Torta de monos is the new bilingual picture book by Delia Berlin, a children’s author from Argentina, now living in the US. This charming story of well-meaning monkeys is sure to please young readers.
Torta de monos features three very smart monkeys who plan a birthday surprise for their trainer. It doesn’t work out exactly as they had planned, for reasons that children will understand – a finished cake looks nothing like the ingredients that go into it!
Native speakers will love this story and the delicious, if unexpected, result. Torta de Monos can also be used successfully with children learning Spanish who have acquired a solid foundation of vocabulary and structures.
Torta de monos and Spanish Learners
- The story is full of food vocabulary and would fit well into a food unit. It would also make a fun birthday surprise.
- Torta de monos lends itself to talking about descriptive language. Colors, shapes and textures are key to the story.
- The story focuses on one setting and process. This makes it easier for Spanish learners to guess the meaning of new language.
- The sentences are not long, but they use higher level structures and verb forms. This is important exposure for children as they learn more Spanish.
- Narrated in the past tense, this story gives children important exposure to how verbs are used in the preterite and imperfect. The story contrasts descriptions of what the monkeys see (in the imperfect) and their actions as they make the “cake” (in the preterite).
You can find Torta de monos on Amazon.
Visit Delia Berlin’s website to learn more the author. You can also read about her other books in these posts:
Delia Berlin: Dieta de Lunares
Bilingual Books by Delia Berlin
