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Title: Maybe if this is your child's ONLY exposure to Spanish...
Review: ...then the invented words would be a problem. As a bilingual teacher, and the mother of two children who are exposed to a lot of Spanish, and are on their way to becoming bilingual, I think this book has a place within a variety of books with Spanish words and Mexican culture. Have you ever read "A Birthday for Francis" by Russell Hoban? His little badger character says that "cake" is spelled "rxpy" or something like that, and first and second graders find that HILARIOUS! This is the same sort of thing - crazy mixed up words that are clearly NOT Spanish, and kids are laughing because they are in on the JOKE. The rest of it is the little "fuzzy britches"' imagination. Absolutely, this should not be your child's ONLY exposure to Spanish and Mexican culture, but it is really a great book for kids who get the jokes.
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