Fernando's Gift / El Regalo de Fernando

by Douglas Keister

A tale in both English and Spanish presents a young boy of the Costa Rican rain forest who discovers that not everyone shares his and his family's love and respect for the beautiful forest.

Genres: Picture Books, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Photographer-writer Douglas Keister, has authored and co-authored thirty-six critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and greeting cards worldwide.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was somewhat informative and the photos helped but there was a lack of connection. It was interesting to see how Fernando and his family lived but, in the end, the reader is not drawn into the story or into the lives of this Costa Rican family.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely, Spanish-bilingual story about a Costa Rican family living in and reforesting the rain forest. It's easy to understand, with great photographs and the English/Spanish versions of the story side-by-side to help learn the language. The story does feel a bit staged—I imagine it didn't happen exactly when the author/photographer took the shots, though, so they had to recreate some of the scenes, even though the children *probably* aren't actors.

Recommended for young environmentalists who want practice with their Spanish! (I'm apparently rustier than I thought, haha)

Esta es una hermosa historia bilingüe en español sobre una familia costarricense que vive y reforesta la selva tropical. Es fácil de entender, con excelentes fotografías y las versiones en inglés y español de la historia una al lado de la otra para ayudar a aprender el idioma. La historia se siente un poco escenificada; sin embargo, imagino que no sucedió exactamente cuando el autor/fotógrafo tomó las fotos, por lo que tuvieron que recrear algunas de las escenas, a pesar de que los niños *probablemente* no son actores.

¡Recomendado para jóvenes ambientalistas que quieran practicar con su español! (Aparentemente estoy más oxidado de lo que pensaba, jaja)

[Jesicca Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story describes the life of a bilingual family (English and Spanish). The family lives in the Costa Rican rain forest. They live in a tin- roofed house that his father built. The main character is Fernando. His mother takes care of the family, while his father tends to crops and educates people on how to preserve the rain forest. The pictures in the story describe in great detail about the family’s culture and what they represent. The story is written and presented in both English and Spanish. It elaborates on the traditions of both cultures. There was no sign of inappropriate use of stereotypes in the story. This story discusses the culture that the main character and his family has, living in Costa Rica. The genre of the story if non- fiction. The author does not identify with the group represented in the story.

[Chato]

Book Title: Fernando's Gift
Author/Illustrator: Douglas Keister
Reading Level: 3.5
Book Level: k-3
Book Summary: This book is about a young boy living in Costa Rica. It brings you into his life at the same time giving valuable information about what is happening in the rain forest. This book will be a great mentor book for studying the rain forests and Costa Rica.

The writing traits are presentation and voice. The author's voice brings you into the Costa Rican rain forest and the cause and effect of deforestation. The presentation of the book brings together the words and the pictures to paint the picture of story.