Rating: 5 stars

With “La Madre Goose” Susan Middleton Elya crowns herself as the queen of bilingual books. Some bilingual books have an English page facing a translation of the page in Spanish (or some other language). What Middleton Elya does is much more creative — and much more difficult. In this book, for example, she takes familiar Mother Goose nursery rhymes and adds a soupçon of Spanish.

For example, Little Miss Muffet becomes “Little Miss Amarilla.” Instead of rhyming “spider” with “beside her,” the rhyme becomes “big araña” and “very extraña.” They are all clever and culturally appropriate. Instead of putting his thumb in a pie, young Juan Ramón puts his dedo into green guacamole.

Kids who speak English and Spanish or just English will enjoy the combinations of the languages. The rhyme and meter remain true to the original versions of the rhymes. Middleton Elya is also the author of the fabulous “Little Roja Riding Hood,” which is a favorite in dual language classrooms.

Please note: This review is based on the final hardcover book provided by Putnam for review purposes.