Alpaca Pati's Fancy Fleece

by Tracey Kyle, Yoss Sanchez (Illustrator)

Overview

An adorable picture book about an alpaca who loves to dress up and what happens when she learns her beautiful coat will be sheared.

Little alpaca Pati has a beautiful coat of fur that is the envy of the other alpacas. Pati loves to adorn her fur with velvet bows, sparkly hair clips, and flower headbands. When she learns that she will have to lose her coat in the spring, she is heartbroken. She doesn't want to give up what makes her beautiful, so she runs away to the city. Upon arriving, Pati is amazed by the many vibrant goods for sale at the market. She realizes that her alpaca fur is used to make everything and decides that she must give up her coat to keep the villagers warm. Incorporating Spanish terminology throughout, Alpaca Pati's Fancy Fleece offers an endearing message about sacrifice and reminds readers that it's what's on the inside that counts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762494149
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,082,390
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tracey Kyle is the author of four picture books. She spends most of her time teaching Spanish to 8th graders and is a member of SCBWI. Tracey lives in Virginia with her husband and two cats, and when she's not writing lesson plans or working on a new story, she loves to read, cook, and practice yoga.

Yoss Sanchez is an illustrator and animator from Costa Rica.

Editorial Reviews

"Sanchez's vivid and playful illustrations radiate on every page and complement the writing perfectly... and the plot, about sharing and helping others, as well as inner versus external beauty and kindness, will surely speak positively to parents and guardians who pick up this title."—-Booklist

From the Publisher

2019-06-23
A young alpaca learns how important her fleece is to humans.

"High up in the Andes, on a mountain in Peru, / Pati the alpaca gussied up for her debut." Pati is off to meet her classmates by a lake. And right away the problems with this book present themselves. The story is a two-pronged one. On the one side is a story with a puritanical lesson that finds fault with Pati's wanting to look her best, and Pati soon learns that she will be a better being if she willingly gives up her fleece to help humans keep warm. The second intent of the story seems to be to introduce children to Spanish words. Unfortunately, the meanings of the Spanish words sprinkled through the text are not obvious, forcing readers to flip back and forth between the story and the glossary at the end. For example: "One day, cría Carmen whispered, "Pati, ¡no te creas! / In the spring we lose our fur and then we'll all be feas!" The illustrations are also problematic. With an emphasis on the cute and colorful, the images represent an Andean scenery of lush, fresh greens. Nothing could be more removed from the harsh environment that exists at these high altitudes.

Skip it. (glossary, author's note, additional facts) (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews