors to give us a glimpse into a culture that is different from my own. Understanding that the culture is different goes a long way in helping to learn a new language.
My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library this week. He likes the colors, and who could blame him?
This book give the names of color in both English and Spanish, which I liked. But what I really like, was how this book used those colors to give us a glimpse into a culture that is different from my own. Understanding that the culture is different goes a long way in helping to learn a new language.
June 11, 2020
Colors are the subject of this bilingual picture book. Primarily in English, the book presents the Spanish words for colors, as well as a few other things. Included in the back is a glossary with helpful information about the words depicted in the story to represent each color. A pronunciation guide is also provided.
July 10, 2020
It is so hard to find bilingual books that keep young children's attention. This one does. It very simply introduces the Spanish words for colors in an engaging and not overwhelming way. My kids would repeat the words after me too. I'll keep using this book and hope they stick!
August 25, 2022
As I'm ramping up for my first bilingual storytime, I've started looking for good titles. This is a very, very basic intro to colors in Spanish. Maybe a little too basic for my needs but still wonderfully illustrated and does exactly what it sets out to do: name the colors in Spanish.
April 26, 2019
This book goes over colors in both English and Spanish. The illustrations show gorgeous pictures with bright colors and spanish themes.
Trait: Presentation
Reading Level:
AR: N/A
DRA: N/A
Trait: Presentation
Reading Level:
AR: N/A
DRA: N/A
March 6, 2020
A color book where spanish words are used to explain colors along with hot spicy food they represent. Elementary and up
February 20, 2023
I liked the bilingual part of the book, but it’s word associations I couldn’t quit connect.
May 13, 2023
Nice book to teach kids the color words in Spanish. One of my EL students loved the art/book and would seek it out during free read time.
January 5, 2017
As a commercial once said, “Yo hablo escargot! I'm bilateral.”
It comes across as somebody writing Spanish who doesn't actually speak Spanish or know about Mexican or Latin American culture. It's a very white person perspective. The author lives in central California. The last sentence in the book: The spicy hot colors sizzle/on a Saturday night./be-bop-bolero/bim-bam-la-bomba/La Cucaracha!/¡OLÉ! What? La bomba actually means BOMB if spelled that way. La Bamba is, of course, one of the few Mexican songs that Americans know, and La Cucaracha, which is another song that Americans know. And her throwing in jazz words like razzmatazz is weird and out of place. Some of the things she chooses to depict for the colors are bizarre, like purple is piñata and candy. And I've got no idea why she thought that Mexico was known for its paper dragons. I'm not saying there aren't any, but paper dragons sure make me think of China a lot more than Mexico. I don't know whether people from that culture would think it was sweet, in kind of a quaint way, that they were thought of by only these things, or would be offended. I am not Hispanic, but living in southern California my whole life, I've been exposed to it somewhat, and there's a lot more to it than these trivial things. It just seems like the author is co-opting the culture and pandering to the multicultural angle that is popular in children's books. It just doesn't work for me. It's not a bad book, but it's pretty mediocre.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
It comes across as somebody writing Spanish who doesn't actually speak Spanish or know about Mexican or Latin American culture. It's a very white person perspective. The author lives in central California. The last sentence in the book: The spicy hot colors sizzle/on a Saturday night./be-bop-bolero/bim-bam-la-bomba/La Cucaracha!/¡OLÉ! What? La bomba actually means BOMB if spelled that way. La Bamba is, of course, one of the few Mexican songs that Americans know, and La Cucaracha, which is another song that Americans know. And her throwing in jazz words like razzmatazz is weird and out of place. Some of the things she chooses to depict for the colors are bizarre, like purple is piñata and candy. And I've got no idea why she thought that Mexico was known for its paper dragons. I'm not saying there aren't any, but paper dragons sure make me think of China a lot more than Mexico. I don't know whether people from that culture would think it was sweet, in kind of a quaint way, that they were thought of by only these things, or would be offended. I am not Hispanic, but living in southern California my whole life, I've been exposed to it somewhat, and there's a lot more to it than these trivial things. It just seems like the author is co-opting the culture and pandering to the multicultural angle that is popular in children's books. It just doesn't work for me. It's not a bad book, but it's pretty mediocre.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
August 1, 2017
Check out more picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...
Nine colors with the Spanish and English words. It is quite colorful with many color oriented items for the kids to relate to.
I was drawn to this book due to the bright colors. I wasn't sure how my nephew would feel about the Spanish words even though we live in the south. He quite loved them and we practiced saying the Spanish words several times.
My only real complaint was that the color words were just listed at the end of the sentence, they weren't a part of the reading. This is essentially a reading book so the words shouldn't just dangle at the end.
The drawings were fun and unusual but still to do with the culture and the colors. I'd take a similar book with numbers!
BOTTOM LINE: Colorful and fun look at Spanish colors.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
Nine colors with the Spanish and English words. It is quite colorful with many color oriented items for the kids to relate to.
I was drawn to this book due to the bright colors. I wasn't sure how my nephew would feel about the Spanish words even though we live in the south. He quite loved them and we practiced saying the Spanish words several times.
