Library Book: Let's Eat!

by Ana Zamorano, Josefina Villamil Tinajero, Alfredo Schifini

Every day Mama prepares a mid-afternoon meal for the family. Grandparents, parents, and three children all join in to share stories as well as wonderful food. Full color."

Genres: Food, Picture Books, Cultural, Family, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Tyler Wansack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s Eat! is a story about Antonio’s mother who cooks traditional and common Spanish meals every day. Each day of the week someone is missing, and one time, it is the mom who is missing because she is in labor. When she returns, they have a big celebration to welcome the new member of the family. This book is great for children in ELL, because many of them are Spanish and I feel this book would make them feel at home because of the culture of the story mixed Spanish language in there. For all children, it is a great book on learning diversity, different cultural foods and even to learn a little Spanish, too, because there are Spanish words throughout the book. The pictures are colorful and cute and go along great with the story.

[Carolyn at Bloomers · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story about getting a big, busy multi-generational family together for dinner.

[Susen Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every day, Antonio’s mother cooks a yummy Spanish meal for the entire family. On each day of the week, one person can not make it to dinner. Antonio’s mother says “Ay que pena!” (What a pity) each time. Until on day, she goes into labor and misses their family dinner. This time, Antonio says “A que pena!” and everyone laughs. When mother returns on Sunday, they all gather for a big feast to celebrate the new addition to the family. This is a good example of a book that can be used to show cultural foods. Each day, Antonio’s mother prepares traditional and common Spanish meals. She makes empanadas, gazpacho paella, pollo, and sardines. There are other Spanish terms as well, all of which help the reader to better understand the Spanish culture and the foods that they eat. Many Spanish children can relate to the characters within the story as they too may eat the same types of foods. For those who may not, they become familiar with some of the foods their peers enjoy as compared to their favorite meals. Introducing children to different foods and cultures is a great way of fostering appreciation for diversity.

[Missy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this story because it details the importance that mealtime holds for many families and cultures. I love it because it uses spanish words as well as english. For children in ELL, this story can be comforting to see many wordst that they already understand the meanings of mixed with english words. It is also great for other children to be able to understand different cultures through literature. The story outlines the different meals that the family eats and the different people that make the mealtimes complete.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found these pictures kind of creepy. I liked the color scheme of earthy pastels, and the watercolors were nice except for the people - they looked weird to me. The story would be good for small children, as the little boy must search for each of his family members each day to join the family for lunch. There are also Spanish words peppered throughout the text, but the meaning is clearly understandable for older children.

[Sung Baick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about a family who cooks different dishes every day of the week, but someone is always missing from the dinner table. It has a lot of Spanish words in it and even has a glossary in the back. This would be great to include in the classroom library to promote diversity and to expose students to different foods of different cultures. This book would be great at any elementary grade level.

[Lorraine Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be used to explore different family traditions and celebrations of new additions. It has great illustrations that represent the text. It has Spanish words and Hispanic culture influences within the story. Would help ELLs relate to text if they are of Spanish influences.

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that highlights the importance and tradition of families eating together. Sprinkled with Spanish throughout. Superb illustrations

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A glorious family story.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Families on the Go! unit 3
Theme Library

[Mollywainio · Rating 3 out of 5]

content has to be changed some because of bad behavioral examples but Daniel loves the spanish words

[Gabrielle Neufeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this book a 5 because it can be relatable for students who are getting a new sibling. I also like it for its cultural teaching.

Lexile: 550L
Grade Equivalent: 3.5

6 Traits:
Ideas

[Daniel Koehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great ELL book because it mixed words from Spanish into English for Spanish speaking students to better understand sentences around the Spanish word. By mixing in various words from their language, this can help promote reading, as well as comprehension skills for ELL students.