My Fantástica Family

Sofía Martínez

by Jacqueline Jules, Kim Smith (Illustrator)

Sofia Martinez loves her familia! Her cousins, aunts, uncles, and abuela are a huge part of her life. Whether they are at a sunny beach or stuck in a dark house without electricity, the Martinez family knows how to make the best of every situation. Join Sofia and her fantástica familia on three fun adventures in this early chapter book, which includes a Spanish glossary.

74 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

I am a children's author, teacher, librarian, and poet. My books include the Zapato Power series, the Sofia Martinez series, Pluto is Peeved, Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, Duck for Turkey Day, Never Say a Mean Word Again, and Feathers for Peacock. Please visit me at http://www.jacquelinejules.com

Reviews

[Lynette Camerlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would rate "My Fantástica Family (Sofia Martinez #3)" 5 out of 5 stars as it is a great introductory chapter book for students as it is a fast-easy read with pictures, but also tells a story and can leave the students wanting to know more/read on. I really like that the book has three chapter stories within in it so if students wanted to read a story that they felt connected to personally such as going on a family vacation, making a time capsule or writing personal notes, and or shopping for school supplies...the student(s) can make text-to-self connections. What I like most about this book is the amount of Spanish vocabulary that is sprinkled throughout the stories. There is a glossary at the end of the book which provides definitions for each of the Spanish vocabulary words used. This book is a great example to be used when wanting to create a diverse community in your classroom as it encourages students to read and learn something new. When I read this book, the second chapter is about Sofia's grandmother writing letters to her grandkids. I made a text-to-self connection as I remembered when I was younger, I used to write letters to my grandpa who had passed away and my grandma used to "answer"/ write back to me in my grandpa's voice. Those letters were very special to me. To this day, my grandma still writes me letters while I am at school, giving me updates about home. I would utilize this book as an independent reading activity and a whole-group read-aloud with a small lesson on Spanish vocabulary words. This book would even benefit as a small-group reading instruction as this book is a part of a series.

Age Range for this Book: 7-9

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sofia Martinez loves her family. They get together and go to the beach, play fun games, go shopping for school supplies and even contribute items for a time capsule that will be opened in 10 years. It’s fun to have so many brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and a grandma too. But, once in a while Sofia wants some quiet time, but there is always some fussing, fighting and even babies crying. Sofia learns patience and how to make the best of her time spent with family.

Award winning author Jacqueline Jules has created a great story about family. Colorful illustrations are fun and engaging. Readers can make comparisons to their family and Sofia’s. Basic sentence structure with a few Spanish words strategically placed make for a fast-easy read, and readers can even identify the meaning of the Spanish words. Parents and teachers will approve as their young readers learn about families and their culture.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author of the Freddy Ramos “Zapato Power” early chapter books comes an omnibus edition of three new stories from the Sofia Martinez series (The Beach Trip, Abuela’s Special Letters and Shopping Trip Trouble). Sofia is curious, energetic and interacts in realistic ways with her big family. Large print, easy-to-decode text and frequent colorful illustrations provide excellent support for transitioning readers. The story also includes numerous Spanish words highlighted in the text and defined in a glossary. Holds strong appeal for reluctant readers and fans of other easy chapter books like Mercy Watson.

[Mary Goldermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Fantastica Family is my early JFiction book!

This book not only has one story, it has short three stories! The first story is about Sofia Martinez and her family go to the beach. Sofia wanted to pack a lot of board games for the family trip but her mother told her not to pack to many games. When the family arrived at the beach house it was raining and Sofia brought all the board games for her and her family to play. The second story is about Sofia and her family making a time capsule. Her grandma wrote future letters to all of grandchildren and Sofia really wants to know what her grandmother wrote about her. The third story is Sofia and her family go school shopping. While they go into different isles her family lost one of her cousins in the store. They find him sleeping underneath the backpacks! The reason I chose this book as my early jfiction is after reading three of these stories I think this is the perfect book for young kids who are starting to become more advanced in their reading skills. This is a very easy book to read plus it is a little longer so kids can get use to the length of reading longer stories. I would consider this book a second grade level.

[Bridgette A · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is great for children who speaks English and Spanish. It has some spanish speaking words as you read throughout the book. I take it, this is great to help latinx students to know how to write spanish words, while building their reading skills in English. The author Jaqueline Jules, lives in North Virginia with her family. She has written over thirty books. Some children who speaks spanish, needs to continue learning how to conscious on the spelling of spanish words.

[Sheri S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun book from the Sophia Martinez series! As usual, Sophia gets herself into some sort of trouble and must figure out a way to resolve the situation. Her relationships with her family members are strong and supportive. I really appreciate the addition of Spanish words!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read with bits of Spanish sprinkled throughout. Sofia is cheerful and confident, and usually saves the day.