Book Review: Sweet Dreams Dulces Sueños by Pat Mora

General Information

Title: Sweet Dreams Dulces Sueños

Author: Pat Mora

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins

Date of Publication: 2008

Illustrator: Maribel Suárez

Lexile Level & Target Audience

Lexile: N/A

Age Range: 4-6

Audience: young girls or boys, bilingual, Mexican/Hispanic ethnicity, animal lovers

Brief Summary

Sweet Dreams, Dulces Sueños is a charming bilingual book about a Grandmother's (Abuelita's) bedtime tradition with her grandchildren. "Shh, shh," she says, and, one after another, she names the animals that are sleeping, and, one after another, she kisses the three children and wishes them "sweet dreams––dulces sueños."

Evaluation: Pros & Cons

Pros:

1. The story is bilingual. This book is a wonderful way to introduce more of the Spanish language into your classroom. Its simplicity and repetitive pattern will sit well with young children. 

2. It's void of racial stereotypes. This is not a "poor Hispanic family," which is the stereotype all too often depicted in children's and adolescent literature. The characters are cheerful and content; the grandmother's tone of voice is peaceful.

Cons:

1. English is first, Spanish is second. This is really the only qualm I have with this book. Generally speaking, we associate "first" with "most important." As insignificant as it may seem to some, I prefer to choose texts which highlight the non-English language first, as opposed to the other way around. Sure, we are all equal and no language is "better" than another, but in a country that is English-dominant, it doesn't hurt to go out of our way to make other languages and ethnicities shine.

2. Not much educational benefit. This would be a great book to read just before "nap time" in a preschool or kindergarten class, but it doesn't have much educational material. That's not a reason to discard it altogether, but it's good to be aware of what purpose it best serves.

Literary Elements

Repetition/Pattern: Mora uses a repetitive pattern throughout the book, beginning the majority of lines with "Shh, shh," accompanied by an example of an animal sleeping, or the moon "smiling," or "eyes closing."

Dual Language: As previously mentioned, this book contains both English and Spanish, juxtaposed throughout the book (what's sort of cool is that "Shh, shh" is translated the same in Spanish, so students get to hear/identify a universal sound in both languages).

Personification: Grandma (Abuelita) personifies the moon, saying, "the moon is smiling."

Illustrations

These illustrations are simple and unassuming; the animals are personified with happy faces and human-like characteristics; the images work to create a peaceful, contented mood.

Mini-lesson Idea(s)

I think pattern is the main theme I'd focus on for this book. Younger students could begin to practice these skills that Mora employs by thinking about something in their life that happens over, and over, and over everyday. Some examples could include brushing their teeth ("brush, brush, brush my teeth"), eating ("chew, chew, chew my cereal . . . my banana . . . my cookie"), washing their hands ("scrub, scrub, scrub my hands"), and so on. You could have students engage in this activity as a whole group, or, if there are extra helping hands, students could work in small groups.

- Aubrey