Say Something, Perico by Trudy Harris and Cecilia Rebora

Perico the parrot has something to say but apparently his timing is off and he’s speaking the wrong language! As each customer comes into the pet shop requesting a talking parrot, Perico attempts to imitate their expected lines–“Polly wants a cracker,” or”I am a pretty bird.” Just as the potential buyer begins to leave, Perico squawks out a reply in Spanish, “Agua,” “Mal,” or “Si.” The pet store owner, anxious to make a sale, says, “Wait! He’s talking.” The woman in the purple glasses is sure Perico has called out “opera” instead of “agua” and takes him on an ill-fated visit to the performance. The next morning, Perico is returned to the pet shop for the next customer to misinterpret “mal” for a desire to visit the “mall.” Each misunderstanding leads to an outrageous outing until just the right owner visits the pet shop. A perfect read-aloud for a class just learning Spanish or a bi-lingual class to spark a conversation about the mistakes we can make in trying to understand a language different from our own!