ABSTRACT
Latino children's literature in English reflects varying degrees of Spanish usage. In some books, the only semblance of Spanish is in the form of personal or place names. Languages other than Spanish also appear in contemporary English-language children's books, among them Japanese, Navajo, Ojibwa, Thai, and Yiddish. Attention to the use of Spanish in Latino children's literature in English has centered mostly on orthographic or grammatical aspects, not literary considerations. English storybook text with Spanish-language elements has sometimes been referred to as "bilingual" or even "semibilingual". Authors of primarily English texts in Latino children's literature may be "insiders" or "outsiders" in relation to the culture depicted, and proficient in Spanish to varying degrees. Spanish was used mainly for mimetic purposes, "as a token of the Spanish-speaking community portrayed". Spanish was not used for artificial or experimental purposes apart from its realistic or mimetic functions.
