Tortillitas Para Mama and Other Nursery Rhymes: Spanish and English

by Margot C. Griego, Sharon S. Gilbert, Barbara Cooney (Illustrator)

A collection of nursery rhymes, each in both English and Spanish, collected from the Spanish community in the Americas, many with instructions for accompanying finger plays or other activities.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Picture Books, Poetry, Childrens, Nursery Rhymes

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1981

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute, lots of fun little rhymes in Spanish with the English translations. They even give hand motions that is used with the rhymes that can be used with children.

By far my favorite was one where it talked about be a a pretty little girl, in a pretty little dress and if something happens to that dress, Mama will kill her. I died, it was so cute, true, and not something I expected in a book.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the rhymes are great, but others are leaving you going "WHAT?:!?!?"

Such as...

"I am small, I am pretty,
I am my mother's pearl.
If I soil my dress,
She will beat me."

or

"Little tortillas for Mama
Little tortillas for Papa.
The burned ones for Mama.
The good ones for Papa."

I realize there is room for translation & cultural differences, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Maricruz Najera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! Many of the sayings found in the book I learned from my grandmother as a little girl. I live how it provides side to side the English and Spanish version.

[Imelda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las ilustraciones de este libro son buenísimas. A mi bebé (2 meses) le llaman mucho la atención. Me gustó mucho la sugerencia que hacen sobre los movimientos que debe hacer una cuando le canta la canción de los pollitos a los niños. Mi problema es que no conozco las rimas y canciones de este libro. No se si sea porque soy mexicana pero solo reconocí la de las tortillitas y la de los pollitos, las demás nunca las había escuchado y no se como cantarlas.

[Melissa Childress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this book as a child. I used to read the Spanish pages along with the English pages. Tortillitas Para Mama / Tortillas for Mama helped me learn Spanish at a young age.

[Hendrix Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

So interactive and fun, beautifully sweet

[The Lady Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the translation seems a bit off, but the side by side Spanish/English is nice.

[Aspen Ganison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so glad I found this book! I love bilingual reading and this is perfect. The illustrations are gorgeous and the rhymes are classic.

[Rachel Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one that Bebe loved. He gets enthralled when I read in Spanish. This one is bilingual so I read the Spanish and then the English. Got to order more bilingual books. He loves them.

[Hannah Grosse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, though I read it using the Spanish translations. Had I not been able to do so, I most likely would have not liked the book, because the English translation does not rhyme. Nor are the Spanish poems always perfect rhymes, but they retained enough of a style that they remained interesting.

I was thrown off by some of the poems, finding them slightly depressing. For example, Chiquita Bonita starts out with a girl describing her childish charm, then finishing with the fact that if she does anything to the dress she is wearing, her mother is going to beat her. I was not exactly expecting that type of humor.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooney's art, warm & bright but otherwise much like her classics like Miss Rumphius and Chanticleer and the Fox, is the highlight of the collection. I also like the design, as the book is small enough for smaller hands and cozy laps, with pages that are full of things to look at but uncluttered. And of course any good bilingual book deserves consideration by any library or school.

The rhymes themselves mostly leave me cold. Several do include finger-play, and when my children were young we did love "Here's the Church.." and "Patty-Cake" etc. So there is that appeal. Otoh, one poem even has a child being in a fear of being beaten. But... if you want a Spanish-American version of "This little piggy went to market" I do highly recommend the two verses of "Finding an Egg" aka "Hallando un Huevo."

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of Spanish nursery rhymes. Each rhyme is presented in both Spanish and English along with any accompanying actions (such as the ones you would do with This Little Piggy). The rhymes are better in Spanish ( because they actually rhyme), but some are pretty entertaining in English. For instance, "Pretty Little Girl" - I am small, I am pretty/ I am my mother's pearl./ If I soil my dress,/ She will beat me. My favorite is Colita de Rana (Little Frog's Tail) because my dad used to say it to us when we got hurt. The pictures are by Barbara Cooney which seems a little in authentic but they work. I am a big fan of preserving oral tradition in writing so I think this book does a nice job of capturing rhymes that I could imagine dying out as a result of media encroachment.

[Lluvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author: Margot C. Griego

This book had many rhymes. It's written in English and Spanish. I was reading the book in English first and the rhymes didn't make senses. I started to notice some of this rhymes were used by my mom when we were little kids. So I started to read the book in Spanish and it started to make more sense. The rhymes were much better in Spanish. I don't think they should translate some things because it sounds weird in another language.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of nursery rhymes, each in both English and Spanish, collected from the Spanish community in the Americas, many with instructions for accompanying finger plays or other activities.
www.hcpl.net

The collection of nursery rhymes are small, but include several that would work for babytime.

[Ricardo Contreras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tortillitas Para Mama took me back to a few childhood experiences. Some of the nursery rhymes in the book were told to me as a child. I likes the poems since they were in English in Spanish. However, I liked them more in Spanish and understood it much better. I will say I enjoyed the book and the artwork was very nice.

Age group 3-7

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spanish nursery rhymes written in both English and Spanish with accompanying actions and paintings depicting Spanish families.

Rhymes are short and some lend themselves very well to storytime or classroom use. No pronunciation guides for the Spanish translations so some research would need to be doen for English speakers who want to present both versions.

[Elvira · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of classic nursery rhymes in Spanish and English. A few of this were very familiar to my parents, though they realized that many of the rhymes they knew were shortened by their parents. A few of them may not be appropriate for all and many of these can be found in other Spanish nursery rhyme books, though the illustrations are paired nicely with each rhyme.

[Nancy Espinoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute little book for bilingual families to introduce the Hispanic culture into the lives of their little ones.

[Pass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nursery Rhymes in Spanish -- excellent collection.