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96 pp.
| HarperCollins/Rayo
| March, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-0-06-146895-7$19.99
(3)
K-3
Translated by David Unger.
Illustrated by
Raúl Colón.
Martínez retells seven Latin American folktales in this bilingual collection. Pedro Urdemales and Martina the Cockroach make appearances along with some lesser-known characters. Full-page illustrations rendered with watercolor and colored-pencil on scratched paper create an eye-catching frontispiece for each story. A good choice for read-aloud time, the book includes English and Spanish text on facing pages.
64 pp.
| Groundwood
| September, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-88899-896-5$19.95
(4)
4-6
Translated by David Unger.
Illustrated by
Domi.
With Dante Liano. Ixkem, a seven-year-old Mayan girl, is selected to be caretaker of her grandfather's vast cornfields. After inadvertently calling up the b'e'n spirits, she's brought underground to tell stories. Though the prose is generally flat (and seldom in the voice of a child), some of the tales, thoughtfully presented, might have appeal. Bright, primitivist illustrations accompany the text. Glos.
(3)
YA
Translated by David Unger.
This brief novel recounts the brutal life of Perro Viejo, a seventy-year-old Cuban slave, through his memories. His bondage has left him empty and cold, but when he helps Beira, another slave, shelter a young runaway, he realizes he has loved Beira for years and decides to escape with her. Sophisticated teens will find this Cuban import haunting. Glos.
111 pp.
| Groundwood
| April, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-88899-463-X$$14.95
|
PaperISBN 0-88899-467-2$$4.95
(4)
4-6
Translated by David Unger.
Illustrated by
Caroline Merola.
After Bel finds a photograph of her great-grandmother Beatrice, whom she never met, she starts to hear her great-grandmother talking to her. Bel is delighted--until Bisa Bea tells her to be a demure young lady. Luckily, Bel's internal future great-granddaughter tells her to stand up for herself. Though somewhat didactic, this book by award-winning Brazilian author Machado is nevertheless engaging.
85 pp.
| Groundwood
| May, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-88899-334-X$$19.95
(2)
4-6
Translated by David Unger.
Illustrated by
Luis Garay.
It is unfortunate that this edition of the Popol Vuh is not more comprehensive in its source notes, but the book itself contains a rich array of creation myth, pourquoi stories, and trickster tales, daunting in toto but rewarding in glimpses. Dramatically lit paintings will engage a browser's curiosity. A glossary is included, but a pronunciation guide would have been helpful.
Reviewer: Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2000
5 reviews
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