'Con Pollo': The bilingual book written by Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez
Superstar duo Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez just published an illustrated book to introduce basic Spanish vocabulary to young readers.
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Meet Pollo, a friendly little chicken who just wants to play. Pollo makes any activity more fun.
Why just go to the beach when you could go to la playa con Pollo?
Do you want to play soccer, or play fútbol con Pollo?
Do you want to go dancing, or bailar con Pollo?
Whatever you decide to do, you're in for a busy, adventurous day with your new friend, Pollo!
Con Pollo: A Bilingual Playtime Adventure (MacMillan, October 2022) is an engaging and hilarious picture book that serves young readers as an introduction to basic Spanish vocabulary, brought to life by superstar duo Jimmy Fallon and Jennifer Lopez.
As Fallon told USA TODAY that the idea of the book came from Lopez, a frequent guest on his NBC The Tonight Show, who had been thinking for some time about doing something together outside of television.
Of all the ideas Fallon came up with — a song, a cameo in her movies — he finally came up with a good one: an illustrated children's book.
"She's a great mom. She loves her kids. And I (had) just written a couple of children's books," Fallon told USA TODAY. "I'm like, 'maybe that's a good book idea.'"
The idea of a chicken (Pollo in Spanish) as the main character came to him when he remembered that during the pandemic many people turned their chickens into pets. From there, they found it a good idea to describe situations that would be more fun to do in Pollo's company: "Con Pollo" is an invitation to learn new vocabulary in Spanish.
The book also includes an index of terms with phonetics and color coding. It is perfect for children from two to five years old.
This is not Fallon's first children's book. He has written four other books in addition to this one (Your Baby's First Word Will be DADA, Everything is Mama, Nana Loves You More, and 5 More Sleeps 'Til Christmas) that have become New York Times bestsellers.
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Con Pollo, which was released this week, is already among the top sellers on Amazon.
“I’m so excited to launch my first children’s book and it’s even more special to collaborate with Jimmy!” Lopez told People in February.
Fallon was also excited and confident that the book would impress his former Spanish teachers.
"It’s fun and educational and my Spanish teachers from high school would be so impressed to know that I’m teaching kids to speak Spanish with Jennifer Lopez.”
He added that since the two were both parents, they thought a children’s book was a natural fit.
“One of the many things I love about her is how great of a mom she is,” he said.
The colorful pictures of the book were created by Latina artist and photographer Andrea Campos. The daughter of immigrants, Andrea is committed to inclusive storytelling and production practices in her work.
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