Tito Puente, Mambo King/Tito Puente, Rey del Mambo: Bilingual Spanish-English (Pura Belpre Honor Books - Illustration Honor)

by Monica Brown

Hardcover, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

784.4

Collections

Children's Books, Flint/ Genesee, Español

Publication

HarperCollins Espanol (2013), Edition: Bilingual, 32 pages

Description

In this vibrant bilingual picture book biography of musician Tito Puente, readers will dance along to the beat of this mambo king's life. Tito Puente loved banging pots and pans as a child, but what he really dreamed of was having his own band one day. From Spanish Harlem to the Grammy Awards-and all the beats in between-this is the true life story of a boy whose passion for music turned him into the "King of Mambo."

User reviews

LibraryThing member Sullywriter

A lively, vibrant introduction to the musician.

17 more

LibraryThing member Jillian_Magee

I really enjoyed reading Tito Puente Mambo King. What I liked about this book was how the author would describe the sounds of an instrument. For example, for the tambourine; “it sounded like rain on a metal roof”. The reader can imagine/ hear the rain on a metal roof and then can relate that

sound to the tambourine. I also really liked the how at the end of the book more information was provided on Tito Puente. The biography went into some detail about where Tito grew up, his family, and how he got into music.
The big idea of this story is to follow your dreams. Tito Puente wanted to become a musician and he succeeded in doing so

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LibraryThing member Angelina-Justice

This book is so much fun! The illustrations are full of life and energy. This book needs some of the music he contritbuted to, playing softly in the background. Then when you get done with the story, turn up the music and dance!

LibraryThing member vbarbe1

I liked this book and I believe the big idea of this book was to portray Ernest Anthony Puente Jr.’s (Tito Puente) love of music, making people dance, and his desire to be a bandleader finally coming true. My reasons for liking this book are the way that it is written and the illustrations. The

book is written in English and in Spanish. So I like that this book is able to appeal to me in two languages. It also helps to recognize some Spanish words I don’t know and I am able to read some of the words that I am familiar with. The reason I like the illustrations is because it’s like a party on every page. The colors are just exploding and it made me feel like he is so passionate about music that he wants to explode. So the illustrations in the book are appropriate to the mood of the story. The book makes a reference to Tito being at the center of the Latin jazz explosion and that’s what’s seen on these pages a musical explosion

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LibraryThing member JamiNebenzahl

I really enjoyed reading this book, not just because of the creative and eye-catching illustrations, but because it told Tito Puente's biography so well for children to relate to and understand.
I believe this book can be read by children of many ages, which is why I said K-6 could read it. A

reason I believe that is because it is about a boy following his dream of doing something he loves. He practices and works hard and achieves his dream and becomes the "Mambo King." Children can relate to his perseverance and determination to achieve what he wants to and reaching his goal. For example, in the book Tito's church held a "Stars of the Future" contest each year when he was young. He won the contest four times and was named King of the Stars.
Another reason I like this book is because of the words the author uses to tell the story of Tito Puente. The author uses the strategy of onomatopoeia, which is a word that imitates its meaning with sound. I think kids, especially the younger ones, would have fun reading those words out loud or even when the teachers reads it. For example, the author uses a word like "Bang!"

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LibraryThing member bfried10

I really enjoyed this multicultural book. The main idea of this story is to follow your dreams. From a very young age the boy was extremely into music and dancing. He new that one day he wanted to do what he loved for a living and did so by working very hard. He started by performing at small clubs

and bars increasing his popularity as he went. This showed that hard work and determination could get you where you wanted to be. As the story goes on he finally has his own band. I really liked the fact that this book was in two different languages. Along with the colorful illustrations this made a wonderful children’s story.

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LibraryThing member smeyer8

I really liked this book because it is written in two different languages, English and Spanish. I believe this is so beneficial for students to either be able to choose the language they want to read in or at least be able to see and recognize a different language. Tito is a boy who loved making

music since he was a baby. He also loved to dance and took music lessons. Tito won several contests and was named "King of the Stars" four times. "Tito performed at parties, restaurants, and clubs. His first band was called Los Happy Boys, and their music made people happy." Tito then joined the Navy and joined the ship's band. After the Navy, he went to Julliard's school of music. "Tito's dream finally came true when he led his very own big band-the Tito Puente Orchestra. He wrote music and recorded more than one hundred albums! He made music with Celia Cruz, Santana, and La Lupe." I really liked this book because it made a biography very interesting and fun in a picture book. It was easy to read and understand. The illustrations were fun and very colorful. A lot of action and sound words in big colored font across pages. An example of this is "clackity clack clack, tap pity tap, bam, slam, tap tap". In the back of book there is a more detailed biography about Tito and his life. The book is very colorful with expressive illustrations which enhances the text and story. The language in this book is detailed and clear and the plot is engaging. The big idea of this book is the story of Tito Puente's life.

