Reviews

My Vida Loca by Jacqueline Jules, Kim Smith

sheilaf9's review against another edition

4.0

This is a perfect book for young girls beginning to transition to chapter books. Sofia is a spunky 7 year old who has fun adventures with her large family. There are three separate stories in his book. Each story is three chapters and there is a Spanish/English glossary.

icygrl7's review against another edition

4.0

Cute kid's book =D I can see my daughter liking it when she is old enough to read it.

fernandie's review against another edition

3.0

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

jmanchester0's review against another edition

4.0

These stories would be perfect for first or second grade early readers. This volume contains 3 different stories, each one with multiple chapters. They‰ЫЄre the perfect length for this age; a slight step up from picture books, but not approaching the length of chapter books written for older kids.

And the stories are fun to read, watching the mischief that Sofia gets herself into.

Considering that there are both English and Spanish words, it‰ЫЄs great that there‰ЫЄs a glossary in the back. (Though many words might be able to be figured out with context clues.)

Overall, recommended. We need to see more diversity in our kids books (Sofia is Hispanic). Maybe I should rephrase that: we need to see our kids books more reflecting the real world ‰ЫТ because the real world is diverse.

Thanks to NetGalley, Capstone, and Picture Window Books for a copy in return for an honest review.

jozefsyndicate's review against another edition

4.0

Jozef Syndicate's 8-year-old reviewer gives My Vida Loca a solid 4-star rating. She found "My Vida Loca" to be a funny collection of three stories that tell the adventures of Sofia who is active and behaves just like your crazy second-grade best friend. The best parts of the book is when Sofia drowns her mother's flower garden and decides to spread soil over it. When her sisters come to help Sofia but get dirty instead, Sofia sprays them with water to try and clean them, but what a mess! Another favorite part is when Sofia is in church and wants to know Abuela's secret ingredient for arroz con leche after she made a big mistake in the kitchen.

"My Vida Loca" interjects Spanish words at the perfect time for young readers to understand and enjoy. (The glossary in the back of the book is a bonus.) Watching this reviewer laugh out loud and practice new Spanish words is an added treat. This is a great book for independent readers and fun for parents/teachers reading to younger groups.



*This is a review of an eARC received through NetGalley.

elephant's review against another edition

4.0

Cute, bright illustrations accompany this chapter book that is best for children ages 5 to 7. Seven year old Sopfia has adventures that are chronicled in three stories in the book as she becomes a singing superstar with a toy microphone, helps her abuela cook arroz con leche and has some trouble while washing the family's car. There are some Spanish words and phrases in the book and a Spanish glossary is included at the end. I think that children will enjoy this book. I received this book free to review from Netgalley.

debnanceatreaderbuzz's review

4.0

I'm crazy about Sofia Martinez. These books are the perfect blend of Hispanic culture with the broad American culture. The first girl who checked out one of my Sofia books from my primary school library brought it back to me a little while after she had a chance to look at it more closely. "It's in Spanish," she told me sadly. "No," I told her, "it's mostly in English, with a few Spanish words." I showed her the glossary of Spanish words and their meanings and she brightened. "I know a lot of these words anyway," she told me happily. She returned it a few days later and asked for another Sofia. The reading level is ideal for our early chapter book readers in first and second grade.