Rat-A-Tat-Cat
Teatro del Gato Garabato

Book Descrip­tion

This over­size anthol­ogy, with vibrant and orig­i­nal illus­tra­tions, includes three plays that young chil­dren will delight in read­ing and acting.

The vibrant and delight­ful illus­tra­tions com­ple­ment the story of the plays while also offer sug­ges­tions on how they can be staged and rep­re­sented. The three plays included are:

In the Eng­lish Book
The Three Lit­tle Goats

In the Span­ish book
Los tres cabritillos
A drama­ti­za­tion by F. Isabel Cam­poy of the tra­di­tional tale

The Lit­tle Lamb that wanted to be a buzzard

El bor­re­guito que quería ser buitre

An orig­i­nal play by F. Isabel Campoy

Chicken Lit­tle

Pedro pol­lito
A play­ful retelling of the tra­di­tional tale by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Theatre has been a passion in my life. I was part of every play during my school years and later in High School I also begun writing plays. One of my works “The Museum” was chosen to be performed at the important theatrical event of our class graduation. Theatre was a way of life for me during those early years.

Because of my experience with theatre, and how important it was in giving me a voice, breaking the barriers of shyness, and encouraging me to speak in public; ensur­ing that chil­dren have access to read and act in plays has always been one of my basic goals. Even if it is done with great sim­plic­ity, act­ing in a play can have very pos­i­tive results.

I am con­vinced that one is bet­ter able to teach some­thing one has enjoyed doing. And just as Alma Flor Ada and I empha­size, in our courses of Authors in the Class­room, that teach­ers who cre­ate their own books will be bet­ter able to get their stu­dents to become authors, I believe that encour­ag­ing teach­ers to do the­atre and expe­ri­enc­ing the rich­ness of the process would bet­ter allow them to incor­po­rate plays in their reg­u­lar teaching.

For a delight­ful anec­dote that shows the magic of the­atre click here: Let’s Raise the Cur­tain! The Ben­e­fit of The­atre in the School.

You can also find more about my per­sonal expe­ri­ence with the­atre in the sec­tion “It’s Play Time!” in Alma Flor Ada and You vol­ume II, pub­lished by Libraries Unlimited.