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LibraryThing member Madison94

I enjoyed learning about the musical genius, Tito Puente. The illustrations for the book were wonderful. I noticed when Tito was playing instruments the illustrations were more colorful and lively than when he was not playing the instruments. I learned a lot from the book. I learned how he became

famous even though he started from the bottom in Harlem. It shows that with hard work and dedication anyone can become someone. I also learned that he was also known as the “King of Mambo.” It was interesting to learn about an artist from a child’s book. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the information was put in a way that it was more interesting than just a normal biography.

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LibraryThing member Dokfintong

I won this book on librarything.com.

What a wonderful little book! The art is superb and the bilingual text adds an extra opportunity for learning.

If I might make some suggestions for a second edition, I would extend the text a bit. First I would mention that Spanish Harlem is in New York City,

because not everyone knows that. I would add more dates to put Tito's life in its historical context. I would also add drawings and descriptions of the various instruments in Tito's orchestra so that parents don't have to go online to show them to the children. Finally, I would add music chips that demonstrate the sound of the various instruments, the beats for mambo, rhumba and cha-cha, and that play Tito's Grammy winning songs.

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LibraryThing member kfrey4

I really liked this book. The main idea of this book was the music career of Tito Puente. The illustrations and use of color were my favorite parts of the book. The pictures had captured the excitement and volume of the music by its bright/vibrant colors and bold/enlarged text. When the text had

verbs and sound words on the page, they were brightly exaggerated. I also liked how the transitions of Tito’s career were portrayed. His music started when he was a child. The story incorporated each musical detail of his life from childhood to passing. At the end was a very nice and quick biography of Tito Puente and an actual photograph. This is a great book that keeps you interested to find out more and to keep turning the page to see the amazing illustrations.

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LibraryThing member CarrieHardesty

I enjoyed this biography for two reasons. First, I liked the fact that it is a bilingual book. Below each paragraph that is written in English, there is a small symbol and the same paragraph written in Spanish. For example, one page of the book reads, “Tito loved ti dance, too!” Underneath of

that sentence, there is a white symbol and the Spanish sentence, “¡A Tito también le encanta bailar!” Since Tito Puente was a hispanic man who spoke Spanish, this adds to the reader's understanding of him and his culture. In general, the fact that the book is bilingual also simply exposes readers to other languages and makes it accessible to a wider variety of people. The second thing that I liked about the book is the illustrations. The illustrations are extremely colorful and whimsical. They show a lot of movement which adds to the words on the page. Since the majority of the story is about dancing and playing music, the feeling of movement on the page makes it seem as though there is a dance going on throughout the story on the pages.

The big idea of this story was to tell about the life of Tito Puente and his success as a musician.

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LibraryThing member ayala.yannet

In this Monica Brown tells the story of Tito Puente. He is a musician from the Bronx. He was well-known in the Latino World and is still remembered. Monica Brown mentions sounds and beats throughout the books.

LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

This picture book biography of Tito Puente includes text in Spanish and English. It initially focuses on his life as a child and then goes into the major steps that lead him to his big music career. The artwork is gorgeous and has a flowiness to it that does a great job of showing movement. While

this is definitely a book for older storybook participants I think the rhythmic sound affects could keep little ones entertained enough to use this for a family story time.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

this is definitely a book for older storybook participants I think the rhythmic sound affects could keep little ones entertained enough to use this for a family story time.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

this is definitely a book for older storybook participants I think the rhythmic sound affects could keep little ones entertained enough to use this for a family story time.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

this is definitely a book for older storybook participants I think the rhythmic sound affects could keep little ones entertained enough to use this for a family story time.

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LibraryThing member Jlporrata75

Monica Brown delightfully introduce children to one of the most iconic Hispanic musicians of the world: Tito Puente. Her writing is playful and full of the sounds of the timbales, descriptive of the music and unraveling the story of a child being born to be a great music star. The illustrations by

Rafael Lopez are a great complement, full of movement, colors and texture, like the rich music of the great Tito Puente

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LibraryThing member Madelynnvallejo

This book tells the story of Tito Puente. From early childhood, to his accomplishments, Rafael Lopez beautifully illustrates this life. I think this book would be extremely helpful for bilingual students.

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