Notes from Storytime

Shapes

Before children learn actual letters, they are aware of shapes. Talk to your children about shapes you see in books or out in the world to focus on what’s alike and different. That will help them to distinguish differences in letters later on.

Staff Picks 4 Kids

Esquivel! Space-Age Sound Artist/ ¡Esquivel! Una Artista del Sonido de la Era Espacial by Susan Wood, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh

Juan García Esquivel grew up in Mexico loving music. He started finding work as a musician when he was just 14 years old, playing piano on a radio station. Later, he made music for a comedy show on the radio, and it was there that he started to experiment with music and sound, making drums sound like a lumbering giant, clarinets like a dog, and having singers make sounds, not words. His music was different from what most people had heard before, sounding like something from outer space. This is a non-fiction story with fantastic illustrations, about a person you might not have heard of before. It’s also fun to listen to his music at the same time. Someone also made silly videos to go along with some of his music, which you can find on the book’s website: http://esquivelbook.com/video.html .

Juan García Esquivel creció en México amando a la música. Empezó trabajando con música cuando solo tenía catorce años, tocando piano para una estación del radio. Después, hizo música para un programa de comedia en el radio. Allí es donde empezó a experimentar con música y sonido, haciendo que los tambores suenan como un hombre torpe, clarinetes como un perro, y tener cantantes haciendo sonidos en vez de palabras. Su música era diferente de lo que personas habían escuchado antes, que suena como algo de espacio. Este es un cuento de no-ficción con ilustraciones fantásticas, sobre un personaje que tal vez no conoces. Es divertido escuchar a la música a la misma vez. Alguien hizo videos chistosos que acompañan a su música, que puedes encontrar en la página del web del libro: http://esquivelbook.com/video.html .

There are English and Spanish copies of this book. The call numbers are: KIT J 780.92 ESQUIVEL, J. or J SPANISH 780.92 ESQUIVEL, J.

Book reviewed by Claire B., Youth Outreach Librarian