El Capitán Cheech - An Enjoyable Journey into Spanish

When we first started the LBBC, we set up a little poll asking what kind of books/music you were looking for. One or two of you said that you were looking for books in Spanish. One of my son’s new favorites is Cheech Marin’s El Capitán Cheech. I’m fairly sure that this book is available in English as well, but we have the Spanish edition. I read it to my son before bedtime. He’s two years old, and I know he doesn’t understand most of it, but he is GLUED to each page. The storyline itself is hilarious and centers around Cheech, the school bus driver who is easily swayed by his young passengers into driving the school bus in a boat race. I remember laughing out loud the first time we read it.

This little excerpt from the first page should give you a taste of the whole book…

"Buenos dias! Me llamo Cheech y soy el chofer de tu autobús escolar.
Soy un chofer muy, muy, muy pero MUY bueno.
SIEMPRE llego a la escuela a tiempo y siempre tomo los MEJORES atajos."

I don’t know about you, but the way the text is written, I can just hear Cheech Marin’s voice in my head - which adds tremendously to my enjoyment of the book.

It is illustrated by Orlando L. Ramírez. The colors are vibrant and the characters are expressive. There is a lot of attention to detail, and every time we read it, I spot something new. Even the font is creatively designed and placed.

El Capitán Cheech is the sequel to Cheech y Su Autobús Escolar (Cheech the School Bus Driver,) which I have not read yet, but since I have so enjoyed this one, I believe I will go ahead an add both to our on-line bookshop. If you’d like to purchase either one, click here.

Technically, I think this book is probably geared for children ages 4 to 9, but my two year old loves it. Even if your young children don’t understand all of it, I think it is really important for training their ears to the sounds of a different language. Why not amuse yourself while you’re at it?