Module 5: Chato's Kitchen - Other Award Winners

Book Summary:

Chato the cat invites his new mice neighbors to dinner, where they will be the main course.  The mouse family thinks that the cat is being a friendly neighbor welcoming them to the Barrio. They remember that their friend, Chorizo, is coming for a visit that same night, so they ask if he can come also come to dinner.  Chato is planning a wonderful meal with many traditional Mexican foods on the menu. His cat friend, Novio Boy, comes to help Chato prepare for their feast. When the mice family arrives with Chorizo, the cats are in for a surprise.

APA Reference:

Soto, G. (1995). Chatos's kitchen. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Impressions:

This was a fun book that had the color and beauty of Mexican culture, language and foods.  The illustrations were an array of bright colors and the pictures of the fruits, vegetables and the prepared food dishes were brilliant and added to the story.  The mice children were dressed in more modern westernized clothing but the mice parents were dressed in more traditional clothing.  The blending of the two languages is a great way to help unite and bring together individuals from different cultures.

Professional Review:

Chato, a "low-riding cat with six stripes," spends an afternoon in the kitchen along with his best friend, Novio Boy, a cat with "the loveliest growl in the barrio." They prepare a mouthwatering array of dishes, including fajitas, enchiladas, and chiles rellenos, but the heartlest dish is yet to come, for Chato has thoughtfully invited his new neighbors - a "tasty" family of mice. When the rodents arrive and announce that they've brought Chorizo, the cats think that the guests have come with even more treats: "Sausage! Chato and Novio Boy . . . gave each other a 'low four.'" However, the cats are in for a surprise. Chorizo, it turns out, is an old family friend from the old neighborhood, and he's neither sausage nor mouse. He's a dog -"a low, road-scraping dog." Chato resigns himself to a mouseless meal, comforted that dinner will still be pretty good because, "after all, it came from Chato's kitchen." Humorous details abound in Guevara's richly colored artwork, which portrays the characters with affection and authenticity. The illustrations convey the cats' cool and confident attitude - Chato has a gold hoop in one ear and wears his baseball cap backward, while Novio Boy, bandanna round his head, has a flashy cross dangling from his cat collar; both cats sport pencil-thin mustaches. Soto's fresh and satisfying fare is distinctively seasoned with the sights and sounds of East Los Angeles; the sprinkling of Spanish words and phrases adds the perfect flavor. A glossary - including the items on Chato's menu - precedes the story.

Brabander, J. (1995). Chato's kitchen. Horn Book Magazine, 71(5), 591-592.

Library Uses:

This book could be used to teach about different cultures, traditions and languages.  My school is a Spanish immersion school, so this could be used to introduce new vocabulary and create a project by using the new Spanish words.