Author /
Illustrator: Raúl the
Third
Publication Year: 2020
Genre / Category: Picture Book (Selected for the Pura Belpré winner/honor category)
Target Age Group: Grades K–3
Format Read: Physical copy
Summary
¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat centers around characters as they take a walk through their neighborhood to see all of the stores, food vendors, and community spaces around them. Culture is shown through common occurrences throughout this Latinx neighborhood with lots of energy.
Justification for Selection
This book was selected because it provides children with an opportunity to
engage with Latinx culture through universal activities like eating and
visiting local businesses. By seamlessly integrating Spanish and English, the
narrative normalizes multilingualism in a way that feels authentic to the
community it depicts. It is an excellent resource for libraries serving diverse
populations and for read-aloud sessions focused on inclusion and cultural
representation.
Evaluation
The illustrations are colorful and eye-catching with the large pops of
color. Though, when looking at the pictures as a whole they tend to be
extremely cluttered. There is so much going on in each picture you almost
have to train your eyes to focus. It can become very fatiguing to look at
while reading.
Speech bubbles,
pictures, and arrows pointing throughout the page make it difficult to know
what to read first. While this design style could work for independent
reading, it does not flow very well for read alouds.
The book
includes two languages throughout the text which promotes bilingual
cultures. Language used was not difficult to read, however having both
Spanish and English in one bubble could become difficult for readers who do not
know both languages. Perhaps Spanish on one page and English on the other
would be less confusing, but overall including two languages was a great way to
show the truth of many multicultural communities.
References
Raúl the Third. (2020). ¡Vamos! Let’s go eat (Raúl the Third, Illus.). Versify.