Eight Animals Bake a Cake

The title of the book, Eight Animals Bake a Cake, by Susan Middleton Elya, immediately enticed me when I saw it in the library this afternoon. I figured that since the title had a number in it, it had to do with math (most likely counting). While I was partially true and you can count the different animals and the ingredients that they bring to bake a cake, the book has many other curricular connections.

There are 30 Spanish words in the book, and each one is presented in context with English words to allow the reader to determine the meaning of the Spanish word. Thus, this book is especially useful for English Language Learners (ELLs). Although math is the same in every country, ELLs may struggle learning the English words for numbers and this book helps with that. Word problems would most likely prove to be challenging for ELLs simply because they have to try to comprehend what the question is asking. This book is a good starting point to creating word problems which use both Spanish and English words, which would not only make the ELL(s) feel included, but also increase comprehension.

The book also shows the characters solving a problem in a unique manner. Although the problem is not in a mathematical context, the concept of problem-solving could be discussed with the class and problems could be created using the 8 different animals (or animales, in Spanish). In a creative way, students could pretend to be the different animals to learn the Spanish and English words and create their own word problems-- incorporating the Spanish/English words from the book. In the front of the book is a glossary and pronunciation guide to help readers with meaning and proper pronunciation.

I found this book muy interesante! (Very interesting!) The book has won numerous awards. For more information, visit the web-site at http://www.susanelya.com/files/l_8animals_cake.htm.