I feel like nursery rhymes sort of fall into the same category as fairy tales and folktales. They’re part of a culture, something passed down over the years that most everyone connects to, which is why I’m including Little Chickies as a Thursday’s Tale. Little Chickies is based on a Spanish nursery rhyme, “Los Pollitos.”
Little Chickies by Susie Jaramillo Published by Encantos on April 26, 2016
Genres: Board Book, Bilingual
Pages: 25
Format: Hardcover
Purchase at Bookshop.org
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"Los Pollitos Dicen," or "Little Chickies Squeal" is one of the most popular songs in the Spanish speaking world, akin to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in English. This English adaptation of the song is as catchy and lyrical as the Spanish version and sure to engage new audiences not familiar with the original song. The song is an homage to the demanding nature of babies and the unconditional love, care, and warmth given to them by their mommies.
I found the nursery rhyme at NurseryRhymes.co, along with the translation.
Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío
cuando tienen hambre
cuando tienen frío.
La gallina busca el maíz y el trigo
les da la comida y les presta abrigo.
Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos
¡duermen los pollitos
hasta el otro día!
Translation :
The little chicks say pio pio pio
When they are hungry
And when they are cold.
The mother hen looks for corn and wheat.
She gives them food and grants them shelter.
Under mama’s wings, huddling up,
Sleep the little chicks
Until the next day!
Jamarillo has done a wonderful job in the adorable book telling the story of the chicks whose mom takes care of them. Her lyrics are simpler than the translation above and flow better. While I read the digital version, I’ve seen photos of the print and it looks like a nice sturdy board book for young children. It’s accordian style with English on one side and Spanish on the other. The illustrations are bright, simple, and cheerful and it has flaps to open, which makes it even more fun for kids. The rhyming text is catchy and it would be a perfect book to read aloud.
There’s also an app you can download: Little Chickies / Los Pollitos app by Canticos–Encantos Media Studios, Inc. Children can sing along to the nursery rhyme in 8 languages. They can help the chickies hatch from their eggs, play musical notes on a keyboard and guitar, create bouquets of flowers and save their designs, decorate eggs, and more. The app, for ages 2-5 years, is $2.99 and available for Smartphones and tablets.
The video below is the rhyme sung in English with bits from the app.
Thursday’s Tales is a weekly event here at Carol’s Notebook. Fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, even re-tellings, I love them all. Feel free to join in.
Cute chickens 🙂