Who’s Hatching Here?

¿Quién nacerá aquí?  

by Alma Flor Ada

The reader is invited to guess, based on the poems and illustrations, what animal will hatch from each set of eggs. Children will delight in guessing, as well as in the freshness of the rhymes and the exciting watercolors.

In the process, they also learn about the many animals that start their lives as eggs. Some teachers have not being able to resist framing the outstanding illustrations by Viví Escrivá.  

Author’s Note : My son Miguel had great fascination for birds. He loved watching and studying them. We even got to raise two wild birds, fallen from their nests, first a bluejay, later a robin. Many years later, as an adult, my daughter Rosalma was able to raise a bird who felt out of next in front on her house. Raising baby birds is not an easy task, and many times proves unsuccessful, but what a joy when they manage to survive.

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 or Spanish at : www.delsolbooks.com and 1-888-335-7651.