Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure

by Jimmy Fallon, Jennifer Lopez, Andrea Campos (Illustrator)

Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure is an engaging and hilarious picture book that serves young readers as an introduction to basic Spanish vocabulary, brought to life by superstar team-up Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez.

Meet Pollo, a friendly little chicken who just wants to play. And play, and play, and play all day!

Pollo makes any activity more fun. Why just go to the beach when you could go to la playa con Pollo?

Do you want to play soccer, or play fútbol con Pollo?

Do you want to go dancing, or bailar con Pollo?

Whatever you decide to do, you're in for a busy, adventurous day with your new friend, Pollo!

Genres: Picture Books, Spanish Literature, Childrens, Storytime, Fiction, Animals, Plays

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 11, 2022

About the author

James Thomas Fallon, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, and musician known for his work on Saturday Night Live. He is also scheduled to become the host of Late Night in 2009.

Reviews

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was the hope that due to Jimmy Fallon's humor and Jennifer Lopez's heritage a dynamic book would be written??

Because I am unsure.....

I think I am comparing it to Angela Dominguez's books. Ones with a better balance between English and Spanish. Maybe it's because I like the illustrations better in other books. Maybe I went in hating it because it is a celebrity written text.....something just didn't work.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book to introduce children to be bi-lingual with English and Spanish.

How did this book find me? I am at Sam’s Club and saw it was written by Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book doesn't have a story, but it introduces children to English and Spanish vocabulary for different activities, and the little chicken is just so irresistibly cute. I wish that there was a pronunciation guide on each page, not just in the back, but the educational angle and darling illustrations give this appeal beyond the celebrity authorship.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw this on Jimmy Fallon and couldn't wait to read it. What an adorable book! I can totally see myself sharing this with students across PK-5 too introduce them to some Spanish and English!

[Abbigail Stephens (EDCU 378) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text-to Teaching Connection:

This adorable book is a great way to make the bilingual children in your classroom feel seen. It’s cute pictures and wonderful introduction to the Spanish language are such a fun treat! I really love the way the pictures correspond with the words being taught as well as the way the English and Spanish translations coincide. This would be a great introduction to a social studies thematic unit about the world around us. Language is such a vital part of culture and the understanding of it. This book would also be a great way to introduce a Spanish class. After reading this book, I would add a label titled “Spanish Speaking” on all the countries that have Spanish as their language on our classroom map.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet, quick read. This little children's book is written by Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez and is a follow-up to several of Fallon's children's stories. It is a bi-lingual book that is an excellent primer for young kids to begin to learn Spanish. This particular book asks kids what they'd do with a chicken, i.e., "Con Pollo." Children will learn words like Library/La Biblioteca, Dance/Baile, and Pollito/Chick. The back of the book includes a short bi-lingual dictionary. The artwork throughout the book is simply precious.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the concept of giving either/or choices but they are both the same (just in different languages)! This an English book with a sprinkling of Spanish, aimed toward kids who don't necessarily know Spanish, but it would be extra fun for kids who do know Spanish and so are in on the joke from the beginning. Might buy this one for my household, but happy to have it at the library!

[Cassandra Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pictures are super cute. I like the concept behind it. As someone else pointed out their review, the child is given choices between the exact same things, just in different languages. Such as, you can dance with chicken or you can baliar con Pollo. The illustrations help to tell the child what the activityin Spanish is.

[Serhiy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a true bilingual book; the English is translated to Spanglish. There is not much rhyme or intuition to the book.
My biggest fear with this book is serving Arroz con Pollo for dinner and my kids freaking out. Avoid!

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly cute and educational.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this book. My grandson really didn't care for it either. I would prefer the pronunciation key being at the bottom of each page rather than all together in the back. Even my favorite page when the baby chick appears didn't have near the effect as on the show.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for introduction to bilingualism. The illustrations were my favorite part. The rhymes felt forced. The text seemed all over the place.

[Desirai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hardcover children's book by Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez had cute illustrations and a fun this or that (this?) theme. While I understand it's for little ones (ages 1-5) I think it could have included a little more Spanish. The one page translation guide is appreciated.

Jimmy dedicated the book to his high school Spanish teachers - in his show announcement for the book he says "some are not with us, but your names will now be in schools and libraries forever." That's sweet.

This would make a great gift for parents raising Bilingual kids and/or new parents who are also fans of Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez. However, I'm not sure I'm personally willing to pay full retail price for it.

[A B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet little book about an adorable chicken - Pollo - who will teach the reader some Spanish words. The setup is that why just go to the beach (as if that is lame and boring) when you could go to LA PLAYA with Pollo! The illustrations are simple but colorful. There's a glossary at the end with the list of Spanish words and pronunciation tips. Turns out I was pronouncing "bailar" incorrectly.

