More Piñata Love! A Bilingual Cumulative Tale

Myra here.

The Piñata That The Farm Maiden Hung (Amazon | Book Depository)

Written by Samantha R. Vamos Illustrated by Sebastia Serra
Published by Charlesbridge Publishing (2019)
ISBN: 1580897967 (ISBN13: 9781580897969). Borrowed from Singapore NLB Overdrive. Book photos taken by me.

Yesterday, I shared One Is A Piñata for Nonfiction Wednesday. I thought it would be nice to follow through with more piñata-festival-cumpleaños goodness to begin the year with good vibes and festivities.

Similar to Samantha R. Vamos’ The Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred (see my review here), this cumulative tale is lilting, fun, and begs to be read aloud.

I found the repetitive rhythm, cadence of the language, and the suspenseful quality of the narrative, as it builds up to what must clearly be a fun event – after all, that is what a piñata is all about – to be effective.

While there are a fair bit of unfamiliar terms, it is easy to figure out what they mean from illustrations and the context of the narrative. Moreover, there is a Glossary at the end that readers can consult to know the meanings of the words.

In the Philippines, it is not uncommon to have piñatas for cumpleaños. Hence, this picturebook was made even more special for me with that sense of recognition and familiarity. Sebastia Serra’s art was dynamic, vibrant, with a feeling of forward movement that befits cumulative tales building up on itself. This is definitely a worthy addition to anyone’s bilingual, multicultural, international library.

#ReadIntl2020 Update: 3 of 30 (country): Spain (Illustrator Sebastia Parra is from and based in Spain | Language: Spanish (bilingual)