Author : Gary Soto, Illustrator : Susan Guevara, Translators : Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Preschool - 2nd Grade

Chato y su cena
Chatos Kitchen

Chato y su cena, Softcover, Spanish, Book, Gary Soto, Susan Guevara, Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy, Preschool - 2nd Grade, 9780698116016, $7.99
Chato's Kitchen, Softcover, English, Book, Gary Soto, Susan Guevara, Preschool - 2nd Grade, 9780698116009, $6.99

$95.92 for the Translation Books by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy Spanish Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 16 Softcover Spanish Books and 1 Boardbook

$86.36 for the Translation Books English Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 15 Softcover English Books

Chato, a cool, low-riding cat from East L.A., plans to eat the neighboring mice as a main dish for dinner. But the feast he has planned ends up having an unsuspected twist...(K-3) 

Listen to Vienna Rose read Chato's Kitchen to you.  A marvelous example of the magical encounter between a child and books that we wish for all children.

Amazon : "Chato, a low-riding cat with six stripes, was slinking toward a sparrow when he heard the scrape of tiny feet coming from the yard next door." You get the idea. Chato is a sly, mustachioed "cool cat" from an East Los Angeles barrio. The tiny feet? Those belong to the new mice (ratoncitos) next door--"five mice the color of gray river rock," to be precise. Chato promptly invites them over for dinner, in exactly the sense you might fear.

"That Chato cat seems muy simpatico, very nice, I'm sure," says Papi mouse. The mice (being cheese lovers) spend the day making quesadillas for the fiesta, while Chato and his best friend Novio Boy busily prepare side dishes for a meal con ratoncitos. Instead of the anticipated gruesome ending, a surprise twist is in the works.

Gary Soto, author of Too Many Tamales, is brilliantly witty, and Chato's Kitchen--an ALA Notable Book and a Parents' Choice Award Winner--is truly marvilloso. Susan Guevera's comical, deliciously detailed, richly colored depictions of the creatures are priceless as well, earning her the 1996 Pura Belpre Award for Illustration. A culinary concoction that no youngster (or adult) will be able to resist. (Ages 4 to 8)

Publishers Weekly : Soto (Too Many Tamales) commands a poet's gift for defining characters quickly, densely and, in this case, with hilariously choice words. Paired with Guevara's (The Boardwalk Princess) wickedly funny, urban paints, Soto's story of Chato, a cool, "low-riding cat" of East Los Angeles, is a scream. Chato and his friend Novio Boy plan a dinner for (and, they hope, of) the new mice next door. But the mice bring a surprise guest named Chorizo (sausage), who turns out to be a truly low-riding dachshund. Foiled, the cats resign themselves to mouseless fajitas. It's a basic enough tale, but close to brilliant in its execution. Guevara's cats are delicious send-ups of barrio characters, and Soto's words glisten with wit: "We brought Chorizo,' Mami mouse called./ Sausage! Chato and Novio Boy danced, and with clean paws they gave each other a 'low-four.'" Salud to this magical pairing of talents. Ages 4-8.

School Library Journal (Starred Review)
A really cool book ... Soto adeptly captures the flavor of life in el barrio in this amusing tale. Guevara's striking illustrations enrich the text with delightful, witty details.

Booklist : Ages 3-8. Chato thinks he's the cool cat of East Los Angeles, and when a family of small mice moves next door to him in the barrio, invites them over for dinner--to be his dinner. With his flashy pal Novio Boy, Chato cooks a delicious spread to go with the tasty morsels of mice. But when his guests arrive with their friend from the old neighborhood, the tables are turned: Sausage turns out to be a long, low-riding, skinny dog, and it's the cats who quake in fear. Kids will get a lot of fun out of the sweet reversal and the comic storytelling. There's a glossary of Spanish words, but it's the characters and their talk that give the story its special flavor. Guevara's very bright illustrations extend the situation comedy with zany details of magic realism. These animal characters are very human: the mouse teenager talks on her mobile phone; Chato's friend mambos to his boom box. Best of all is the fun with scale, especially in a story where the small creatures win.

Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review)
Wickedly funny.... Salud to this magical pairing of talents.

Spanish Translation Books by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy :

Story Collection Green Books and CDs :

Alphabet Poetry and Nursery Rhyme Books and CDs :

Bilingual Collection Green Books and CDs :