Count on Culebra: Go From 1 to 10 in Spanish

by Ann Whitford Paul, Ethan Long (Illustrator)

A companion to the popular Manana, Iguana that teches how to count in spanish. When Iguana stubs her toe, Doctor Culebra comes to the rescue. But his suggestions sound a little loco to everyne else. How will tying un rolling pin and dos kettles to Iguana's tail make her better? And more importantly, will Iguana feel well enough to make her cactus butter dulces? The extremely popular "Manana, Iguana" has sold and reprinted quickly, and Ann Whitford Paul and Ethan Long's previous titles have received much praise.

Genres: Picture Books, Spanish Literature, Childrens, Counting, Number, Animals

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

ANN WHITFORD PAUL, author of 'TWAS THE LATE NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS has always been crazy for Christmas, but overwhelmed by it, too. Afterwards she is worn-out and dreams that someone like Mrs. Saint Nick could help her out with the resulting chaos and mess.

Ann graduated from the University of Wisconsin and Columbia University School of Social Work. She became inspired to write picture books after years of bedtime reading to her four children. She's published 19 different award-winning books. Now she gets story ideas from her three grandchildren. For ten years she taught picture book writing through UCLA Extension. She still enjoys teaching how to write picture books. When she isn't writing or teaching, she loves listening to her cat purr, watching spiders spin their webs and following snails' trails.

You can learn more about her, download writing tips and classroom activities, and contact her through her web-site: www.annwhitfordpaul.net

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Ann Whitford Paul's other books featuring these characters, but this just wasn't that good. Manana Iguana and Tortuga in Trouble are both much better - perhaps because of their basis in traditional folktales. This just didn't make that much sense - instead of counting actual objects, each number stands for a group of objects when counting which I think would be confusing for children. The bilingual aspects were fun and well integrated, but skip this one and read the others in the series for entertaiment. For a better Spanish counting book look to Yuyi Morales' Just a Minute.

[Tyffani Mine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about an Iguana who hurts her toe and looks to doctor culebra to help her. The culebra or snake recommends that the iguana and friends tie different items to the iguana's tail with values of 1-10. This book is written in English but uses various Spanish terms. The pictures or illustrations support the text, so students could use them as clues to figure out the meaning. This could work for any student. When students are looking at unknown words it is similar to viewing a foreign language. Learning different strategies to use when discovering unknown words in a text will be helpful for reading fluency and comprehension.

[Courtney Sharpton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not the most well written book, however it can be used in several ways. It has Spanish number words as well as Spanish animal names. This would be a good book to read to a class with ELL learners. The ELL learners can tell the other students what the Spanish words mean. They can help teach instead of always be taught. You could also do a sequencing lesson with this book.

[Melissa Morgal]

Counts numbers 1-10 in Spanish. The characters of the book identified by their Spanish names. The scene of the book is set in a warm climate/desert area. There is a Spanish to English glossary in the back of the book.
Also, there is a subliminal message to readers that Spanish speaking people can be doctors too.

[Crissyʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining book with great illustrations, my 3yr old daughter learned to count to 10 in Spanish, and she laughs when Culebra keeps adding to Iguana's tail. Doctor's orders!! We enjoy reading (and counting) this book together.

[The Brothers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun story of an iguana stubbing her toe and how the "doctor" snake helps her get over her pain so she can make her cactus butter dulces. A very nice introduction to Spanish numbers.

Illustrations are okay.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primarily an English text, this story teaches counting in Spanish (1 -10) and a few other words. A glossary is included after the story along with the recipe mentioned in the story. The back cover is illustrated so that young readers can practice counting in Spanish with the items from the story.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, I don't see how a bruised foot would heal as described in this book. Rather, I would call it torture and making the foot worse. Not surprisingly, this took a lot of the fun out of it for me. I liked the integration of Spanish in the story to help readers learn a bit.

[Lacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple counting book, not too many Spanish words apart from the counting. Not for early readers, but they will understand if you read to them. Pronunciation in the back of the book, along with a recipe for dulces!

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review this month at myshelf.com

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Spanish counting book.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stick with Manana, Iguana. That one's excellent. This one was just trying to cash in on the characters. At least IMHO.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice introduction to Spanish numbers, but the language is forced and the story doesn't really work

[Angela Dahle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny counting book. Some counting books I have read are boring, but not this one!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like bilingual aspects and there is a little more story here than other counting books. I think I enjoy these characters more in her other books, however.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is much less counting in the book than one maybe expects.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

The drawings in this book are simple. Teaches letters one to ten in Spanish and also includes the concept of helping.

[Kerri Beckman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sticking true to the rating with a 2/5 because it was okay. I am actively looking for bilingual books for my kiddos and have read plenty now. This one just felt like a mouthful when reading.

The kids loved the illustrations though!

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Culebra, Tortuga, Iguana, and Conejo are back. How can Iguana make her dulces when her toe hurts? You can count on culebra to save the day.

[Ryker Geist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the illustrations in this book. They add so much. This is a fun way to practice counting to 10 in Spanish

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
A folktale about forgetting a problem

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute. my class and I liked it.