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	PACO AND THE GIANT CHILE PLANT ~ PACO Y LA PLANTA DE CHILE GIGANTE written by Keith Polette illustrated by Elizabeth O. Dulemba Raven Tree Press CBC Magazine's Hot Off the Press list, March 2008 Buy the book - click the cover Trade Picture Book Bilingual Hardcover ISBN# 978-0-9770906-2-4 Bilingual Paperback ISBN# 978-0-9794462-3-8 English Paperback = ISBN# 978-1932748994 English Hardcover = ISBN# 978-1932748987 Spanish Paperback = ISBN# 978-1932748970 Spanish Hardcover = ISBN# 978-1932748963 Paco takes the familiar "Jack and the Beanstalk" tale and gives it more than a few new twists. Told as a fractured fairy tale, our hero, Jack, is now called Paco, and the story takes place in a beautiful desert setting in the American Southwest. The story is presented as an English text with embedded Spanish in rojo. A vocabulary page is included to jump start learning in either language.
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	Recipes: Chile Rollups
	Ingredients: Multi-grain tortillas Low Fat Cream Cheese (softened) Chile salsa (mild) Sliced jalapenos (optional) Tools: Rubber spatula Serrated plastic knife Microwave a tortilla on high for five seconds to make it easier to work with then lay it flat on your work surface. With your rubber spatula, spread cream cheese onto the tortilla all the way to the edges. Try to get as little liquid as possible and spoon a stripe of salsa onto the tortilla. Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can. With an adult's help, use a serrated plastic knife to gently cut the roll into pieces. (The end pieces probably won't hold together, so you'll have to eat those.) Place the pieces on end on a serving plate. If you're really brave, place a slice of jalapeño on top. (Watch out, jalapeños are hot!) Serve and enjoy! For a printable version of this recipe (60 kb .pdf), click here.
	More Recipes from the Blog Book Tour: Tasty Tortilla Snowflakes by Kim Norman at Stone Stoop Five-year-old friendly Quesadillas at Ruth McNally Barshaw's blog for Ellie McDoodle
	Honors for Paco: Paco has been awarded the bronze medal in the 2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards! Paco and the Giant Chile Plant made CBC Magazine's Hot Off the Press list for March 2008 Association of Booksellers for Children's, February 2008, ABC Toolbox "Hot Galleys" list Reviews for Paco: Should young Paco swap the family cow for chile seeds, plant them, and then climb to the top of the chile stalk where an evil giant lives? With Latino flair, this folktale offers a pleasant twist to the traidional Jack in the Beanstalk, while providing a superior moral and answering the age-old question of whatever happened to Paco's papá. Polette skillfully interchanges English and Spanish words to help readers learn key context vocabulary (also defined at the end of this cuenta). Dulemba uses PhotoShop and a palate of desert colors to visually intensify the tale's Mexican sabor with soft illustrations exuding a vintage feel. Recommended. - Amy Olson, Children's Librarian, Lexington Public Library, KY REFORMA Newsletter, Spring/Summer 2008 What a wonderful story. The author did a fabulous job taking what most of us assume is just a Spanish-added version of a classic story and truly making it her own. She did a masterful job blending Spanish into the story, offering repetition in English and Spanish together. As good as the story is, I could turn the pages just to look at the illustrations, too. On one page, el gigante terrible is reaching out to the reader! Everyone will enjoy this new ending to a classic story. The illustrations, combined with well integrated Spanish, make this a must-read for elementary-aged children. Buy. This is a wonderful book and a nice twist on a classic tale. The illustrations are exceptional and children (especially young boys) will see themselves in Paco: curious, drawn to magic, and a hero. - The Reading Tub Paco and the Giant Chile Plant (Raven Tree Press, 09794462-3-8) incorporates Spanish words into a surprising revision of “Jack and the Beanstalk”: “Paco harnessed la vaca and led it down the dusty road. At a dip in the dusty camino, Paco met an old man.” A glossary at the back will help unsure readers, but it is hardly necessary for understand the story. Keith Polette is an educator and literacy specialist who is known for his multicultural approach to teaching. In addition to his many books on education, he also wrote Isabel and the Hungry Coyote. Elizabeth Dulemba captures the feel and palette of the desert with her folksy digital artwork. - ForeWord Magazine, March/April 2008 Paco and his mother had nothing but a cow, which Paco ended up selling for magic chile seeds. So begins this delightful spin on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale that emphasizes the importance of family and leaves the reader with a smile of satisfaction. I liked this twist much better than the original. The interplay of English and Spanish within sentences helps the readers become acclimated to both languages along with learning new words. A very interesting method of introducing a different language. There is also vocabulary page at the end. The whimsical illustrations only add to this family-friendly tale. Recommended for homes, schools and more. - Author's Choice Reviews In a re-telling of Jack and the Beanstalk, Paco trades his family's only valuable possession for a bag of chile seeds. Naturally, the seeds grow into a giant chile plant, which