Short Form (All Genres)

Alisha Reid
Title: Paco and the Giant Chile Plant Author: Keith Polette

Illustrator: Elizabeth O. Dulemba Publisher/Year: 2008

Genre: Multicultural

Summarize the content of the book

A. For Fiction Form GenresExplain the characters, the setting, theme and plot of the
book.
Paco is a young boy who is poor. His mother tells him to take the family cow to
town and sell it because they need money. Just like the story Jack and the
Beanstalk, Paco ends up trading his cow for some magical seeds. He planted the
seeds and waited until the ground started to rumble. A giant plant grew, and Paco
climbed it. At the top of the plant, Paco finds a building with giant items inside.
Then he saw a giant! The giant wants to eat Paco but Paco sprays him in the face
with Chile juice. The giant began to cry, and as he cried, he became smaller and
smaller. Paco realizes that the giant is his father! Paco grabbed his father and
climbed down the plant, where his father chopped the giant plant down. They were
happy to be a family again.

Explain how the book appeals to children, their interests, developmental levels, fun
illustrations etc. Give specific examples from the book:

Children love magic and adventure. Young children would enjoy hearing about giants and
magical plants. The story has a happy ending which would also be great for young readers.
The illustrations are fantastic. My favorite one is the illustrations of the giant shrinking as
he cries. Paco is standing there watching, with his hand on his chest. The giant shrinks and
falls to his knees. He is crying so many tears that a river of water flows behind him. The
book also has words in Spanish with their definitions for those who do not know Spanish.

Rate the book 2 1 2 3

Explain your rating.

A very cute story with an introduction to Spanish culture. I gave it a 2 because some
Spanish words may be hard to pronounce.