Editor’s note: We continue with our 31 Days of Reading in Spanish. Check out the book review below and don’t forget to enter our weekly GIVEAWAY of $100 worth of books in Spanish!
Have you ever found yourself wanting to teach your child that one game you loved as a child and played over and over again, but you just can’t get yourself to remember the words to the song, the rhyme or the exact details that made it so fun? Juegos Tradicionales would be the book to reach out to spark your childhood memory of all those traditional games your mom taught you that her mom taught her, and her abuela and on and on.
The author María Angélica Ovalle is Chilean and she interviewed several people from different parts of her country to find out which were the childhood games they remembered and treasured the most. The thought is that if several generations are fond of the same games, then these are the ones that tie them together and must continue being passed on to the future generations.
The 34 games in Juegos Tradicionales are definitely part of the Chilean fabric, but sifting through the book I found that most of them are the same in many other parts of Latin America or just have different names. Divided into “Los Primeros Juegos,” “Juegos con Canciones y Rimas,” Juegos con la Cuerda y de Manos,” “Juegos para Echar a Suertes,” and “Juegos Sin Rimas” you are sure to find much nostalgia that will get you more than eager to share these games with your kids.
The juegos I got excited about reliving?
- Mandandirun (which I knew as Matatero Tero Lá)
- El Vendedor de Huevos (which I knew as ¿Compra Huevos?
- Arroz con Leche
Title: Juegos Tradicionales
Author: María Angélica Ovalle
Illustrator: Paloma Valdivia
Publisher: Editorial Amanuta