He talks scornfully about the party that he is at with Chato, saying it is lame anyways, and that he doesn't care t Genre: Picture Book, Multicultural Genre: Picture Book, Multicultural Lexile: 440L F&P Level: P Age: Primary Main Characters: Chato, Novio Boy, the mice family, Chorizo Setting: East L.A./Chato's house Plot: In the second installment of Chato and Novio Boys debauchery, Novio Boy reveals at one of the neighborhood birthday parties that he is from the pound, and therefore does not know his birthday and never knew his mami. Just pure enjoyment with this book, and Mexican children or gringos growing up in Mexican neighborhoods will especially love this (although I'm sure the styles have changed since the late 90's and I'm not sure how close to home this would be with today's youth-I'm not in this neighborhood anymore!) :) Fills me with nostalgia, even though it's a whimsical party of cats eating cake with mouse-c0lored frosting and canaries on top. Just pure enjoyment with this book, and Mexican children or gringos growing up in Mexican neighborhoods will especially love this (although I'm sure the styles have changed since the late 90's and I'm not sure how close to home this What a delightful, cute, funny little book about being kind to friends that is set in what seems like the "barrio" I lived in in 2000. What a delightful, cute, funny little book about being kind to friends that is set in what seems like the "barrio" I lived in in 2000. Perhaps children can roll with this one better than me.more
The world set up in this book is not internally consistent - the main cat characters seem to have rodent friends but in another scene a "large cake with mouse-colored frosting" was ordered. I imagine that the illustrations are meant to convey the noise and activity going on in "el barrior" but I just feel like they are too much. They contain animalified Hispanic images - gangster cats wearing headbands, a rooster mariachi player, a feline angel. The illustration are bold, dense, and busy.
There is a glossary of Spanish terms in the beginning which are interspersed with the otherwise English text. The basic plot is a cat wants to throw a surprise birthday party for his feline friend, forgets to invite him, and then panics when they can't find him. I imagine that the illustrations are m This book just doesn't work for me.