My only real complaint was that the color words were just listed at the end of the sentence, they weren't a part of the reading. This is essentially a reading book so the words shouldn't just dangle at the end.
The drawings were fun and unusual but still to do with the culture and the colors. I'd take a similar book with numbers!
BOTTOM LINE: Colorful and fun look at Spanish colors.
______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...
Read
September 8, 2016I thought this book was great, and so creative!
The book walks through all the different colors, comparing them to different things in a child's world. In addition, the book uses words from the Ecuadoran culture, and even includes the Spanish words for all the different colors. The book also rhymes, throughout the whole thing.
My favorite part of the book was reading the different cultural words that they use in the Ecuadoran culture and seeing the art from the culture as well.
Once a year, we do a culture week at my preschool, and I would love to have a copy of this in my classroom for that reason. I love how this book mixes colors and things in our every day life with culture. This book is perfect for any child with the desire to have a fun experience while reading. I can see the students in my classroom repeating this book, and wanting to read it over and over again. They love colors, and they love Spanish words.
The book walks through all the different colors, comparing them to different things in a child's world. In addition, the book uses words from the Ecuadoran culture, and even includes the Spanish words for all the different colors. The book also rhymes, throughout the whole thing.
My favorite part of the book was reading the different cultural words that they use in the Ecuadoran culture and seeing the art from the culture as well.
Once a year, we do a culture week at my preschool, and I would love to have a copy of this in my classroom for that reason. I love how this book mixes colors and things in our every day life with culture. This book is perfect for any child with the desire to have a fun experience while reading. I can see the students in my classroom repeating this book, and wanting to read it over and over again. They love colors, and they love Spanish words.
July 11, 2012
I've used this book about colors a few times for both Spanish and bilingual story time. The last time I used it was for a goats and chile-themed story time since it has chile peppers in it for the pages that focus on the color red. I used it as a participation story and had the kids tell me the colors featured and any things they could identify on the page that were the said color.
(I like the pictures in Spicy Hot Colors a WHOLE lot better than those in Cool Cats Counting, which is another bilingual book by the same author and illustrator. I've only used Cool Cats Counting once since I think the pictures are scary-looking.)
(I like the pictures in Spicy Hot Colors a WHOLE lot better than those in Cool Cats Counting, which is another bilingual book by the same author and illustrator. I've only used Cool Cats Counting once since I think the pictures are scary-looking.)
May 16, 2016
Orale! This book was magnifico! This book was a sensory delight, which was a plus for me because I was reading this to my autistic, sensory seeking son. This book reads like a slam poetry piece. With the use of alliteration, syncopation, and onomatopoeia to boot, you will have just as much fun reading this as your child will have hearing it. In addition, I loved the incorporation of Mexican culture as well as listing the names of the colors en espanol (living in San Antonio this is a +++) Read this book!
September 28, 2012
This book was perfect for a Spanish/English storytime that I did. Readers will come across the word "pardo" as a version of brown. None of my Spanish-speaking acquaintances knew this word, but from what I could figure out is that it could be Barzillian and referring to a skin tone or it could mean "brownish". (Does anyone know for sure?). Interesting, nonetheless. I changed it to "café" for my program.
July 30, 2013
I liked this book a lot; it was a nice departure from the usual color books because it used some atypical objects to illustrate the colors. The illustrations are vibrant, bold, and memorable. I liked that the color names were provided in Spanish as well. (I was a little puzzled by the translation of "brown" into "pardo," which I had never heard as a word for "brown" before. Always something new to learn, even from picture books!)
December 5, 2015
This was a fun book filled with some simple, made-up words that is sure to make your little one giggle. It introduces the Spanish words for colors that most adults should be familiar with and, therefore, not have too much trouble pronouncing. The book also includes a mini dictionary for some of the additional Spanish words that were used as well as a pronunciation guide so that everyone can read with confidence! Great book for early exposure to different language/cultures for your little ones.
April 11, 2013
This story is all about making a big deal of the colors. I love the language used on the different colors bringing in different crazy words. It has Spanish color words as well as English. This book had a lot of pzazz.
Wonderful!!
Wonderful!!
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August 5, 2008Colors in English and Spanish!
February 11, 2009
A colors book with some text (mostly the names of the colors) in Spanish and English. Great, bold, vibrant illustrations.
July 23, 2009
Rhyming text in english and spanish talks of foods that are different colors.
July 6, 2010
Vibrant colors + snappy text = great book to share with children.
December 4, 2010
This was featured on Between the Lions. Great a color book. Lots of poetic language. Also teaches a little about Mexican culture.
March 10, 2011
Toddlers, Pre-K, vocabulary, bilingual, colors, rhyming.
May 22, 2021
I loved this colorful book done with a latino flare incorporating colors, dance moves, and some of the things we hold dear to the hispanic culture.
August 12, 2013
Fun rhymes and fabulous colors, in English and Spanish.
August 18, 2016
50 Books to Read Before 1st Grade (2013 Meade Co.)
February 1, 2014
A beautiful book. My kids loved learning the Spanish words (they'd repeat them after me in their best Spanish accents :)
May 12, 2010
Very cool.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews