Fairy Trails

by Susan Middleton Elya, Mercedes McDonald (Illustrations)

Beloved characters from the best-known fairy tales introduce Spanish vocabulary in this whimsical story.

When Miguel and María set out to visit their aunt (their tía), they encounter a host of characters from nursery rhymes and fairy tales-Cinderella, the seven dwarfs, even Humpty Dumpty! At last they reach their aunt's house, where their loving tía and a great quesadilla lunch await them. Sprinkled with simple Spanish vocabulary, this is a fun and accessible way for children to become familiar with a new language. Also includes a glossary and pronunciation guide.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 13, 2005

About the author

Susan Middleton Elya is the author of many books that cleverly incorporate Spanish vocabulary into lively verse. She is originally from Iowa and now lives in Northern California.

Reviews

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy and girl wander through a mash up of tales and fix all the problems.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy multilingual books. The Spanish is easy to translate. I really liked all the fairy tales thrown in and the boy and girl go from page to page. Sweet book.

[babyhippoface · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brother and sister Miguel and Maria trek through the woods on their way to visit their auntie (their “tia”) in this rhyming, bilingual, fractured fairy tale. They seem to be the Hispanic counterparts of Hansel and Gretel (and a bit of Red Riding Hood) as they meet a witch and a wolf who would both like to devour them. They also come across Snow White, Cinderella, Humpty Dumpty, and Aladdin on his flying carpet. Woven into the English text are Spanish words; although most of them are easily understood in context, the book includes a glossary of Spanish words with pronunciation and definition (at the beginning of the book rather than the end) to aid readers’ understanding. The swirling lines and perpetual “o” of the children’s mouths make the illustrations a bit wearisome and somewhat reminiscent of Edvard Munch’s haunting painting ,“The Scream.” Nonetheless, Spanish teachers will enjoy using this with beginning classes.

[538pm_stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miguel and Maria take a trip to visit their tia (aunt) and embark upon a series of adventures based on several well-known fairy tales and nursery rhythmes. Along their journey, Miguel and Maria meet beloved characters like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves as well as villains like the Witch from Hansel and Gretel.

The story incorporates Spanish vocabulary throughout the story, with the pictures giving contextual clues as to what the Spanish words mean. There is also a glossary in the book to help students learn the Spanish vocabulary as well. This book would be well suited for kindergarten or first grade students, as the pictures and storyline are geared toward younger readers. The book could be used as a read aloud or for shared reading, as well as a way to introduce basic Spanish words.

Awards:
Notable Social Studies Trade Books 2006

[Alexus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairy Trails is about two young children who are to take their aunt quesadillas, two go a path where they meet a lot of characters from other children books. While the two children go through the trail they have a great adventure meeting everyone. The story adds Hispanic heritage, by adding Spanish words throughout the story. The Spanish words are a great way for children to learn about other languages. At the beginning of the of the book there is a glossy that children look at and can learn some Spanish words. The illustration is very bright and colorful to represent the fairy tail world, and the illustrations are drawn with pastel color, but still manages to look magical.

[Gail Barge]

This bilingual books incorporates English and Spanish text into the story. A walk through the woods brings a brother and sister in contact with the likes of fairy tale characters from various stories. This book would be very exciting and a good book to use predictions with the class (What other fairy tale characters do you think the siblings will find during their journey?). The use of spanish also opens up doors for studying spanish vocabulary and discovering the meanings of spanish words using the context of the story.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miguel and Maria set off to visit their aunt and come across some of the characters in fairy tales. What I loved about this book is that the author interjects some Spanish words for young readers, which gives a good introduction to the world of language outside of English. I loved the fact that the glossary is in the front of the book versus the back of the book. The illustrations were so-so to me, but very colorful/vibrant.

[Katie Scherrer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elya truly is the master of incorporating Spanish and English into seamless rhyming stories. Lots of opportunity for dialogic reading in this story as the children stumble across situations from familiar fairy tales.

[Heather Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book uses a collection of fairy tales all mixed into one to teach Spanish words. Could be used in a young class with some Spanish speakers.

[Brandee Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Checked this book out with my 5 year old and she was laughing threw the whole thing. The rhyming felt forced and the use of fairy tale characters was overly cliched.

[Zinnia Bayardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the clever way she incorporated all of the fairy tales in a bilingual way. My daughter's and I loved it!

[Scbrajer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good. The illustrations were bright but the people in the story had odd faces.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miguel and Maria go on a very familiar trip to grandmother's house. Bilingual. Creative.

[Mary Taitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children's picture book--cute and funny. A little doofy. Has Spanish words in it.

[Brittney Swetmon]

random folktales told with a Spanish twist