Paco scurries up to find a world of clouds surrounding a great house. It's not hard to predict the discovery of a giant within the house, but an interesting twist for some readers will be the giant's threat, changed to reflect his new cultural background. "Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum, I smell the blood of a human one. Be he thin or be he fat, for my tortilla, I'll grind him flat!" It sounds silly, but the best stories and biggest hits with kids seem to be the stories that take them by surprise. This story definitely will. Keith Polette's lyrical text is interspersed with Spanish terms, translated casually from English as the story builds, so that children naturally understand their meaning in context. Elizabeth O. Dulemba's illustrations easily match the theme of the book, using warm golden tones to highlight Paco's great expectations. The glowing eyes of Paco and the ragged fingernails and snaggled teeth of the giant do much to bring both characters to life on the page. I'm impressed with the initiative of Raven Tree Press with their bilingual line, and I look forward to reviewing more of their books. - Julie M. Prince, The Edge of the Forest, "The Best in New Picture Books," Volume III, Issue 4, May 2008 This is an ideal book for bilingual children or English and Spanish learners. A glossary in the back of the book offers definitions of all of the Spanish words in rojo. It would also make a great read aloud, especially for children who like a little action and suspense in their stories. Elizabeth O. Dulemba's rich gold-toned illustrations reflect the colors of the desert and give us a glimpse of the clothing, dwellings, and culture of the American southwest. - The Well-Read Child With the growing number of Spanish speaking households in the United States, Raven Tree Press recognizes the need for high quality reading materials in a variety of bilingual and wordless formats. By presenting English and Spanish in the same book we believe speakers of both languages learn faster. It also allows multicultural awareness, language development and a learning process important to our global community. This book comes highly recommended by this reviewer and her children. - Jennifer LB Leese, The Picket News, It's Only Ink! Hot and spicy chile beans…and Paco! When I first read the title I wondered why anyone would recreate the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale. After reading it, I realized the unique added twists to this story compounded by the Spanish words tossed here and there gave it a thoroughly different flavor. Meet Paco and his mother, who have no choice but to sell their ‘vaca’ (cow) in order to get some ‘pesos’ to survive. The beginning, although similar to the famous tale, reads differently because of the strewn Spanish words. By the middle, the reader is in for a delightful twist. I didn’t see it coming and that’s why I fell in love with Paco and the Giant Chile Plant. I highly recommend this children’s book, beautifully illustrated by Elizabeth O. Dulemba. - Lea Schizas, The Muse Book Reviews This is basically a Mexican version of the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk story. Although it is a Mexican adaptation it is written in English with an occasional word in Spanish. For each Spanish word the readers can figure out the definition based on the context. The author introduces a vocabulary of 32 Spanish words to help young readers learn Spanish in a easy, intuitive way. Paco and the Giant Chile Plant is recommended. - Readers Preference Reviews I really liked how the Spanish words were sprinkled into the story, rather than it being told first in English, then in Spanish as many bilingual books work. - Amanda, "A Patchwork of Books" I just received this in the mail. What a wonderful book!! I really enjoyed it and did my children. We are currently studying spanish and this is a nice way to include vocabulary while telling a story that they know and love. The illustrations are wonderful and my children have asked for it to be read again-already! - from LibraryThing Just loved this book! A lovely twist on a classic fairy tale. I live in Los Angeles, so the clever way Spanish and English are mixed together was very fun for me, and also for my niece, who is much more fluent in Spanish than I am. Also loved the illustrations. They seemed to also be a twist on the classic, and made me smile. Think the book is very well done. A sweet treat! Mucho Gusto! - from LibraryThing Paco and his mother have no pesos, but they do have plenty of adventure once Paco trades his vaca for some magic semillas de chile. This bilingual retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk while faithful to the original tale has some new twists as well. As Paco attempts to flee from the giant, juice from the golden chiles burns the giant’s eyes, his tears cause him to shrink and he becomes Paco’s father. Although they must cut down the giant plant before finding the treasure, the family believes all will be well because Papa is now reunited with his family. The story is well written and the attractive illustrations are faithful to the story’s southwestern setting. The Spanish vocabulary is skillfully interspersed in the story so that it can be easily read and understood. A glossary is provided to clarify words that may not be evident from the context. Highly Recommended. - Sheri Marlin, Borton, Tuscon Unified School District Blog Reviews: Cafe of Dreams The Book Worm Blog Book Tour for me and Paco!