Pachanga Kids: A Colorful Route to Becoming Bilingual

A Colorful Route

To Becoming Bilingual

     Learning a second language at an early age is a treasure and a tool that lasts a lifetime and opens many doors. Children are naturally inquisitive and absorbent to new information. They are also attracted to visual stimulation and learning hand-eye coordination. It is no surprise, then that Pachanga Kids has become so successful. Their line of bilingual children’s books are wonderful, beautiful learning tools that also deliver inspiring messages for the kids, and perhaps the children’s parents as well. For example, when a school of fish in “El Mar Azucarado” decides the ocean is too salty and they want to sweeten it with sugar, the idea is voted upon by all the fish so that the popular decision is made. Likewise, in “El Mono Paparazzi”, when a monkey in the neighborhood finds a camera in the jungle and starts photographing his neighbors, he learns a valuable lesson about respecting other people’s privacy. 

      Always on the lookout for new ways to present their ideas, Pachanga Kids has now unveiled Pintacuentos (literally “stories to paint”), a collection of children’s bilingual coloring books that are based on their hardback stories. Besides “El Mono Paparazzi”, they are offering “La Danta Amaranta”, the story about of a mother tapir and Amaranta, her young daughter who has the magical ability to change the color of the surrounding landscape. The new books enable the children to participate by drawing and coloring, while learning the names of objects in another language. And who else uses a tapir as a main character? Pachanga Kids has also taken on the mission of schooling the next generation about the not-so-common sites in Costa Rica, to heighten the children’s awareness about the ecosystem and biodiversity, without using those “boring” terms. “The Sweetened Sea” is the third book in this first series and it is an activity book that includes not only coloring, but stickers, mazes and other activities as well. Each of the three books, geared toward children three years of age and older, comes with twelve “ecologically colored” pencils and is composed of twenty-four pages, with illustrations by the notable San Jose painter/printmaker Maria Salas and painter/designer Priscilla Aguirre, illustrating the stories told by writers such as the poet Eliot Greenspan and famed author/collaborator Yazmin Ross. 

 The goal of Pachanga Kids appears to be to help create well-rounded children, exposing them to science, art, music, literature social skills, and let’s not forget learning a second language on that impressive list. Everything Pachanga does is top-drawer and this new Pintacuentos line of learning and play books is no exception. Ms. Ross has true vision and exceptional organizational skills. Team Pintacuentos are no strangers to each other, having worked together with Pachanga Kids and/or Papaya Music, which Yazmin Ross helped to create.

     Pintacuentos products are made in Costa Rica, offered at an affordable price and, along with the Pachanga Kids line, are readily available in Libreria Internacional, Café Britt and Wallmart stores throughout the country. In Playa Tamarindo, they are available at Jaime Peligro book store.  All comments concerning this article are gladly welcome.