Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo!

In this sweetly funny picture book, a tiny mouse, Chico Canta, saves his entire family from the clever kitten, Little Gato-Gato, when he uses his quick wits and ability to speak another language.

Mrs. Canta lives with her family in an old theatre, and she has her hands full trying to keep track of her twelve children--especially Chico Canta, the youngest, tiniest, and most mischievous of the mice. She is always telling them, "Hurry! Hurry! Pronto! Pronto!" She speaks many languages, and she encourages her children to learn more, too. "Bilingual, bravo!"

One evening, after a wonderful performance of The Three Little Pigs, the mouse family narrowly escapes Little Gato-Gato. Undaunted and inspired by the production, they decide to mount their own version of the play. A frenzy of sewing costumes and building sets ensues under the direction of Mr. Canta, while Mrs. Canta oversees the cricket musicians, the spider stage crew, and the moths who will be the ushers. But on the night of the play itself, it is tiny Chico who is the star of the show when he spots Little Gato-Gato in the shadows, and uses his own special gift for languages to avert disaster.

Amelia Lau Carling's charming illustrations show the pleasures, fears, antics and glories of Chico Canta and his family, all against the backdrop of the elegant old theater. A note from author Pat Mora describes how she and her daughter Libby were inspired to write this story together after she read the kernel of this bilingual joke in a book of Mexican American folktales.

Key Text Features
author's note

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.2
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.

Pat Mora is an award-winning author, the founder of Día (El día de los niños, El día de los libros / Children's Day, Book Day), and an honorary member of the American Library Association. Her book Abuelos, illustrated by Amelia Lau Carling, won the International Latino Book Award for Best English Picture Book, a Library Media Connection Editor's Choice Award, and it was named a Críticas Magazine Best Children's Book. Pat is also the author of The Race of Toad and Deer (La carrera del sapo y el venado) and The Night the Moon Fell (La noche que se cayó la luna), both illustrated by Domi. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit www.patmora.com.

Libby Martinez is an award-winning Latina children's book author and poet. She is the co-author, with Pat Mora, of I Pledge Allegiance, which was recognized as Best Children's Picture Book by the Texas Institute of Letters and the International Latino Book Awards. Libby is also the co-author of Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo!, which was a Junior Library Guild Selection (Spanish edition) and appeared on National Public Radio's Diverse Summer Reading List for Kids. Libby is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford Law School. She lives in Colorado Springs.

Amelia Lau Carling is an accomplished author, illustrator and graphic designer. Her previous book with Pat Mora, Abuelos, won the International Latino Book Award for Best English Picture Book, a Library Media Connection Editor's Choice Award, and it was named a Críticas Magazine Best Children's Book. Amelia has also written and illustrated the Américas Award winner Mama and Papa Have a Store (La tienda de Mamá y Papá) and Sawdust Carpets (Alfombras de aserrín), which describe events from her childhood in Guatemala. She lives in Westchester County, New York.