ECONOGAL

Con Pollo is a bilingual story book penned by Jimmy Fallon and Jenifer Lopez and illustrated by Andrea Campos. It is a perfect find for a child who is being raised bilingual. Such as my grandson who just turned one. Naturally, books are the go-to gift for this little guy born much earlier than expected. However, he is catching up quickly due to his parents’ love, persistence, and dedication. His little book collection includes those written in English, Spanish and a handful like Con Pollo which blend the two languages.

In addition to the rhyming text, the authors present simple examples of vocabulary building. For example, soccer and futbol, dancing and bailar. This exposes children outside of bilingual households to other languages in a fun way. And the character of Con Pollo is perfect to interest the little ones.

As a storybook, Con Pollo is geared toward the English-Spanish translations versus a plot. But there is an attempt to appeal to a toddler’s sense of an active day. So, the story presents lots of playtime, trips to school, store and the biblioteca and of course at the end of a long day-bedtime. And best of all, the authors pop out a surprise at the end of the book. Kids love surprises.

I love the style of illustration for Con Pollo. The simple drawing of Pollo will appeal to the minimalists in the crowd. And she will be very easy to identify if the authors find time in their busy lives to write another. As an illustrator, Campos reminds me of Charles Schultz. Simple strokes creating complex characters. I concur with this Forbes article that Andrea Campos has quite a future in front of her.

Con Pollo is a cute book. At heart, the authors are introducing Spanish vocabulary at a children’s interest level. Pollo, as the main character, lives the way children used to, playing all day long. A fun book for both public and private libraries to acquire.