Tale of La Llorona: A Mexican Folktale

 

authors: Linda Lowery and Richard Keep

illustrator: Janice Lee Porter

Lerner / Millbrook, 2008

grades 2-up 

Mexican

In this adaptation of the Llorona tale, a young girl named Maria grows up wanting riches and life in a grand hacienda, rather than being satisfied with what she has. Nothing is good enough for her and when a rich young man visits her mother’s inn, she becomes his “segunda” or secondary woman. He visits periodically and she bears two children, always wondering when he is going to move her and her children to his hacienda. One day he arrives in a grand carriage with the woman he is going to marry. Maria ignores her own children playing on the riverbank and gives in to her rage, blaming everyone who ever came into her life and kept her from her dreams. It starts to storm before she comes to her senses and searches for her children. They are gone. The river rages in the storm and she roams the bank, wailing for her children, forever.

The overriding theme is to be satisfied with what you have; at least don’t blame others for what you can control. Make good decisions. Life ain’t always fair.

Porter’s illustrations are effective, smoothly transitioning from simple drawings to eerie, floating vapors. Lowery and Keep have created a straightforward and simple retelling of the ancient legend. Recommended.

—Judy Zalazar Drummond
(published 4/7/13)

Marco’s Cinco de Mayo

author: Lisa Bullard

illustrator: Holli Conger

Lerner / Millbrook, 2011

grades 1-3 

Mexican American

In Marco’s Cinco de Mayo, part of Cloverleaf’s “Holidays and Special Days” series, young Marco is one of the dancers in this year’s El Cinco de Mayo celebration. He’s nervous because he’s afraid he’ll forget the steps. His cousin, Diego, tells him the story about the Mexican victory over the French in “a big battle” on May 5, 1862. Thinking about the brave Mexicans, Marco “can be brave and proud too,” and goes onstage to dance.

There’s really no story here; it appears to have been written and illustrated to give teachers a few scattered facts about El Cinco de Mayo. The series is advertised as “nonfiction picture books” that “feature kid-friendly text and illustrations to make learning fun!”

One of the things that’s left out is the basic information about the importance of the holiday known as El Cinco de Mayo, even the name of the Battle of Puebla, in which a small, poorly armed force of Mexican soldiers drove back the well-equipped French army led by Napoleon III. And the pictures here are ridiculous.

Tacos are featured prominently throughout the text and we learn that, this year, Marco “[hasn’t] even had one taco.” Which is probably why he’s excited to engage in a “taco-eating battle” with his cousin, Diego. There are pictures of tacos scattered throughout the book. I don’t know, but tacos are pretty basic these days, not exactly curious examples of Mexican culture. Plus the reader never knows how many tacos Marco and his cousin eat. I wanted this information, if only to say, “Ay, Dios mío—¡que estúpido!”

I’m not sure where the “fun” is. There are four “chapters” in 21 pages, and each “chapter” contains one or two “facts,” set off at the top or bottom of the page, for older readers (grades 2-3) who’ve managed to stay awake. There’s one craft activity, in which children can make maracas out of empty plastic bottles, masking tape, markers, and uncooked rice or popcorn. There’s a helpful glossary of words that have already been defined in the text, and additional entries, such as “celebrate,” “costume,” and “instrument.”

The illustrations, in bright, bold colors, are unattractive.

Every time I think a picture book couldn’t get more boring, another one comes along. Marco’s Cinco de Mayo is actually misinformation, trivialized by design. Not recommended.

—Beverly Slapin
(published 4/6/13)

Aztecs: Life in Tenochtitlan

author: Matt Doeden

illustrator: Samuel Hiti

Lerner / Millbrook, 2010

grades 3-6 

Mexica (Aztec)

One of the volumes in Millbrook’s “Life in Ancient Civilizations” series, the 48-page Aztecs is divided into chapters covering daily life, religion, ideas and inventions, and how the empire was ruled. Included is a timeline, pronunciation guide, glossary, further reading section, list of websites for additional information, and an index. As with the other volumes in this series (Babylonians: Life in Ancient Babylonia, Chinese: Life in China’s Golden Age, Egyptians: Life in Ancient Egypt, Greeks: Life in Ancient Greece, and Romans: Life in Ancient Rome), the brief chapters and conversational tone will appeal to report-driven youngsters searching for quick information about “disappeared” cultures.

Interspersed with color photos of artifacts, including what might be a sacrificial knife, Hiti’s colorful, comic-book-style brush, ink and computer-generated illustrations—showing expressionless men with undersized heads and muscle-bound bodies, and children with huge heads—are spectacularly unappealing.

But the main problem with this sort of anthropology book for young readers is that it is, by its simplistic nature, poorly conceived and destined to fail. I doubt that it would be possible to describe, in this limited format and in a way that is interesting, factual, and respectful, what it was to live in any particular place in a particular time.

In his introductory sentences, Doeden demonstrates why this was a bad idea: “Many different groups lived in ancient Mexico. One group was the Aztecs. They are known for building great temples and killing people for their gods.” It’s no secret that this perspective is not that of the Mexica (Aztec), yesterday or today.

Not surprisingly, much of the text concerns itself with distancing young readers from the lives of the people they are studying. Here’s an example, with what children are led to think in my italics:

“To please their gods, the Aztecs sacrificed many people. Priests were in charge of the sacrifices. Most of the people killed were captured warriors or slaves. But sometimes the Aztecs killed children. People thought killing children for Tlaloc would bring rain (but it really wouldn’t)…. The Aztecs believed they had to make sacrifices (but they really didn’t). They thought the sun needed blood (but it really didn’t). Without blood, the sun might stop shining (but it really wouldn’t). The world might end (but it really wouldn’t).”

The rest of the text in Aztecs veers from ho-hum descriptions (“Most Aztecs ate two meals a day—one in the morning and one in the evening”) to breathless revulsion (“A person wearing the wrong clothing could be killed!”) to unsubstantiated theory (“The Aztecs may even have raised dogs as food”) to justification for colonialism.

Here, the author always describes the Aztecs as either “Aztecs” or “Aztec warriors,” and always describes the Spanish as either “Spanish” or “Spanish explorers.” Here is an example of how the author manipulates the young reader to accept uncritically the Spanish war of conquest of the Mexica Empire:

“In 1520, Hernan Cortes and a group of Spanish explorers came to Tenochtitlan. They brought new diseases to the area. They also had better horses, guns, metal armor, and better swords than the Aztecs. They took Montezuma II (sic) prisoner. The Aztecs tried to fight off the explorers, but they did not succeed. Montezuma II (sic) died in 1520. Tenochtitlan fell in August 1521. The city was ruined. The Aztec Empire came to an end. (italics mine)”

And finally, near the end, there is “Echoes of the Aztecs,” similarly cleansed:

“Much of the Aztecs’ past is a mystery. The Spanish destroyed and burned buildings, books, and other symbols of the Aztec culture. The people mixed with the Spanish. The Spanish brought Christian beliefs to the region. Aztec culture slowly faded. (italics mine)”

From every indication, all of Doeden’s resources are from cultural outsiders, including material such as Fiona MacDonald’s How to Be an Aztec Warrior and Philip Steele’s The Aztec News (“a fun book set up in the style of a newspaper published by the ancient Aztecs”). The Aztecs: Life in Tenochtitlan is not recommended.

—Beverly Slapin
(published 4/6/13)