Pio Peep!

Ada, Alma Flor and F. Isabel Campoy, collectors. English adaptations by Alice Schertle. 2003. Pio Peep! Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes. Illustrated by Vivi Escriva. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0688160190.

In this compilation, traditional Spanish language nursery rhymes from Spain and Latin America are represented. The collectors note that the thirty rhymes present were chosen to represent the many traditional Spanish language rhymes. Although the English versions of the rhymes appear next to the Spanish ones, they are not direct translations. Instead, Schertle has tried to capture the essence of the poem and made sure it rhymes in English, even if the words used are different than the Spanish version. A sing-song quality is present in most of the rhymes and exemplified in “Pito, Pito, Colorito:” “Pito, pito, colorito,/ donde vas tu, tan bonito?/ Voy al campo de la era./ A la escuela verdadera.” Whether the reader is familiar with the language, these rhymes beg to be sung aloud. The watercolor illustrations permeate the pages, filling them with greens and blues and infusing the compilation with a sense of growth and comfort. While the difference in poem content between the Spanish and English versions may be distracting to some bilingual readers, the illustrations give the book a unifying quality. The advantages of sharing this collection are numerous, including affirming the important place this culture has in the traditional literature and poetry genres.