Bebé Goes Shopping

by Susan Middleton Elya, Steven Salerno (Illustrator)

A quick trip to the supermercado ? Not with Bebe in the shopping cart. Just as Mama is ready to throw up her manos, she gives sweet Bebe a box of animal cookies. A dulce, at last! Then they're off to the checkout line, smiling all the way. Includes a glossary of Spanish words.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Spanish Literature, Food, Fiction, Cultural

36 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Susan Middleton Elya is the author of many books that cleverly incorporate Spanish vocabulary into lively verse. She is originally from Iowa and now lives in Northern California.

Reviews

[Tina Haigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the fourth book I read by this author. I really liked the last half of the book, and the beginning was fine, but some of the pages bothered me a little as a mom. Most moms learn the tricks of the trade well before the kid is a toddler, so there are a few pages that shouldn't have happened. The poetry was good, but one of the poems messed me up big time. It took a little time talking it over with the husband to figure out what was affecting the rhythm. He read it correctly right off the bat. Apparently there was a pause that needed to be made, but I wasn't making it because the punctuation wasn't there. Thank goodness that mystery is solved. I don't expect kids to notice what I did though, so I chose not to let it affect my rating too much. The art--done in paint, pencil, and ink--was colorful, and had a soft, dreamlike quality. I recommend this for all ages, but it's likely the 8 and under age group that will like it the most.

[Chance Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love grocery stores, so I love this book, which combines a trip to the grocery store with Spanish vocabulary. Bonus points for also including my favorite childhood grocery store snack: animal crackers!

[Lil Old Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixing a sweet story about a baby and his mama with Spanish vocabulary? Si por favor!

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this easy bilingual adorable book to Julianna. We give it 5 stars. A few new Spanish words for Julianna and others she knew. If your looking for just a introduction to a few Spanish words this is a cute story for a child.

[Janna]

When I read the first few pages of this book I automatically thought of Dora the Explorer. The same concept used in the TV show is used in this book; children have the capability to learn a second language fairly easy if they are exposed to it. In this book, like in Dora the Explorer, Spanish words are thrown into the sentences. I think this is a good way to expose children to Spanish words and see if they are interested in studying Spanish more. I thought the rhyming in this book was good also because it helps readers pronounce the words correctly if they know what it has to rhyme with.

[Nashiea Edmiston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading this book to my children for years and they love it almost as much as I do! As a 2nd generation Puerto-Rican American, my experience being bilingual is a common one where I often found myself speaking a combination of english-spanish, also known as, "spanglish." This book has a mixture of spanglish but also incorporates a little bit of Spanish with english translation immediately following. The illustrations are vivid and the facial expressions are very animated. The mothers reaction to "bebe" are just very soothing and gentle, which I just adore and can be a reminder to slow down and be gentle to our little ones. Truly love and enjoy this book.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the idea of this book was cute, and the spanglish rhyming is a neat way to market to bilingual or ELL audiences, I wasn't a fan of the execution. Some of the things that happened in the grocery store were things that would actually happen, but some things seemed like a big stretch to make sure that the author could make the words rhyme. This basically shows the reader that either the author didn't work long enough on the book, or didn't care, which is frustrating when reading the book. If she had settled perhaps for a shorter book with the realistic parts in it, then maybe it would have gotten a better review, but the unrealistic parts weakened the overall quality of the book.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bright beautiful illustrations, text is written in a mixture of English and Spanish describing a trip to the grocery story for Mama and Bebe. While a glossary with a phonetic proounciation guide is given at the end, a background in elementary Spanish is really necessary to read this book without tripping over the Spanish words in bold . . . unless you want to flip to the back once or twice per page.

[Sandra Y. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book, I loved how Spanish was worked into the rhyming story telling format. Additionally I loved the beautiful illustrations through this story. Finally the quick little glossary in the back takes the guessing and research out of the unknown Spanish words used throughout the text. I would recommend this book for second grade and up for independent reading and first and up for shared reading.

