Special Mexican Soup, Family Fun, and Counting in Both Spanish and English in Delightful Picture Book

Maria Dolores Aguila's delightful picture book Menudo Sunday tells the story of family fun and making a special Mexican soup for dinner. Young readers will also learn to count in Spanish while reading along.

A little girl and members of her large family always like to gather together on Sunday to make the special Mexican soup menudo. Cousins, mom and dad, and grandparents along with aunts all gather on Sundays for family fun and enjoying making a meal together. This special soup has delicious ingredients will spices cilantro, lime, oregano, and onion. Salsa and jalapeno peppers add additional flavor. Friendly chaos erupts when playtime with all of the cousins and dogs becomes rowdy. The large bowl of menudo is spilled. A new bowl must be made before the family can eat. Counting the ingredients in Spanish is a special part of the story. Young readers will have the opportunity to learn to count in Spanish and English. Spanish vocabulary words are also sprinkled throughout the story for the experience of learning a new language. A Spanish glossary is added and ideas for families to host their own Menudo Sunday are included.

Erika Meza contributed her talents as an illustrator to provide colorful illustrations to tell the family's story.

Menudo Sunday is recommended for ages 4-8. It was published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin/Random House. It has an ISBN of 978-0-593-46225-6.

Teachers who teach in early elementary classrooms will want to add this delightful multicultural picture book to their classroom library. Menudo Sunday provides the opportunity for young readers to experience a new language. Bilingual children will fill included when teachers provide picture books in Spanish. Teachers will also have the opportunity to provide a cooking activity in the curriculum after reading Menudo Sunday. My young students in kindergarten always enjoyed participating in a cooking activity to enhance a reading experience with a picture book about food.

*Read Menudo Sunday in a story time session. Call attention to the fact that this is a Mexican family from Mexico. Provide a globe for children to locate Mexico on the map.

*Call attention to the Spanish vocabulary with counting words and other vocabulary words that are sprinkled throughout the story. Use the included glossary for children to learn the meaning of the Spanish vocabulary words. Provide drawing paper, markers, and crayons for children to illustrate the Spanish vocabulary words as they learn them.

*Call attention to the list of spices that are needed to make the special soup. Bring samples of these spices to your classroom for children to taste and experience. Have a Tasting Party to experience the spices and ingredients for menudo.

*Prepare a cooking activity for children to make menudo. An electric skillet is a classroom-friendly cooking tool to prepare the menudo. A hot plate and large pot can also be a classroom-friendly tool to prepare the soup.

*Prepare a math activity for counting in Spanish to learn the vocabulary for counting to 15. Prepare drawing paper with number words in Spanish with drawing paper divided into 15 squares. Provide small stickers with designs for children to place the correct number of stickers in each square with the number word in Spanish.

Maria Dolores Aguila is a talented Chicana poet and author. She enjoys writing inclusive stories about things that she has learned. She writes in her Author's Note that making menudo with her family was always a favorite and beloved event during her childhood. Her delightful picture book is a story derived from her own childhood with the family tradition.

Erika Meza is a talented illustrator who was born in Mexico. She enjoys working with animation and has several children's books to her credit. My Two Border Towns and Salsa Lullaby are a few of her books that she has provided illustrations for.