PACHO NACHO written by Silvia López and illustrated by Pablo Pina is a variant of a Japanese folktale re-told eventually as the Chinese folktale Tiki-Tiki-Tembo. Now this delightful tale has been transplanted to a small town in Mexico where a baby son has just been born. His parents can’t think of a name for him so they ask the whole family for suggestions.
Everyone has a favorite name and here is where the fun begins. They decide to give their son all of the suggested names! And so, they call the baby Pacho-Nacho-Nico-Tico-Melo-Felo-Kiko-Rico! When a brother is born he is named Juan. Mamá insists that Juan always call his big brother “by his beautiful long name.”
One day the brothers go to the river and climb a tree with branches hanging over the water. Juan hears one of the branches crack leaving his older brother dangling in great danger. He runs to get help! The problem is he must refer to his older brother by his long name before anyone will listen to him. Time is of the essence so he speaks the name as fast as he can.
Young readers will join in on the fun by saying the long beautiful name as fast as they can. This gymnastic challenge for the tongue, teeth and lips is great fun and is what has sustained this folktale for so many centuries. The colorful illustrations have great facial expressions, lots of humorous details and wonderful scenes of Mexican culture. There is also a list of the meaning of the Spanish words used in the story.
Pacho Nacho written by Silvia López and illustrated by Pablo Pino is packed with community love and is designed for readers 4-8 years of age (Capstone,2019).
Activity Questions for Pacho Nacho
Pacho Nacho’s beautiful long name is made up of eight popular boy’s names in Mexico. How do you think Pacho Nacho felt about having so many names? How long is your name? Do you like the sound of your name? Are you named after a family member? Is there a name you would rather have been given? If you could have a long beautiful name like the boy in this story what would it be? Think about it and then build yourself a long name. Use eight or more individual names in your construction.
Juan had to say his brother’s name very fast so that he could get him help. How fast can you say Pacho-Nacho-Nico-Tico-Melo-Felo-Kiko Rico? Go ahead and say it. Now try saying Tiki-Tiki-Tembo-no sa rembo-Hari bari broohski-Peri pen do-Hiki pon pom-Nichi no miano-Do. This is the long name from the Chinese version of this folktale. Practice and HAVE FUN!
The illustrations have very expressive facial expressions. Study them all and then locate your favorite character and draw your own picture of that character’s face. What would that character say in this scene? Add a balloon, in comic book style, so we can read what that character says.