May is a great time to discuss and explore Cinco de Mayo. This post shares Cinco de Mayo children’s books that you can use for this purpose. All of the picture books on this list lend themselves to this topic really well. Take a peek below to learn more about these Cinco de Mayo children’s books!
5 Cinco de Mayo Children’s Books
Below is a list of some of our favorite Cinco de Mayo children’s books to share with elementary students. Check them out!
1. Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
In the book Dragons Love Tacos, a narrator teaches the reader about dragons’ favorite food, tacos. They also explain that if you’re going to feed dragons tacos, make sure there are no spicy toppings.
Dragons do not like spicy salsa. The little boy in the story loves dragons and decides to have a taco party for them. However, he doesn’t realize the mild salsa he bought actually has pieces of jalapeno peppers in it! Students will love reading about what happens when the dragons eat the spicy salsa and how they make amends afterwards.
Check out these Dragons Love Tacos teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
2. Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel by Adam Rubin
One day, a young boy looked around. All of his dragon friends were crying! The world had run out of tacos! If there is anything we have learned, we know that dragons love tacos.
The boy hops in his time machine and goes back to before the spicy salsa tacos were eaten. However, there were some troubles on his journey. He went back too far, accidentally changed the dial to diapers instead of tacos, and added salsa oil to the machine!
By the end, he was able to take a taco back and plant a taco tree. As we know, dragons love tacos, but so do people!
Check out these Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
3. Cinco de Mouse-O by Judy Cox
Mouse wakes up on May 5th smelling a spicy smell. There must be a fiesta nearby! He ventures out into the house in search of the party but there’s nothing in the bathroom, kitchen or bedroom so Mouse heads outside.
As Mouse walks toward the city park, Cat stalks him. Mouse finds himself at a Cinco de Mayo party in the park. It is crowded with people eating, singing, dancing and walking around. Suddenly, Mouse spots a big pinata hanging from a tree and decides he wants the candy for a party of his own.
Throughout the fiesta, Cat is following closely behind trying to catch Mouse. As Mouse tries to get to the pinata, Cat chases him through the dance floor as the two dodge the dancing feet. Finally, Mouse is able to climb up onto the pinata while Cat waits below. When the pinata is smacked, Mouse goes flying through the air along with the candy. In the rush to collect the candy, someone steps on Cat’s tail and he goes racing home. Mouse is safe but it looks like all the candy is gone. Just before leaving, Mouse sees one last candy laying in the grass. He takes the lemon drop home to have a fiesta of his own.
This engaging picture book is a great way to introduce students to the celebration of Cinco de Mayo! Check out these Cinco de Mouse-O teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
4. Mañana Iguana by Ann Whitford Paul
Iguana is planning a fiesta with her friends! However, as each task is needed to be done, it seems that no one is able to help her. She writes all the invitations, cooks alone, and even decorates alone.
Feeling frustrated with her friends, when the party comes, she tells them that they are not able to greet the guests with her because they did not help. Conejo, Tortuga, and Culebra realize that they were not being helpful friends. So, when the time comes to clean up from the party, the three do it all while Iguana sleeps. When she wakes up, they all have leftovers together.
This story puts a spin on a classic fairytale, leaving children with the important lessons of teamwork and kindness. Check out these Mañana Iguana teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
5. Chicks and Salsa by Aaron Reynolds
The feed is just not cutting it at Nuthatcher Farm for the chickens! One night, Rooster developed a plan after observing the farmer’s wife watching a cooking show. The animals snuck out into the garden and took tomatoes. The chickens made salsa! The other animals got similar ideas. The ducks made guacamole and the pigs made nachos. It was a fiesta in the barn!
Once the farmer and his wife used the remaining ingredients for their own fiesta, the animals had to find another recipe. What do you think it could be? Enjoy this story for lessons on sequencing, alliteration, and clear problems and solutions.
Check out these Chicks and Salsa teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
Grab the Free Reading Resources!
In closing, we hope you found this list of Cinco de Mayo children’s books helpful! They are part of our Starts With a Story collection. If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie. It includes read aloud books lists, reading logs, and reading challenges for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
