The Triple Banana Split Boy / El niño goloso

$18.95

A bilingual picture book dealing with the importance of developing good eating habits.

by Lucha Corpi
Illustrations by Lisa Fields

ISBN: 978-1-55885-504-5
Publication Date: May 31, 2009
Format: Hardcover
Pages:
32
Imprint: Piñata Books
Age: 4-9

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“How come you can have sweets and I can’t?” Enrique asks the hummingbirds as they flutter over the flowers in the garden. His craving for sugar is getting out of control, and his father has forbidden him to eat anything sweet. Enrique’s birthday is coming up and he won’t be allowed to help his grandma with her baking. It’s not fair!

Enrique’s cravings multiply by the minute. Even numbers in his math book start to look like yummy desserts. His life is over! The next day, though, he comes up with an ingenious plan to outwit his father.

Unfortunately, his mother soon catches on. But she has a plan of her own. On Mondays and Fridays only, after school, Enrique may have any dessert he likes, but none during the rest of the week. What a sweet deal!

On his first outing with his mother, Enrique orders a huge triple banana split, with strawberry, chocolate and vanilla scoops of ice cream, nuts, sprinkles and chocolate syrup. Later that night, Enrique’s stomach aches, and El Coco, a fearsome creature with a huge mouth and sticky hair, haunts his dreams.

Enrique’s mother wonders if he will ever learn to eat in moderation. Will he be able to bake with Grandma? And what about having a special treat on his birthday?

Lucha Corpi’s poetic prose is combined with Lisa Field’s enticing illustrations in this engaging story that will resonate with kids and their parents as they struggle to balance healthy eating habits with the natural desire for sweets.

“Children will enjoy this warm story full of vibrant colors.”—School Library Journal

LUCHA CORPI is a poet, novelist, and children’s book author. She has written three other mystery novels featuring Brown Angel investigations and Gloria Damasco, the first Chicana detective in American literature: Black Widow’s Wardrobe (Arte Público Press, 1999), Cactus Blood (Arte Público Press, 1995), and Eulogy for a Brown Angel (Arte Público Press, 1992, 2002). Her first poetry collection, reissued by Arte Público Press in 2001, is entitled Palabras de mediodía / Noon Words. She is the recipient of numerous awards and citations, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Prize in fiction and the Multicultural Publishers Exchange Book Award of Excellence in Adult Fiction. She has been a tenured teacher in the Oakland Public Schools Neighborhood Centers Program since 1977.

LISA FIELDS received her BFA in illustration from the Ringling School of Art and Design and attended the Illustration Academy. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, this is her first picture book for children. She lives in her hometown of Katonah, New York.

ATOS Interest Level: Lower Grades
Category: Picture Book
ATOS English: 3.5
ATOS Spanish: 4.2
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 131067