Story Summary
Chato is a sneaky, low-riding cat who is delighted to see a large family of plump mice moving into his barrio. He decides to trick them into coming over to his house for dinner so that he can eat them. He begins to prepare a tasty feast when the mice say that not only will they come to dinner, but they'd like to bring a friend. Chato's friend, Novio Boy, comes over to help him cook. Meanwhile, the mice make cheese quesadillas to bring. Soon their friend Chorizo the dog arrives, and they all make their way to Chato's home. Chato and Novio Boy are scared of Chorizo and hide at first, but after learning that Chorizo is a nice dog, they settle down unhappily to eat the original feast that they had prepared.

Lesson Ideas

This book is written by a Hispanic author who does an excellent job of incorporating Spanish words and phrases into his books. Upon reading this book with the class, a teacher might want to plan to discuss the Spanish words and their meanings with the students. Next, if the classroom has labels for everything (or even if it doesn't) like door, desk, chair, wall, window, etc., have the class use Spanish-English dictionaries to translate some of the things around the classroom (and even around the entire school) and label them with signs in Spanish.

Another use in the classroom that seems obvious is the idea of having a Spanish food fair, where students either make and bring in some of the many foods described in the book, or vote on which ones they'd like to make as a class and make them together. This activity would be lots of fun for students, and would expose them to the cuisine of a different culture. Often children do not like to eat foods that are unfamiliar to them, so introducing a new kind of food under a fun premise may help them to be more adventurous and open-minded.

Return to Cultural Understanding
Return to Multiculturalism
Return to Diversity in the Classroom