• Age: 4 to 7
• Grade: p to 2
• Reading age: 4 to 7

In this new cooking poem, Jorge Argueta brings us a fun and easy recipe for a yummy salsa.

A young boy and his sister gather the ingredients and grind them up in a molcajete, just like their ancestors used to do, singing and dancing all the while.

The children imagine that their ingredients are different parts of an orchestra — the tomatoes are bongos and kettledrums, the onion, a maraca, the cloves of garlic, trumpets and the cilantro, the conductor. They chop and then grind these ingredients in the molcajete, along with red chili peppers for the “hotness” that is so delicious, finally adding a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of salt. When they are finished, their mother warms tortillas and their father lays out plates, as the whole family, including the cat and dog, dance salsa in mouth-watering anticipation.

Winner of the International Latino Book Award for Guacamole, Jorge Argueta has once again written a recipe-poem that families will delight in.

Each book in the cooking poem series features a talented illustrator from the Latino world. In Salsa the text is complemented by the rich, earthy illustrations of multiple award-winning illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh. His interest in honoring the art of the past in contemporary contexts is evident in these wonderful illustrations, which evoke the pre-Columbian Mixtec codex.

Key Text Features
recipe

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4
Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

JORGE ARGUETA is an award-winning author of picture books and poetry for young children. He has won the International Latino Book Award, the Américas Book Award, the NAPPA Gold Award and the Independent Publisher Book Award for Multicultural Fiction for Juveniles. His books have also been named to the Américas Award Commended List, the USBBY Outstanding International Books Honor List, Kirkus Reviews Best Children’s Books and the Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices. Somos como las nubes / We Are Like the Clouds, illustrated by Alfonso Ruano, won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, was a Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature honor book and an ALA Notable book, and received many other honors. A native Salvadoran and Pipil Nahua Indian, Jorge Argueta has returned to El Salvador and built a library in his backyard in San Salvador so that children can learn to love books.

Jorge Argueta's profile page

DUNCAN TONATIUH is an author and illustrator of several highly acclaimed books for young readers, including The Princess and the Warrior, Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote, Dear Primo and Diego Rivera. He won the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Separate Is Never Equal, and Funny Bones was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book. Other awards include the Pura Belpré Illustration Award and the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, and commendations from the Américas Award and Notable Books for a Global Society. He lives in San Miguel Allende, Mexico.

Duncan Tonatiuh's profile page

• Commended, A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year

Music, dancing and food unite in this giddy bilingual whirl.

Kirkus Reviews

Illustrations unite past and present, offering vivid depictions of contemporary life in the style of the ancient Mixtec codex.

Booklist

In earthly tones of browns, greens, and reds, the energy surges through every page, inspiring your own chefs-to-be toward savory delights. Of course, you’ll want to join in!

BookDragon

[The] important message of love and family gathering to create something special shines through.

Horn Book

A completely satisfying offering. A delectable work of art perfect for food-themed, bilingual, and Día storytimes.

School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW