Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner

This is a group of books that if you are not already familiar with, you're missing out. I had not heard of these books until a student brought it in for their "All About Me" week. I was fortunate enough to read the book aloud to students and it was an instant hit. Fortunately, Schachner has written a few more books, some including cds that have her reading aloud. I especially like the cd aspect because she does a nice job of providing a model of fluent reading by changing her voice for "Skippito Friskito...the great sword fighter." The group of books centers around a Siamese cat that dreams of being a Chihuahua. He has adventures when he "turns" into a Chihuahua. I like the word choice of the books. The books have some Spanish words, some songs, and parts for the readers and audience to clap along. I think students of all ages would enjoy this book (even graduate students like me)!

1 comment:

  1. You are right kids of all ages and adults too enjoy Skippyjon Jones. Hispanic students love to hear the splash of Spanish text. We just had a scholastic book fair at our school and one of my selections was: Skippyjon Jones Lost in Spice. I expect it to be "crowd" pleaser. Since I have some Spanish background, I am comfortable reading the book aloud to my students. I am glad to know this series also has the option of a cd. My colleague will be pleased to know this information too. Even though she knows her students enjoy these books she avoids them because she doesn't know how to read the words in Spanish. I wonder it there are many other teachers who avoid Schachner's books for the same reason.

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