Strange Visitors

Una extraña visita

by Alma Flor Ada

Each day of the week a new set of visitors appears, bringing with them rhythm and joy. A wonderful book for choral reading and play acting. Children learn the days of the week as a game and become acquainted with different animals and musical instruments.

Authors Note : Writing this book was a pleasurable exercise. I wrote it specifically before a visit to a first grade class in Santa Barbara, California. I wanted to bring the children a model that they could use to create their own books.

It’s been a true satisfaction to see through the years how many other classes have used the book for the same purpose. And a joy to witness how many children know the text by heart and delight repeating it.

Reviews : School Library Journal : About Stories for the Telling : A charming series, illustrated with watercolor and pen-and-ink drawings. The stories are told in a humorous style and are enhanced throughout by Ada's gift for language and poetry. El Canto del mosquito / The Song of the Teene Tiny Mosquito. is the droll story of a frog who eats a mosquito and whose song then sounds like that of a mosquito. The frog is eaten by a fish, who then sings like a mosquito, etc. Una extraña vista / Strange Visitors is a humorous counting story of the days of the week in rhyme. Me gustaría  tener… / How Happy I Would Be… . . . lists the various things ``I would like to have . . .'' Again in a counting - book format, the desired items all turn out to be animals involved in unusual activities (e.g. two giraffes reading with glasses). ¿Quién nacerá aquí? / Who’s hatching Here?  ., in contrast to the others, is a science book. Rhyming riddles ask which animal will hatch from different eggs. The eggs are presented in their natural habitats; both illustrations and text hint at the answers.

Illustrated by Viví Escrivá.
English translation by Bernice Randall.
Published by Santillana.
Available in English and Spanish at : www.delsolbooks.com and 1-888-335-7651.