1,2,3 Latin Dance board books by Delia Ruiz

Delia and I chat music, dance, and more!

Join Delia and me as we chat Latin dances, concept board books, the path to publication, and how to turn your contest entries into board books! Her set of three board books share Latin dance with the littlest learners, alongside some perfect content for kids: questions/manners, counting, and musical instruments. And, did I mention they are all bilingual?!? If you and/or your children are Spanish-speaking (or learning Spanish), these books would be fabulous for you! The text is in English AND Spanish all the way through and they are beautifully illustrated! Delia is offering a picture book manuscript critique as a giveaway! To be eligible,  leave a comment on the blog episode by Wednesday Sept. 4, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.

Latin Dance board books for the earliest learners!

Check out this super-fun series of Latin dance board books for your youngest learners (and all the others, too!  "Picture books/board books are for everyone!"). Each book shares some fun Latin dance moves AND another concept:
1,2,3 CUMBIA focuses on Cumbia moves and bodily consent and manners in both Spanish and English!
1,2,3 SALSA shares some salsa dance moves and counting in English and Spanish!
1,2,3 MERENGUE teaches a bit about merengue moves, as well as lots of info about the instruments you might hear in merengue.

Each book follows a similar format and shares information in English and Spanish. Great bilingual resources for kids learning English or Spanish, while also sharing other fun and age appropriate content about Latin dance and other concepts for young children.

While these are perfect for littles (families, preschools, daycare centers, they would also transfer very nicely into ESL classrooms in primary/elementary schools, and for dance or music classes in the early grades as well.

A Little Jam. . .(The Music Kind)

Since I'm featuring all three books, I like this musical piece to showcase Latin music in general.  It's a bit long (about 6 minutes), but engaging for kids.  It would be fun to let littles just dance to the music.  Of course, you could also point out the instruments as you go or you could give them accompaniment instruments like guiros or maracas and let them play along.  Lots of ways to use this piece, but if you don't like this one, I have lots of others featuring the various dance styles, the instruments, kid-friendly Latin(ish) dances, counting in Spanish songs and videos and more! Check those out on the YouTube playlist.

Teacher Tips, Tricks and Topics

Mult-disciplinary topics for teaching/sharing these books (There are lots of specific ideas on the Pinterest board and YouTube playlist in the links section below. Be sure to check them out!)

• ELA
  • 1,2,3 CUMBIA -- rhyme and repetition
  • (all) Spanish vocabulary
  • 1,2,3 CUMBIA -- questions/statements/exclamations
  • 1,2,3 MERENGUE -- commands/imperative
  • 1,2,3 MERENGUE -- onomatopoeia (Special note:  Very interesting to note that onomatopoeia are not the same from language to language. Look at the differences in the Spanish vs. English onomatopoeia.  Discuss that with your group.)
• Math
  • 1,2,3 SALSA Counting in English and Spanish (Check out the YouTube playlist below for some fun videos to use)
  •  (all) Number patterns (In music and dance, we count in sets of 4 or 8, so simple number patterns make perfect sense.)
• Social Studies
  • Hispanic Heritage Month
  • Latin Dance
  • Geography (Mexico and South America)/maps
• Spanish (language)
  • Side-by-side English/Spanish for learning and comparing.
  • Key Spanish vocabulary related to these three concepts
• Art
  • Analyze the art: color/form/lines etc.
  • Integrate with math: Draw 1 ______________, 2_______________, 3_____________, etc.
  • Draw musical instruments (some activities on YouTube and Pinterest boards linked below)
• Dance
  • 3 latin dances: merengue, salsa, and cumbia
  • Steps for these dances
• Science
  • How sound is formed in percussion instruments (maracas, marimba, drums, guiro)
  • Make-your-own Latin American instrument (Lots of activities on Pinterest board)
  • Explore sounds on classroom instruments or  DIY instruments
• Health/PE
  • Body autonomy
  • Use of dance as fitness
  • Manners/asking polite questions (please, thank you, polite ways to say no, etc.)
  • Left/right (distinguishing/stepping side-side, etc.)
• See below for Music tips 

Tips and Topics for Music Teachers
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• Integrating Music and Dance
  • How the different dances are counted
  • Try the steps!
  • Listen to the different music for the different dances. 
    • How are they different?
    • Why?
    • Can you tell the difference?
• Counting music patterns/rhythms
• Various instruments used in Latin America
• Musical tie-ins with Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15)
• DIY percussion instruments
• Instrument family sorting of Latin musical instruments.

Writing Prompts from Tonnye
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1. Listen to/watch some cumbia, merengue and salsa music/dancing.  Which one is your favorite and why?
2. Write an acrostic poem using either Cumbia, merengue, or salsa.
3. Write a story about someone learning a new dance.
4. Write about a kid from Latin America struggling to find friends, but brought together by dance.
5. Write your own counting book.  
6. In 1,2,3 Cumbia, the author uses questions to model good manners and body autonomy/asking permission.  Write your own story of body autonomy.
7. Use a Q&A format to write a story. Use Cumbia for inspiration.
8. Which of the musical instruments in Merengue is your favorite and why?
9. Write a sensory poem about dancing Merengue, Cumbia or Salsa.
10. Why is dance important?
11. Do you know another language?  Try writing a bilingual story or poem. You can replace some of the words with another language or you can repeat each line in another language, like Delia did in these books.
12. If someone asked you what dance is associated with YOUR culture, what would you say? Write about that dance and why it matches your own culture so well.
13. Write a letter to someone asking them about their dance experience. Be sure to use nice manners :-)

​Writing Tips from Delia

• I look at the first and last sentence of my manuscript (I do this more for board books) and see if they align back to the theme. 
•  I always separate my layout into spreads and look at the final sentences. I ask myself, would this follow a page turn or would someone stop reading here? I want readers to be hooked and want to turn the page each time
• I don't write everyday but I find the time to do writing related things like cleaning up my workspace, writing bullet point ideas of potential book topics, reading, and resting.

Links, More Fun, Extensions for Families and Everyone!
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YouTube playlist with music, lessons, examples, songs, and more to go along with these board books.

Pinterest board full of fun activities for drawing, dancing, singing, learning, and more that relate to the 1,2,3 Latin dance books!

PBJamz Snack

Since this episode is sharing lots of Spanish language, Latin dance and music, I thought it only fitting that we feature another Latina mom who is putting a Latin American spin on a PBJ experience.  I give you PBJ Quesadillas!!!!  What a wonderful idea and I'm sure super-tasty for breakfast, lunch, or dinner for your littles (and for you if you're a PBJ fan like me. :-)  Here's the link to this delicious recipe from Joyce of My Stay at Home Adventures. Be sure to check out her other content while you're there, leave her a comment if you love her idea and let her know you found it here on PBjamz!

Guest Links and Giveaways
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Delia Ruiz 
Delia Ruiz is a first generation Latinx author. She enjoys creating teacher materials under her teacher store Aventuras En ESL. Aventuras En ESL is also her social media platform used to showcase diverse books, especially Latine/x book picks. Her published books include the International Latino Book Award-winning Roqui’s Pandero Beat and the !1,2,3 Baila! board book series. Delia enjoys time at home, writing, and going on long walks. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and pug. She is represented by Sera Rivers at Speilburg Literary Agency.
​Website

Link to purchase from Soaring Kite Books

Delia has kindly offered a PB manuscript critique (non-rhyming, 800 words or less).  In order to be eligible, leave a comment below no later than Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.