As far as being "hilarious!" from the book's description, I don't see what is side-splitting. It's cute and lighthearted, but not comedy. It's an entertaining educational book. Would make a nice read for little ones, particularly Dora the Explorer fans who like learning Spanish.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and very simple. Multiple pages of
"Do you want to play Soccer"
"Play Futbol con Polo"

Skateboarding / Patinar con Pollo
Dancing / Bailar con Pollo
Go to school / go to la escuela con Pollo
go to the library / go go la biblioteca con Pollo

Fun way to associate the English con Spanish
Translation/pronunciation table in the appendix

I was kinda hoping a real reference to authors Jimmy or Jennifer would be apparent in the text or drawings, but if you didn't see their names on the cover, you would have zero clue from the book that Fallon and Lopez collaborated on something here.

3.5

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I can't stand celebrity-written stories. Often, these people are given a platform by virtue of who they are rather than any possible talent they have as writers. However, I have always enjoyed Jimmy Fallon's work for children. He's good (Spike Lee, too). Not only does he do a good job, but so does his co-author Jennifer Lopez (yeah, her). While I can't say who wrote what, I can say the book succeeds in entertaining children and teaching people English and Spanish. Great illustrations from Andrea Campos, too.

[Abdie Estrella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple and ADORABLE bilingual book.

It is for all ages that love to read but I would gear it towards toddlers. When I do read it to PreSchoolers, it is one of two books. I don't read it on it's own because of it's simplicity. Though for language learning, it's simplicity is perfect. There is repetition which is great for storytimes because then the children join in and complete your sentences. I also just love the term "con pollo" being used in this playful funny way.

I've used this several several times in my storytimes and it is ALWAYS a hit. Everyone loves it.

[Nicole Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pollo wants to play all day! Why don't you join her and learn a little bit of Spanish along the way! Yes, Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez made a book together and it is not only adorable but educational. Pollo is very cute and while she is playing, kids will learn the English and Spanish words for whatever she is interested in doing. A great start to either English or Spanish and if fully expect this will become a reoccurring character in the future.

[Yaritza · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adorable bilingual book with a cute chicken "Pollo". Pollo has playtime adventures and those adventures are mentioned in Spanish. At the end of the book, you can find the translation of the Spanish words. I would have liked that each phrase was in both English and Spanish. I loved the illustrations and vivid colors throughout the story. Children will love seeing Pollo have his playtime adventures.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story of a chicken named Pollo (literally "chicken" in Spanish) who loves to play. The narrator repeatedly asks the reader if they would like to ___ with Pollo (some form of play). The bilingual words are either nouns or verbs.

It's a cute idea. I think I'd use with kinder-1st graders but not any younger.

[Debrarian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. There's no particular rhythm to this book, no story arc, no obvious rationale for the words selected. The cartoon chicken doesn't display any specific personality so I don't particularly care about it. There's a pronunciation guide in the back but I would find it more useful on each page, since it's basically a primer.

[Paula Chacin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanto el dinamismo de este cuento y sobre todo el glosario de términos al final. Las ilustraciones son simples pero sumamente tiernas y coloridas. Por otro lado, no hace mención a ninguna tecnología actual como celulares o computadoras y esto me agrada, porque lo convierte en un cuento que invita a los niños a salir al mundo a jugar, a divertirse, a ser niños.

[Aaron Loeffelbein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an adorable book - and I LOVE having books like this in my library. What a fantastic tool for helping littles learn some words in Spanish! I want this out on display with my other bilingual books. It has a pronunciation guide in the back for us non-Spanish-speaking folks who either didn't take Spanish in school or have forgotten how to say the words. (Pollo rhymes with Fro-yo!)

[Katie Kaste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pollo or Chicken is the main character in this bilingual playtime adventure. I liked this book. It was cute and well-written. I read to my 8th graders and they found an appropriate amount of chringe from this novel. Sweet and fun.

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this more than I thought it would. It's cute, if a little too repetitive, but it somehow works better with the way my family pronounces pollo, so it would be so cute to read it with my little ones that way.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid entry for a bilingual storytime for littles. Kawaii illustrations of the little chick are darling and the (sometimes) rhyming text is icing on the cake.

Themes: play time, chicks
Ages: toddler-K
Pub year: 2022

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since when did Jimmy Fallon write children's books?

Anyway, this was fine. No plot and it didn't give me anything more than what a translation dictionary would give me but it did what it set out to do I guess.

[Manda Marigold · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book teaches children basic Spanish phrases with the help of a cute little chicken named Pollo. English translations of the Spanish phrases are included in the back of book. The art style of this book seemed simplistic yet adorable.

[Josh Peatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and a good starter bilingual book

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toddler/preschool