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Playing with Osito / Jugando con Baby Bear
by Lisa María Burgess
collages by Susan L. Roth
Playing with Osito / Jugando con Baby Bear (aff) is a bilingual children's book with full text in English and Spanish. The storyline itself is about two friends - Osito and a young girl. But Osito has a problem, his winter hair has not filled in completely and he's left with bare patches all over his body. It's up to the two of them to find a way to help Osito stay warm. The young girl tries one idea after another; when one fails, she looks for another solution.
I really like how the young girl in the book doesn't give up. She takes it all in stride when one if ger solutions doesn't work, and just says, "Breathe, think, and try again." It's a really great story to encourage children to try and try again and not get discouraged when their ideas don't work out the first time or two. Such a valuable lesson that all of our children should learn!
I also like how the back of the book includes pages with "Did you know? ¿Sabes qué?" facts. The information is all about nature and the animals featured in this book. There's also a section on where to find more information.
The illustrations are really fun, too. Susan Roth, who illustrated Parrots Over Puerto Rico (aff), uses paper to create the unique collages in this book. I thought it was pretty neat to read that much of the landscape in the story was made with tree bark paper, which has been made in Mexico since precolonial times.
The author, Lisa María Burgess, grew up in the Sierra Madre of northwestern Mexico. She apparently wrote this story with her father when she was a little girl. I love it when authors are inspired by their childhood and turn around and share it with others!
Educators: This book works well with lessons and unit studies about problem solving, persistence, bears, the Southwest, New Mexico, Mexico, imagination, bilingualism, multilingualism, the environment, storytelling, paper art, and more.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.