Keith Polette

Paco and the Giant Chile plant is a great rendition of Jack and the Beanstalk. It includes Spanish vocabulary that becomes more complex and frequent as the story goes on. This is a great way to show students how other countries may know the same stories as we do, but tell them a different way. At the end of the book, it has a glossary of Spanish words that are used in the book.
I would enjoy using this book to help students learn Spanish vocabulary. Younger students could draw pictures of words, and older students can match the Spanish word to the English word. We can also talk about what countries are Spanish speaking, as well as discuss what other languages students know of.… (mehr)

Summary:
Paco is a little boy who lives with his mom. They run out of food and money, so Paco's mom tells him to go sell their cow. While on his way to sell the cow, Paco comes across an old man who offers to trade the cow for "Magic semillas de chile" (chili seeds). Paco plants the chili seeds and grows an enormous "planta de chile" (chile plant). Paco climbs up the plant and finds golden chilies. He also found a terrible giant who, when he cries, shrinks down and turns into Paco's dad. The golden chilies turned him into the giant. They climb down the chili plant to meet with Paco's mom.

Personal Reaction:
This story is a twist on the classic "Jack and the Beanstalk". This is a great story for students that know Spanish along with English. The illustrations are great in this book, they were sketched in pencil then rendered digitally. Children will like that this book goes from a normal boy into a fiction story.

Classroom Extensions:
A good compare and contrast exercise can be done between the classic story and this redone multicultural one. Another activity that can be done is to have the children in the class that speak Spanish translate the Spanish phrases for the rest of the class.… (mehr)