Count Me In: A Parade of Mexican Folk Art Numbers in English and Spanish

First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art

by Cynthia Weill, The Aguilar Sisters (Illustrator)

Practice your numbers in English and Spanish when you count the beautiful dancers, playful musicians, and happy children of Oaxaca as the Guelaguetza parade goes by! Pronounced Gal-a-get-zah , the lively celebration—full of traditional dancing and music—takes place every July deep in the heart of southern Mexico. ONE band leader with a big white balloon! DOS hombres with firecrackers! THREE musicians! FOUR giants! All exquisitely handcrafted by the Mexican folk art masters Guillermina, Josefina, Irene, and Concepción Aguilar, in collaboration with author and scholar Cynthia Weill. Bienvenidos! Welcome to the parade!
Cynthia Weill is a professor and mentor to teachers at Columbia University's Teachers College. She also owns a non-profit—Aid to Women Artisans—that promotes the craftwork of artisans from developing countries. Count Me In is her fourth book in the First Concepts in Mexican Folk Art Series.
The Aguilar Sisters are Mexico's most beloved artisans. They learned how to make clay figurines from their mother Doña Isaura. These lively independent women are considered great masters of Mexican folk art and have been visited by Queen Elizabeth, Queen Sofia of Spain, various Mexican presidents, and Nelson Rockefeller. Their humorous ceramics of the people of their town and state are in museum collections the world over.

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Childrens, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2012

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Board book of numbers but in a unique way. Got it from library to read in Spanish although it is a dual language book- English.

The people are made of ceramics so they look very clay looking. Every page is of a new person joining the parade until eventually they have gotten together. The performers and the viewers join in a day of fun.

Ocho-- ¡Más música bella! ¡Bailemos
(So it'll show 8 musicians)

[Debra Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This board book was different then most counting books. One reason that it was different was that this was a dual language book of English and Spanish. I liked that the photographs were cultural ceramics that represented the Oaxaca region. The ceramics are bright and colorful. I think this book would be a good for early dual language learners of either language. My complaint is that this book only counts up to nine. This is unusual for a counting book, since most books stop at ten.

counting, bilingual, cultural Age range 2-5

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the one with the animals better, but these books are well-designed and great for teaching young kids Spanish!

[Michelle Gath she-her · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bright pictures about a parade. The words are in English and Spanish. It counts different things that one would find in a parade - balloon, lanterns, music, fireworks, dances and people in costumes. The pictures portray the colorful experience that is taking place in the book. This would be a great book for toddler aged children to learn the number 1-10 and a little bit of Spanish as well.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bilingual English/Spanish counting book that features photos of clay figures of the people of Oaxaca made by the famous Aguilar sisters.

Beautiful both in terms of language and artwork. A great multicultural read aloud for PreK-2.

[Jj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy these books by Cynthia Weill, but I really wish the format were larger--I think that 12"x12" would be ideal. They are difficult to use in a program or a storytime because the images are small AND fairly detailed.

[Kori Schlesener · Rating 3 out of 5]

Count Me In is a good book to use to incorporate diversity in the classroom. I love that it has the English and Spanish version of the text in the book. It also views culture of a different country which is great to see for myself, but also for students.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is pretty basic, describing a Mexican festival parade. The artwork, photos of sculptures by a family of sisters, is awesome.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it!

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the art aspect of this book. It showed human figures of real people from Oaxaca, Mexico, in a parade for a local festival.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counting, Spanish / English language learning, and cultural folk art, all in one.

[Christine Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book, but I wish it was larger in size. I have used it in storytime for smaller groups.

Subjects


Counting -- Juvenile literature


Numerals -- Juvenile literature.


Parades -- Juvenile literature.


Números -- Literatura juvenil.


Contar (Enumerar) -- Literatura juvenil.


Bilingual books, Spanish.


Spanish language materials.

[Katie Scherrer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent first concept book from the makers of ABeCeDarios featuring Mexican folk art illustrations. I hope we continue to see more! Perhaps "mascotas" or "mi cuerpo" next????

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

By pairing the sculptures of the Aguilar sisters with simple verses counting the members of a parade, Weill has put together an exciting and unique picture book, great for toddler readers.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.