Customer Reviews

Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Zapato Power is a chapter book. Each of the eight chapters contains about 8 pages of text interspersed with a good number of eye-catching illustrations.

Freddie Ramos is the main character. His mom has to work hard to pay the bills because his father died serving his country. His building super, Mr. Vaslov, lets Freddie spend time with him. Mr. Vaslov is the kind of gentleman a mother would want her son to model.

Even though Freddie's mom is struggling, she is moving up (they just moved to a new apartment building where the graffiti is cleaned off every day) & Freddie has family (Uncle Jorge) that stays in contact with him.

One day Freddie receives a box containing a snazzy pair of sneakers. With these sneakers Freddie's life changes in a very wonderful way. The sneakers give him the ability to move muy rapido due to the "Zapato Power" they contain.

The shoes are a mystery because of their power and because Freddy doesn't know who gave them to him. The Zapato Power makes Freddie feel special and gives him the incentive to use his powers to solve mysteries and help people out.

Because most boys dream of having special powers, this book is bound to become a favorite of the lower elementary school kids. I can see this being a book they read over and over and put under their pillow while they sleep. I am sure young girls will enjoy this book, but it will reach the heart of boys in a very special way because it is exciting and comforting at the same time.

I read this to my five-year old and he really enjoyed it. The story is about Freddie and a mysterious package he receives. The package has special shoes that make Freddie lightning-fast. The shoes make him run fast enough to get forgotten lunches or library books for his friends at school and he is eager to use his new power to save the day. The mystery lies in who gave him the shoes and Freddie figures it out in the end.

This book has eight short chapters of text and illustrations. It's good for new readers as long as someone is near to help with the tougher words, or an experienced reader in first or second grade should have fun with it. The plot was very obvious to me, but my kindergartener did not know who gave Freddie the shoes until it was revealed at the end. He also liked the illustrations. They were well done to fit the tale. One thing I thought was odd, was the mention of Freddie's father. The subject comes up once or twice and then two sentences reveal that he was killed in the war. While the death of a parent is tragic and at times needs to be addressed, it didn't seem to fit in the story. I think it either should have been left out or developed more to show how Freddie has overcome the loss of his father. All it meant for us is that I had to close the book and explain what a funeral is. Overall my son enjoyed it though and he hopes that he can one day get super-powered shoes too.

My 9-year-old son read this book and then told me what he thought about it. He said that liked the story and thought it had some funny parts. He liked the storyline about the shoes, but he felt like he knew what was going to happen the whole time. I asked him if he'd be interested in reading another book with Freddie in it and he said yes, so we're giving this one four stars. Any series he's willing to follow is a good thing. I will say that I thought the reading level was a little too easy for him in 3rd grade. I might suggest this for 1st and 2nd graders starting to read chapter books or to 3rd or 4th graders who are working on comprehension. For pleasure reading though, it's a good one for the boys and girls alike.

Freddy Ramos finds a new pair of purple shoes with wings at his door one day. After putting them on he finds he has super speed. He wants to be a super hero but finds small good deeds to do as well as a few mysteries such as who gave him the shoes, who wrote "poopy" on public surfaces and where is the lost puppy? I read this to my 6 year old granddaughter and she was interested. I think the parts of the father could have been left out. It didn't serve the story and confused my granddaughter somewhat. All-in-all she was entertained with the story and liked shouting out "zoom zoom zapato" whenever it appeared in the book.

This is an easily read early chapter book for grades 2 and 3. The point of view is first person, through the eyes of Freddie Ramos, who lives in an apartment with his working mother and who goes to a nearby elementary school. The story is told in an effortless and appealing style: there are no awkward sentences or overly-complicated explanations. The story seems to be a semi-fantasy: everything is real-life except the pair of super-power shoes (zapatos) that Freddie receives -- shoes which enable him to run so fast that he's invisible for brief periods of time. Using his speed, Freddie is able to help his fellow students solve small problems, such as retrieving the lunch one student left at home. In addition, he uses his super speed to find out who seems to be defacing the walls of his apartment building by writing on them. A good beginning to an appealing series. Boys will like this, and so will girls.

Freddie was trying to find out who left him a mysterious package with no return address but a note that says `Zapato Power for Freddie Ramos'. Was the mysterious package from his uncle Jorge in New York? But uncle always sends funny cards with his gifts and there was no card in the box but a pair of purple sneakers with silver wings on the side. Later that day Freddie found out that the sneakers wasn't from his uncle or his mother. But Freddie was happy because he was ready to be a hero.

The positive thing about this book is that Freddie decided to use his new-found powers for good. He was eager to use his new power to help his friends and save the day. By using his super speed he was able to pick up forgotten lunches and library books.
The mystery is who sent Freddie the purple sneakers and would he figure it out in the end? An interesting read for early chapter readers.


FTC Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion in any way.

Zapato Power! Who wouldn't love getting a mysterious package in the mail that gave you super powers? I'd take it! For the younger children, their eyes light up with delight as they live Freddie's adventures. The older children (8/9ish) really weren't all that excited to read it themselves. This is a short chapter book and I think it was below their reading level. They enjoyed the story, but it was over 1-2-3 for them. Highly recommended reading for the younger age range!

This book was brought to my attention thanks to the Cybils Awards. In 2010 it won the short chapter book category.

Freddie and his mother have recently moved to Starwood Park Apartments. One day Freddie Ramos comes home to find a box with his name on it. Inside is a new pair of purple sneakers. There's no name with the gift, just a note saying Zapato power for Freddie Ramos. With his new shoes, Freddie is very fast, faster than a train. Freddie wants to use his new speed to be a hero. He also knows me must keep is Zapato power a secret.

This was a very fun read. Freddie Ramos is great. He's just an ordinary boy who is given a special gift. This is easily my favorite early chapter books I've read in a while. I love that it features a male protagonist of color.

I checked out the first book from the library. I figured I'd only meet Freddie but now I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. The chapters are only about eight pages long with illustrations. Jules text and Benitez art, make this a very relucatant reader friendly. 3.5 stars out of 5

My daughter loved reading this short chapter book (she's a bit of a tomboy though). I read it to her over three nights and she kept up with the story mostly due to the loads of illustration and occasional inclusion of designed text. The verbiage isn't too difficult that a kindergartener can't pick out many of her sight words. And though neither of us laughed out loud, I thought the story humorous moments and a clever mystery. She's asked me to read it to her again several times since, and at times can be seen running around in her sneakers crying "ZOOM! ZOOM! ZAPATO!"

I introduced this book to my students by reading aloud the beginning and then putting it aside for a time. Two of my reluctant male readers were annoyed with me. Of course, this was done on purpose as I wanted to motivate them to read on their own. Both boys were hooked--one gave up shortly after starting and the other read the whole book. He loved being ahead of me once I finished reading the book to the class. If a book can hook one of my students I am all for it. I don't think this book was a general "hit" with the class, however. The fantasy theme (shoes) is always a plus with this age group. (7 and 8) Imaginations were sparked and I was also able to integrate some writing activities along the fantasy theme once we read through the entire book. The boys found the plot more engaging than the girls did but I think all kids will be able to connect with an ordinary boy meeting up with some extraordinary events. In fact, the kids made great connections between this book and Flat Stanley, another book I had read to them.