Iguanas in the Snow

In this picture book Iguanas in the Snow, author Francisco X. Alarcón creates a family-friendly story book of poems that celebrates the diversity of people and the changing of the seasons. This is the last book in Alarcón's series and it focuses on the season of winter. This is a bilingual book that has poems written in Spanish and English, though each version is slightly different so it can be told properly in its native language. This story makes connections to different parts of the world by comparing California to Mexico in the winter time. This is a great component of the book because students from different parts of the world can relate to what the seasons are like where they're from.

I like that this book is part of a series on seasons and how they are all written in poetry, especially that they are in two different languages. I really appreciated how each poem was not translated word-for-word in the opposing language so that the special nuances of each language is kept throughout. This book put a smile on my face as I read through it, the poems are very delicate and reign true to each season and the illustrations are lovely. I would use this book in an elementary classroom when learning about the seasons, or about geographical locations and how people experience seasons differently depending on where in the world they live. It's a great way to include components of poetry and how stories can be told in different ways.

Alarcón, F. (2001). Iguanas in the snow. San Fransisco, CA: Children's Book Press.