Alma Flor Ada

Turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner? No, Thanks!
¿Pavo para la Cena de Gracias? ¡No, gracias!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When the turkey over­hears a con­ver­sa­tion about how fat and tasty he will be on Thanks­giv­ing, he loses his own appetite. For­tu­nately, he meets a young spi­der who remem­bers that her grandmother’s great grand­mother, whose name was Char­lotte, once saved a young pig’s life. The spi­der, then, sets out to find a way to save the turkey.

Makes a great com­pan­ion to Charlotte’s Web. It also invites con­ver­sa­tions about nutri­tion and exer­cise as sources of health.

One of the beloved titles of the series Sto­ries the Year’ Round, or in Span­ish, Cuen­tos para todo el año. The com­plete sto­ries of the series are:

SPRING
A Rose with Wings
A Sur­prise for Mother Rab­bit
The Empty Piñata

PRIMAVERA
Rosa alada
La sor­presa de Mamá Coneja
La piñata vacía

SUMMER
How the Rain­bow Came to Be
After the Storm
In the Cow’s Backyard

VERANO
Cómo nació el arco iris
Después de la tor­menta
La hamaca de la vaca

FALL
The Kite
What Are Ghosts Afraid Of?
“Turkey for Thanks­giv­ing?” “No, Thanks!”

OTOÑO
El papalote
El susto de los fan­tas­mas
–¿Pavo para la Cena de Gra­cias? –No, gracias.

WINTER
The Golden Cage
I Don’t Want to Melt
It Wasn’t Me

INVIERNO
La jaula dorada
¡No quiero der­re­tirme!
No fui yo

CDS AND CASSETTES DESCRIPTION

There is a spe­cial value to lis­ten­ing to a books read by the author. Such record­ings show just where the author wishes to con­vey feel­ings and emo­tions, empha­sis and sus­pense. When the text is put to music it acquires addi­tional inter­est for children.

I par­tic­u­larly like to read aloud and to record my read­ings so, for me, it was par­tic­u­larly joy­ful to record these twelve sto­ries in Eng­lish and Spanish.

The sto­ries can be found in indi­vid­ual cas­settes in Eng­lish and Span­ish, one for each book of the series, or in CDs in Eng­lish and Span­ish ver­sions. Each of the CDs con­tains the twelve sto­ries of the series.

A Spe­cial Bonus

Because these sto­ries have been so beloved by chil­dren, I con­ceived the idea of given them an extra dimen­sion. I have rewrit­ten the 12 sto­ries in Span­ish in verse for­mat. And Suni Paz, with her incom­pa­ra­ble cre­ativ­ity, has put them to music. So the Span­ish cas­settes and CD con­tain not only the story as pub­lished in the book told by me, but also the story retold in verse form and sang by Suni.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

The twelve books of this series are some of my best well known books among bilin­gual teach­ers and their stu­dents. They are also very dear to my heart since the inspi­ra­tion for most of them comes from my own children’s childhood.

Some­times I write the things I need to tell myself. Devel­op­ing good eat­ing habits and exer­cise prac­tices have always been issues for me. So, per­haps, more than con­vince any­one else of their value I wrote this book to con­vince myself.

Besides, I have always been a great fan of Charlotte’s Web, and I was pleased to write this story to honor that extra­or­di­nary book.

“Turkey for Thanks­giv­ing Din­ner?” “No, Thanks!” and ¿Pavo para la Cena de Gra­cias? ¡No, gra­cias! have been some of my most favorite books to read aloud to children.

READERS’ RESPONSES

If you have enjoyed read­ing or shar­ing this book, I would very much like to hear from you. Please click here to send your comments.