Customer Reviews

Paco and the Giant Chile Plant/Paco y La Planta de Chile Gigante

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Award-winning author Keith Polette presents Paco and the Giant Chile Plant, a children's picturebook of the traditional "Jack and the Giant Beanstalk" fairy tale, with a distinctly Spanish-American Southwest twist! Told in English with embedded Spanish words (which are written in red instead of black), and enhanced with a Spanish-English vocabulary page, Paco and the Giant Chile Plant is excellent for introducing young people to the fun of learning a new language. The exuberant color artwork by award-winning illustrator Elizabeth O. Dulemba adds the perfect touch to this lively adventure, which has a heartwarming, positive twist on the ending of the original fairy tale.

What a delightful and charming book. Paco and the Giant Chile Plant bases itself on the children's classic Jack and the Beanstalk, but with a wonderful twist that makes it all it's own. Paco trades the family cow for a bag of Chile seeds. Once he plants them, he waits and waits until finally the ground begins to shake and tremble, a giant chile plant shoots itself into the sky and a curious Paco quickly makes his way to the top. Once he reaches the top, he encounters a terrible Giant - this is where the delightful twist takes place, which is sure to enchant readers of all ages.

Within Paco and the Giant Chile Plant, the bilingual version, Spanish words are embedded throughout the story. Their definitions made clear within the text and a list of the words and their meanings are also included on the final page of the story. I found this to be a wonderful story and the illustrations are beautiful and extremely eye catching. Both my 2 year old and 6 year old enjoyed this story repeatedly.

I wanted to include an excerpt, which I found to be particular catchy: El gigante's teeth were as jagged and gnarled as trees twisted by a terrible tornado. I loved the language usage and the flow of writing. Wonderful and fun story with a lesson at the end that as long as you have a wonderful family, a roof over your head and work to be done, that is all that is important.

Set in the American Southwest, Paco and the Giant Chile Plant/Paco y la planta de chile gigante is an adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk. Told in English with Spanish embedded in red throughout, Paco sells his family's vaca (cow), their only source of income, for a handful of semillas de chile (chili seeds). When he plants the seeds, a giant chile plant grows way up into the sky. Of course, a curious Paco must climb up the plant, and when he does, he meets the terrible giant we expect him to meet. However, the surprise ending of the story is anything but expected and provides an interesting twist.

Elizabeth O. Dulemba's rich gold-toned illustrations reflect the colors of the desert and give us a glimpse of the clothing, dwellings, and culture of the American southwest.

This is an ideal book for bilingual children or English and Spanish learners. A glossary in the back of the book offers definitions of all of the Spanish words in rojo. It would also make a great read aloud, especially for children who like a little action and suspense in their stories.

'Paco and the Giant Chile Plant' is a fun read. It's written in English, but Spanish words are peppered throughout the story. Kind of how the popular cartoon, Dora The Explorer speaks, adding Spanish words throughout, this way children can learn.

This is a 'Jack and the Beanstalk' kind of story, but with a twist. Instead of 'Jack' it's 'Paco'.

And at the end of the story, there is a vocabulary page listing the Spanish words used in the book and translating them into English.

This was a cute read. A nice children's book.

What a fun read-aloud for you and your child or grandchild. This twist on the old "Jack tales" has just enough Spanish to spice it up and give an authentic Southwestern flavor, but the best part is Dulemba's vivid illustrations. The landscape and characters leap from the page right into the reader's imagination. Aye carumba, buy one, muy pronto!
C. M. Fleming

This is basically a Mexican version of the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk story. Although it is a Mexican adaptation it is written in English with an occasional word in Spanish. For each Spanish word the readers can figure out the definition based on the context. The author introduces a vocabulary of 32 Spanish words to help young readers learn Spanish in a easy, intuitive way. Paco and the Giant Chile Plant is recommended.