Juana lives in Bogota, Columbia. She lives with her mami and Lucas (her best friend). She tells us all about her life and the important people in it. It even has a few Spanish words sprinkled in the story. She is upset when told that her class needs to learn English. She doesn't think it is such a good idea because English doesn't make sense. Cute!

Me compadecí de Juana mientras leía esto en español. Pero me gustó este libro porque Juana parece una niña genial y divertida.

Gracias al traductor de Google por la ayuda en esta revisión. Leo en español mejor que escribo.

This was a cute book! The ending left me with some things to think about -- I would be interested to hear what kids think about her Astroman encounter.

In school in Bogota, Columbia, Juana has to learn English, but she has so many other things she'd rather do - like futbol (soccer). However, she gets a sudden gust of motivation when she learns her grandparents will take her to Spaceland in Florida if she will do better in her English class.

Cute.

So charming! I would have devoured these books as a kid!

Author & illustrator Juana Medina was born & grew up in Bogota, Colombia & now lives in Washington DC.

Juana (who-ah-na) the main character, lives in Colombia and narrates this story of everyday life, riding the bus, friendships and school struggles (especially with the English) in a narrative sprinkled with Spanish words, playful text (with large fonts for emphasis), colorful cartoon style illustrations, and diagrams of things she loves -- like Bogota, her faithful canine companion Lucas (who excels at eating math homework), her friends and family (mother, aunt. and grandparents) and occasionally things she dislikes, (like her school uniform). It is wonderful to have an everyday story set in Colombia. Bogota through Juana's eyes is a big city with lots of neighborhoods, bookstores & parks, bike lanes all across the city, and trees. Outside her window (ventana) at night, Juana "can see the Andes Mountains surrounding the city, giving Bogota a giant hug . . . It looks as if the city is wrapped in a blanket of stars." (46-7) Juana rides the bus with her friend Juli (both getting in trouble blowing bubbles with gum) and loves playing soccer (futbol, of course!). But learning English seems like a waste of time, so she asks everyone she knows WHY it important . . . and eventually gets an answer that motivates her.

In the end, she concludes, "because I can speak English so well, I've been able to have fun with a lot of new people and mke a lot of new friends. And who wouldn't like for that to happen all around the world? / The number two thing I've learned is that if I want to travel and make new friends, I will need to learn a gazillion more languages besides English and espanol! That's what Abue says. / I don't know if there will be enough espacio between my pigtails for French and Chines and Italian and Farsi and Portuguese and all the other languages. Maybe it's time to go back to Colombia and ask Lucas what he thinks about that. (88-89)

For fans of Clarice Bean and Judy Moody. A similar sweet spirit to the My Happy Life books from Sweden.

Delightful happy bilingual children’s book!!

A very relatable slice of a young girl's life, sharing stories about her interests, family, and struggles in school, who happens to live in Bogota, Colombia. Nice illustrations, accessible, and sprinkled with Spanish.

Wonderful book with a lovely message, especially needed now. Very happy that there will be more adventures with Juana and Lucas!