Author : Ofelia Dumas Lachtman, Illustrator : Alex Pardo DeLange, Translator : José Juan Colín
Preschool - 2nd Grade

Tina y las pieles de espantapajaros - Tina and the Scarecrow Skins 

Tina y las pieles de espantapajaros - Tina and the Scarecrow Skins, Hardcover, Bilingual, Book, Ofelia Dumas Lachtman, Alex Pardo DeLange, José Juan Colín, Preschool - 2nd Grade, 9781558853737, $16.95

$890.76 for the Bilingual Collection Blue Books Set, Including 20%-Off, Free Shipping, and No Sales Tax : 60 Hardcover Bilingual Books, 10 Softcover Bilingual Books, and 1 Hardcover Spanish Book

In a little green house in a city by the sea, Tina searches for a friend. The tall buildings crept in like weeds and ruined the neighborhood. The bulldozers crushed the houses of Tina's friends, causing them to leave. Now, Tina sits alone on the front stoop of her house.  Then one day, while working in her mother's garden, Tina sees a young girl next door. Tina is captivated by this girl, Little Bell, with her funny names for things and her imagination. But Mamá does not approve of Little Bell, saying, "That girl needs to learn proper talk" and "That girl needs some suitable clothes."  When Tina invites Little Bell to the house for dinner without her mother's permission, Tina senses problems ahead. Then when one of the most important items for the dinner preparations goes missing and Little Bell wants to help, Tina groans. What will Mamá say when Little Bell brings home her "scarecrow skins" to help make tamales?  

This bright story about learning to appreciate each others' differences is sure to excite readers aged 3 to 7. Alex Pardo DeLange and Ofelia Dumas Lachtman once again team up to give us a lively story about an unusual friendship.

Listen to Vienna Rose read Tina and the Scarecrow Skins to you.  A marvelous example of the magical encounter between a child and books that we wish for all children.

Booklist : Gr. 2-5. Colin, a lonely child, braves parental disapproval of her unconventional new friend in this sketchy but uncomplicated dual-language tale. Little Bell ("Campanita") wears flowers in her hair and long dresses, runs barefoot, and uses made-up words--all of which rubs Tina's Mama the wrong way--until Little Bell offers her collection of "scarecrow skins" to replace a lost sack full of corn husks intended for tamales. And what are those? Also corn husks, as Tina and Mama discover. Colin translates some of Little Bell's fanciful talk, but she makes up new nonsense words for most of it: Little Bell's collections of "slithery crittles" (gusanos resbaludizos ) and "Moon mittles and mots" (lazos de luna y lan ) turn out to be, respectively, pieces of string and colorful pebbles. The illustrations include several scenes of stiff, glassy-eyed figures just standing around looking at each other, but the idea that being different can be the spice of life rather than cause for suspicion is a worthy one, and ably presented.

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