La Catrina: Emotions / Emociones (Bilingual: English/Spanish): A Bilingual Book of Emotions (La Catrina Series)

Lil' Libros

by Patty Rodríguez, Ariana Stein, Citlali Reyes (Illustrator)

Inspired by one of the most recognize symbols of Dia de Muertos or "Day of the Dead," a holiday that celebrates life and remembers the dearly departed, this book will introduce little ones to emotional expressions and their first English and Spanish words.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Picture Books, Childrens, Emotion, Latinx, Storytime, Halloween

22 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bilingual quickie board book. (Spanish-English)

Great book for the littles. Pictures were beautiful and one word emotions. I would say it in Spanish and they'd have to tell me what that was in English. Tested their little big brains a bit but they enjoyed it.

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotions in ghosts.. not so scary looking ghosts.. quick read for my toddler.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a fan (at all!) of Day of the Dead style skeletons, but they were GREAT here. The expressions were not as clear as I would have liked them to be, but the girl on "surprised" was so darn cute that I didn't even care! lol

[Dora · Rating 5 out of 5]

One word emotion words in English and Spanish.

[Baroness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable!

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun. Though I think E needs to be a little older to make the connection between the skeleton faces and normal faces.

[Kristen Hylton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a really great one to read at bilingual family storytime! My audience has been skewing younger lately (most are 1.5 years; a few are 4-5), and this book was just perfect for that age range. Each page has one word on it in both English and Spanish, and an illustration of the emotion conveyed by that word. Books like this can help kids put a word to how they feel, which helps them communicate and be better understood! It's an important step toward self-regulation. And it also helps kids recognize the emotions of others, which builds empathy.

As I read the words I had the kids make the expressions with me, then asked things like, "Curious/Curoisa. Do you know what curious means? It's how you feel when you want to know more about something." or, "Sad/Triste. What makes you feel better when you're sad?" (Hugs from baby brother was one response!!).

I also talked a little bit about Día de los Muertos, so that the children would have an idea of who La Catrina is and why this holiday is important.

All in all it was a very successful storytime book, fun for the kids with lots of early learning elements to it!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

We. loved. this. book. The illustrations are so bright and wonderful. Each page has an emotion in both Spanish and English. In the 3 weeks that I had it home from the library, I bet I read it at least 50 times (I'm not kidding). Now my 20 month old son toddles around the house making all the hand motions to accompany the emotion (hand to the cheek with a shocked expression for surprise/sporendido, scratching his head for confused/confundido). He even walks up and says "amada" while giving us hugs. We will be buying this one for our home.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 4 out of 5]

With board books and babies, there is no such thing as a finished date. I'm calling this one finished anyway even if I've only read it 10 times in the past few days. My granddaughter loves it. Her mother reads it to her in Spanish and I read it to her in English. She gets excited by each new expression, and is even a bit worried by the angry face.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful bilingual board book to celebrate Dia de Muertos and to learn about emotions. The illustrations are gorgeous! The color and the expressions of the skeletons are sure to engage the youngest reader. I thought that the way the emotions are portrayed were also very recognizable for little ones. This is a great and simple texted board book to learn both English and Spanish.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Estas calaveras son muy bonitas! También aprendí algunas palabras nuevas en español, aunque tengo miedo de leer este libro en voz alta para la hora del cuento porque mi pronunciación es mala.

These calaveras are very pretty! I learned some new Spanish words too, although I am scared to read this book aloud for storytime because my pronunciation is bad.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, so adorable!

I'm loving these bilingual board books by Rodriguez and Stein, at least the ones clearly meant for tots. The bright clear illustrations are full of love and joy. It will be interesting when I get to the biographies though; how does one do a bio of Evita for the littlest children?

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently this series has been around awhile but it's only recently that I've been seeing them recently. A fun bilingual (English/Spanish) board book series that introduces concepts to babies and toddlers usually with some sort of Spanish influence or reference.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the concept, but it's a bit difficult to tell nuanced emotions from the faces of Day of the Dead skeletons.

[Michelle M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why does a book with twenty words need two authors?

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute. My anatomy-obsessed 3yo loves the skeletons, and I love being able to introduce her to Spanish (and reinforce emotional vocabulary)!

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm looking for a good emotions book for my babe, but I seem to keep finding ones that are not of human faces! That said, the art in this book was beautiful.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ADORE this series of Latin American bilingual concept board books. This one in particular is delightful and great for social-emotional lessons.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simply beautiful book of emotions

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helps me learn picito picito a new language.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to Athena.

This book is so cute, I loved the art, aethetic, color, simplicity, everything. Perfect for kids who like Dia de los Muertos.

[Aliza Halm · Rating 5 out of 5]

It talked about different emotions and how to say them in both Spanish and English.

[Adrianne Rosal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like talking about your emotions? Well this cute little book does just that. Both in English and Spanish.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are beautiful, but not my favorite way to teach expressions. I prefer photos of real kids, where the nuances are more differentiated and accessible. Bilingual learning is a plus.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolute win for both the adult and the 5yo. I love love love Dias de Las Muertos imagery.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple, bilingual board book naming various emotions in both English and Spanish. The illustrations are (adorable) Day of the Dead themed, with cute little painted skeletons making the faces to go with emotions. Would be a fun way to introduce Spanish vocabulary and would make a great Day of the Dead themed storytime pick.
Edited after storytime: Used this for Day of the Dead themed storytime, between other longer books. It worked beautifully. The kids loved the skeletons, repeated the Spanish words with me, and it was a nice little break before our next book.

[Elizabeth]

These catrin(a)s do an excellent job of conveying various emotions -- and they also generally feel playful and accessible, appropriately in keeping with the idea that death doesn't have to just be frightening. (My favorite might be Curious because she reminds me of Wednesday Addams.)