La Loca reviews La Dentista

O.D.M. (That is what I say for OMG in Spanish!)

Sooooo I was SO fortunate to be one of the people Señor Wooly sent a preview of “La Dentista” to. My life has been so insane, the first minute I had to sit down and enjoy it was on a plane to visit a friend in Chicago (ironically, since that is where Jim wrote the book). I decided to keep a little log of my thoughts as a read the book. (Don’t worry, I checked to make sure there aren’t any spoiler moments! I want you to have the same strong visceral feelings (yes visceral) as I did.)  I took notes on my iphone and I had the woman next to me in stitches with my reactions.  I also decided to take some pictures of my facial reactions, but I left at 4 in the morning… NO hair or makeup judgements… I am very aware I look like a middle school boy when not in “teaching” or “presenting” mode! Guys… this book LITERALLY had me gasping….

Here are my step by step reactions:

OMG!

The art the art the art!!!

OMG NOOOO

YAAAAASSSSS

NOOOOOOOOO OH OH OH NOOOOOOO

The art!!!!

Oh my gosh so so so clever! Subtle hints to other Wooly content that my babies love!!!!

The unsheltered grammar (lots of tenses) of high frequency words that my students already know along with these illustrations will make acquisition so easy!!! It’s so COMPREHENSIBLE!!!!

The desire to enjoy every photo is tremendous …

and at the same time it ISN’T!!! I just want to keep reading FAST I need to know what happens!!!!

Each emotion shows!! So good …. UGH the drawings are just so good…..

I love seeing all the  rejoinders I use in class are thrown in!

YAAAASSSS

AHHHHHHHH!!!!! RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN

I LOVE that sounds and noises are in different fonts…. so so so so so so so good

The lighting and coloring based on WHEN or WHERE things are happening is INGENIOUS…. Such a tiny detail but makes a HUGE difference!

Literally find myself singing Wooly lyrics with these hints  to  Wooly content and lyrics….

Omg whispering is in a different quote bubble all together! Brill

Freaking amazing

OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Reminds me of series of unfortunate events scenery

I’m literally freaking-out nervous right now…. SOOOOO into this

SWEATING……

Each page is like unwrapping a present

I literally just gasped

So beautiful  (not the picture above, this was once again referring to the art!)

THIS IS FREAKING AMAZINGGGGG

YAYYYYYYYYY

Diary entry?!?!? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!?!?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

JUST WHEN I WAS HAPPY AGAIN WHaaaatttt the freak!!!?!?!?

WHAAAAAATT!?!?!?!??!?!

I simply can’t even begin, to start  even evening, not  even a little bit!!! OH my goodness gracious y’all! I haven’t encountered a book that made me page turn faster since Harry Potter or my best friend’s magical fantasy (shameless plug within a shameless plug). La Dentista is TRULY gripping.

The amount of detail, thought, and care put into each drawing on EACH and EVERY page is phenomenal! The language is thoughtful and intentional. I don’t even know where to begin in my description of how awesome this is going to be for my students!

Let me start with the level of language. I think my students who’ve had me for a full year of Spanish (every day for 45 minutes per day), could read this book only checking the glossary once or twice. Does that mean they know the exact translation of every word? Many, sure! But no, not all. Jim has so carefully crafted this suspenseful story to include high-frequency vocabulary in novel ways, so as to expose readers to many grammatical tenses. He does it all so…. simply! Since students in CI classes don’t learn grammar explicitly but rather ACQUIRE it naturally over time through various forms of input, I know that  my students will be able to comprehend the text and recognize the various high frequency vocabulary that they know so well. If they have any doubts or questions, the phenomenal visual graphics will give them a context which they’ll understand.

I would not recommend this book for students younger than 6th grade. I have taught students 2 years of age to 88 and I really feel that anyone younger than 6th grade may be frightened (even if they claim to be brave). The amount of times I had goosebumps?? 4…. SERIOUS, REAL GOOSEBUMPS…. how cool is that?! (I even took this picture to prove it to you!)

I am just blown away….. So so so excited for my students to be able to read this! I know that Jim also worked very closely with Carrie Toth to create a “how-to” video for teaching a graphic novel.

I also want to say that I was asked by Señor Wooly for an honest review. Whatever that may be… I think what he has created here is truly remarkable and VERY special, and I honestly think you’ll think so too!

I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Until next time,

HAPPY TEACHING Y’ALL!

Love,

La Maestra Loca