M Is for Maxi Taxi: My Trini Alphabet

"M is for Maxi Taxi: My Trini Alphabet" is a bilingual (English-Spanish) book that helps young readers learn the alphabet and also about the Caribbean culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinbago is a twin-island republic of the southern Caribbean. Many of its citizens refer to themselves as "Trinis." One of the main forms of transportation is via a minibus called a maxi taxi. Hence the title of the book. This publication, though, looks at various aspects of Trini culture with bit-size pieces of information that go along with each letter. From food to music to fauna and flora and festivities, it's all in there. The book has lovely paper-collage illustrations and offers a fun way for kids to learn Spanish! Younger ones can focus on the alphabet, but older children can enjoy practising their reading skills in English and Spanish. For parents or teachers hoping to expose their kids to world culture and multiculturalism, this is a super book. With respect to the translation work, the English portions were written by a native English speaker (i.e. the author - Nneka Edwards). A team of three people then worked on the translation into Spanish (two English speakers of Spanish, and one native Spanish speaker). It has been carefully reviewed and revised.