Marta! Big & Small

by Jen Arena, Angela Dominguez (Illustrator)

Overview

With simple Spanish and a glossary at the end, this fun read-aloud picture book, Marta! Big and Small, teaches little ones to identify opposites and animals and learn new words.

Marta is una niña, an ordinary girl . . . with some extraordinary animal friends!

As Marta explores the jungle, she knows she's bigger than a bug, smaller than an elephant, and faster than a turtle. But then she meets the snake, who thinks Marta is sabrosa—tasty, very tasty! But Marta is ingeniosa, a very clever girl, and she outsmarts the snake with hilarious results.

A School Library Journal Top 10 Latinx Book 2016

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250886859
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	20
Sales rank:	130,058
Product dimensions:	6.55(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.45(d)
Lexile:	380L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Jen Arena is a former editorial director at Random House Books for Young Readers. She now writes books for children full-time, including 100 Snowmen, a wintry counting story, and Besos for Baby, a bilingual board book of kisses. Her books have been translated into French, Korean, Arabic, and, of course, Spanish.

Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City, grew up in Texas, and lived in San Francisco. She's the author and illustrator of picture books such as Let's Go, Hugo!; Santiago Stays; Knit Together; and Maria Had a Little Llama, an American Library Association Pura Belpré Illustration Honor book. She now writes and creates in her studio in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/01/2023

PreS-K—An ordinary girl, Marta, is so many extraordinary things to the creatures who surround her in this board book lesson on perspective that perfectly combines English and Spanish words. "To a horse, Marta is lenta/ Slow, very slow." Then, to a turtle on the next page, "Marta is rápida./ Fast, very fast." Readers learn she is sabrosa, or tasty to a snake, ruidosa or loud to a rabbit, and more. By the end, children will know that Marta is all these things, and none of these things, unless she wants to be. VERDICT Offering simple ideas and splendid insights, this is an ideal book for the bilingual shelves.

School Library Journal

2023-04-24
The comparisons between a young girl and the animals she encounters make for a unique Spanish primer.

Marta, a brown-skinned child cued as Latine, with her hair up in double buns, is “an ordinary girl,” but her adventure is anything but. Starting from the base of her treehouse, she sees an elephant, a horse, a lion, even a huge snake. Readers discover how the child is viewed very differently by each creature. “To a bug, Marta is grande. Big. Very big.” But “To an elephant, Marta is pequeña. Small, very small.” A horse might see Marta as “lenta” (“slow, very slow”), while a turtle sees her as “rápida” (“Fast, very fast”). Each Spanish word is explained clearly in context without it feeling like a dictionary-style translation. At the end of the book, a two-page spread uses a new set of Spanish words to show how she and each creature are alike. She’s “fast like el caballo” (the horse), “small like el insecto” (the insect), and, of course, “clever, very clever, like una niña.” Illustrations, dominated by Marta’s expressive face and body, paired with animal action shots on white backgrounds, are effective and fun, helping the Spanish vocabulary lesson go down easily. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A simple but effective Spanish-word lesson for little ones. (Board book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews

07/25/2016
Arena and Dominguez nimbly combine an exploration of relativity with an introduction to Spanish vocabulary as una niña named Marta encounters various animals while exploring a junglelike setting. Though the text is minimal, Arena uses repetition and context clues to make each concept readily clear: “To a horse, Marta is lenta. Slow, very slow. To a turtle, Marta is rápida. Fast, very fast.” Dominguez’s loose, energetic illustrations underscore the meanings of each term and, during a run-in with a hungry snake, help demonstrate that Marta is—among other things—“ingeniosa. Clever, very clever.” Ages 4–7. Author’s agent: Jill Corcoran, Jill Corcoran Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

“A cross between a concept book and a word book, this is a fun read-aloud to use anytime or in a bilingual storytime program.” —School Library Journal

“With repetitive text and child-friendly illustrations, this wonderful read-aloud invites the younger set to experience the tension, relief, and satisfaction of a great plot.” —School Library Journal, Top 10 Latinx 2016

“Arena’s clever, catchy text might invite some play-acting games, and the lively energy of her informative words is well matched by Dominguez’ friendly, dynamic creatures in an earth-toned palette. This handy introduction to Spanish vocabulary is perfect for animal-lovers of all stripes.” —Booklist

“Pura Belpré honoree Dominguez's green, brown, and tan illustrations capture the movement in each spread . . . Marta's adventure is an enjoyable way to introduce animals, observe concepts, and identify comparisons and polarities in English and en Español.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Arena and Dominguez nimbly combine an exploration of relativity with an introduction to Spanish vocabulary.” —Publisher's Weekly

“An ideal choice for bilingual storytimes.” —The Bulletin

From the Publisher