Burro's Tortillas [Hardcover]

Terri Fields (Author), Sherry Rogers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

What do you get when you cross The Little Red Hen with a burro and his friends? Burro s Tortillas! In this humorous Southwestern retelling of a childhood favorite, Burro finds it difficult to get any help from his friends as he diligently works to turn corn into tortillas. Young children will love the repetition; older children will enjoy the book s many puns. In addition to its Southwestern flavor, the delightful story imparts an accurate picture of the traditional way that tortillas are made. A Spanish/English glossary and a simple recipe for making tortillas are included in the For Creative Minds section.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Humor, wit, and all-in-all fun abound in this twist on The Little Red Hen story when Burro seeks out his friends the bobcat, coyote, and jackrabbit to help him make tortillas. Expect this book to fly off the shelves in classrooms and libraries. --Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

What a delightful way to learn aspects of another culture and language. A delightful, must have book for home and school libraries. --Children's Book Reviews

I always learn many things when reading Sylvan Dell books, and this one was no exception. It is sprinkled with Spanish words, and there is a Spanish/English vocabulary section in the back of the book. --Book Talk

About the Author

Terri Fields has written seventeen books which have garnered a number of awards including the Maud Hart Lovelace Award for Middle Grades Fiction and the Georgia Children s Choice Award. Her books were named to the Recommended Reading List for Chicago Public School, the TAYSHAS (Texas) Reading List, the Southwest Books of the Year List, and as one of the 100 Top Kid Picks in Children s Books in Arizona. A long time desert-dweller, Ms Fields has enjoyed sharing her books with children all over the world. In addition to writing, Ms. Fields is also a educator who has been named Arizona Teacher of the Year, ING Education Innovator for Arizona, and been selected as one of the twenty teachers on the All-USA Teacher Team of the nation s top educators. Her high-school English students have won local, regional and/or national creative writing awards for thirty-four consecutive years. Ms. Fields sees the world around her in terms of the wonderful stories it reveals.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing (June 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976882396
• ISBN-13: 978-0976882398
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,459,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loveable Nursery Tale, July 10, 2007

By 

J. Nasse "book lover/educator" (New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burro's Tortillas (Hardcover)

If children like the nursery tale "Little Red Hen," they will love Terri Field's Spanish version in Burro's Tortillas! This humorous tale of a burro who works hard to pick his corn and takes it through the process until the corn kernels becomes delicious tortillas. Yet, his friends bobcat, coyote, and jackrabbit aren't interested in helping with the hard work until it comes time to eat the tortillas! The book introduces Spanish words like "tortilla", "metate", "yo no", and "mis amigos". What a delightful way to learn aspects of another culture and language. In addition, there is a recipe for tortillas in the activity section.

Sherry Rogers' entertaining illustrations are back with Sylvan Dell in this welcomed book. Children will eagerly spot baby burro in each spread, though he is not mentioned in the text. A preschool or early elementary class will have fun with a corn-growing unit, ending with the making of tortillas. A delightful, must have book for home and school libraries.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Cute, December 27, 2010

By 

Patricia Leppla (Tucosn, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burro's Tortillas (Hardcover)

**spoiler alert** A burro one day decides to make Tortillas out of some corn plants. When he asks his friends if they can help pick the corn they all said no. This left the burro to pick the corn all by himself. Then he asks his friends if they can help him remove the kernels from the corn. Again, they all said no. Again the burro was left to do it alone. Then can the time to ground the corn into flour; again his friends would not help him. When he had to then make la masa, his friends were to busy sleeping to help. The last step was to cook the tortillas, and again no one would help him. After he finished cooking all the tortillas he asked his friends if they would help him eat them all; they all said yes. However he remembered that none of them had helped him at all and decided that he didn't need their help to eat the tortillas.

The illustrations are very colorful, made up of reds, blues and greens. The writing style is very simple; the sentences are not too long but not too short. The tone of this picture book is very deterministic. The burro doesn't give up in his quest to make tortillas, even without his friends' help. He is determined to make them so he can eat them and never gives up.

I thought this picture book was well written, the illustrations were very attractive and the overall theme was a wonderful message.

5.0 out of 5 stars SFC 5 star review, January 15, 2008

By 

Virginia S. Grenier "Children's Author & Stor... (Ivins, Utah USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Burro's Tortillas (Hardcover)

Poor little burro - he notices the white corn in the fields is very tall now, and it makes him hungry for tortillas! Thinking he could get the corn picked quicker with his friends helping, Burro seeks out Bobcat, Coyote, and Jackrabbit. All three make up excuses why they can't help. So Burro picks the corn himself. After he lugs the corn home, he needs to remove the kernels. Again, he asks his three friends for help; again, they have reasons why they can't help. And so it goes throughout the story. Burro has to do everything by himself with no help from his friends. It's a good thing burros are stubborn by nature! I loved the ending to this story, and thoroughly enjoyed learning how to make tortillas!

Author Terri Fields does a terrific job giving excellent voice to her four characters. Her story mixes together a vocabulary of Spanish words, the method used in the making of tortillas, and the way not to act if you're somebody's friend. She then sprinkles in some puns and fun words in her dialog, making this a fun book to read when coupled with the whimsical and vividly southwestern colored illustrations of Sherry Rogers. This is one of
those quiet books that I highly recommend for young readers who want to read a fun story, learn some Spanish words, and learn how to make tortillas, all at the same time!

As with all Sylvan Dell books, the story is followed by an educational section at the end "For Creative Minds" and includes: "Corn: From Plant To Table"; "A 'How Many Ways We Eat Corn' Activity"; "Making Tortillas: A Recipe"; and "A Spanish/English Vocabulary Matching Activity".

Gayle Jacobson-Huset,Assistant Editor
Stories for Children Magazine