Vamonos! Let's Go!

Reviewed by: Shannon Schinagl - Maine State Library, Augusta, Central Maine Library District

Review Date: December 8, 2015

Review

As the cover of this book says, this is "an adaptation of 'The Wheels on the Bus' in English and Spanish." I really enjoy the way this song was adapted to emphasize more common words in both languages. Rather than the bus being the central point of the song, the kids riding the bus see various "things that go" from the windows: train, truck, motorcycle, etc. Along with the type of vehicle, each verse includes the sound that the vehicle makes.

What I love most about the bilingualism of the text is that EVERYTHING is bilingual, including sounds. While an English train goes "choo choo choo," in Spanish, the train says "chucu chucu chu."

I appreciate that the book has a pronunciation guide for the Spanish words as well as the sheet music in the back. However, pronunciation guides do not guarantee that English-speakers will get the subtleties of the Spanish words correct. Nor does the sheet music ensure that that the different language will fit the tune the way the English does. I dearly wish that this book came with a CD.

The illustrations are perfect for the book. They are simple, fun, and show everyone having a great time! And with no verses about paying bus fare or crying babies, why not have a wonderful day? Not surprisingly for a bilingual book, the characters are very diverse racially, gender-wise, and age-wise. (The motorcycle rider isn't a young, flashy guy, but an old man with a big walrus mustache!)

I recommend this book to patrons or librarians who speak Spanish themselves to read to English-speaking kids.

Overall Book Score: very good