Author/Illustrator: Gary Soto/Susan Guevara
Genre: Multicurltural (modern fantasy)
Awards: Belpre Illustrator Award
Age Level: 5-8 years old
Summary: The story, Chato and the Party Animals, is a unique integration of Spanish and English combined. There is a glossary at the very beginning of the book that translates words such as "carnal" meaning brother, and "pachanga" meaning festive party. Chato is a kitten that has been know as "catnip-crazy" since his friends first birthday party. He makes the most out of what he has by making a "piñata out of newspaper and empty cat food box" (Soto 4). Soon after his bother is kidnapped, all the party animals are weeping and think he is gone forever. They then realize that he was not missing and he had just bee dumpster hopping all along. The party animals jump for joy and surprise his brother, Novio boy, with a party full of water balloons and piñata's. The two brothers sang songs and ate catfish until the sun went down and realize that having a brother was the best present of all. The illustrations in the story were colorful and texturized. Each one of the different cats had different colors and mustaches. I loved that Chato and the Party Animals used Spanish and English in the text to represent the different cultures.
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