[Tasha Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of Brya's favorite books since we first read it when she was about two years old and just starting to talk well. I will admit it is a little hard to read without a spanish accent with all the random spanish words.Just Another Morning

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an all-true tale of a Mom shopping with a baby (try 2!) Bebe is bored, mischievous and tries to help by grabbing things off the shelf. Not until Mom discovers the old trick of handing out a treat is she able to complete her shopping.

Frustrated and frazzled moms everywhere will appreciate this book and it's fun to read aloud, especially with the mix of English and Spanish words.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mama and Bebe go shopping in the supermercado. The text is a snappy rhyme with Spanish words mixed right in: "He tugs on a carton with muchos colores, in butterfly yellow, with pink and white flores." The Spanish words are always in bold, and there is a glossary with a pronunciation guide at the back. The drawings are bright, and the book is a nice size-- good for storytime reading.

[Lauren Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

ELL Connection: This is an excellent book for hispanic ELLs. This book can be used to engage students in an English book with a splash of their native language. It is also a rhyming book which teachers can use to show students how English and Spanish words can work together in harmony.

Recommended grade level: Pre-K and up.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used this for a class visit. They are doing grocery stores and have their room set up for produce, dairy, floral, checkout areas. I enjoy Elya so I took this and had them suffer through my horrendous or nonexistent Spanish accent. The teacher enjoyed it enough to ask for the book. 11/21/12

Used again for a PreK class doing grocery shopping.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually very keen on hybrid book: Spanglish, Franglais, whatever. I generally find them difficult to read and kind of annoying. This one, though, for the most part got it right. The Spanish words made sense in their settings. I could pronounce most of them right away. And I even learned a few words of Spanish along the way.

The illustrations are muy bueno -- perfecto. ;)

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Multicultural Literature. I read this book in class during our lesson about multicultural lit and I was not super impressed. It was cute and introduced some Spanish words, but the storyline was not impressive to me. I would probably not use this in my classroom unless I was doing a unit on shopping and it seemed to fit.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Colorful illustrations and rhyming text that make this a fun book to read out loud. Spanish words are found throughout the book, with context helping in understanding their meaning for non-Spanish speakers, and the rhyming helping with pronunciation. A good choice for exposing kids to Spanish in a fun and accessible way.

[Kristi Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great author for toddler books. My daughter loves spanish and these books make it easy for me to add spanish words to her vocabulary. Great book. The others by this author are okay, but this one is our favorite!

[Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that it is bilingual. Especially b/c everything in Holland is in both English and Spanish. I like that there is a glossary in the back of the book with pronounciations. Harper likes the illustrations and seems to enjoy me reading the book to her too.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 4 year old asked me to read this multiple times to her. This author has written many "Spanglish" books combining Spanish in with English. This was is my favorite story of her's so far but I also like "Say Hola to Spanish".

"Spanish is fun so give it a try. Hola is hello. Adios is good-bye."

[Mouse Denehy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is charming how it mixes English and Spanish in so neat a rhyme scheme. The glossary in the back is useful and fun to go over. I love the art because it's like a cross between crayon drawing and marker drawings.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story told in rhyme with a bilingual twist involving Bebe and his mama as they take a trip to the supermercado ( supermarket). As mama shops, so does Bebe as he removes items from the shelves, and just as mama is at her wits end she spies something to keep BeBe occupied.

[Sara]

One of my favorite children's books. I love the illustrations and would buy this for any child in my life.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations are fabulous - just trying to figure out a way to smoothly incorporate the mixed Spanish and English text in a storytime

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bright, cute and happy illustrations. Not much to the story-line, but an introduction to some basic Spanish vocabulary.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book for bilingual storytime.

[Reese · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tells a funny story while combining English and Spanish words. It is a cute realistic story about an upset baby.

[Katie Darrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a fun book; great for introducing a few Spanish words to young children

[Becky Shaknovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bilingual story time favorite! I really love the way Susan Middleton Elya mixes Spanish words with English and makes them rhyme!

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bebé Goes Shopping
Elya, Susan Middleton
Bilingual book, a trip to the store with Bebe... very cute, with vocabulary words, and sentence structure. the Bebe is entertaining in his adventure