At the ripe old age of 21 days, Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, a beautiful cockroach who lives with her family in a cozy street lamp in Old Havana, is ready to give her leg in marriage. Abuela, her Cuban grandmother, gives her "un consejo increíble, some shocking advice." She tells Martina to spill coffee on each of her suitor's shoes to make him angry. Then she will know how he will behave when he loses his temper. Abuela says, "The Coffee Test never fails." Hearing that Martina is available, the fellows come calling, singing her praises: "Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, beautiful muchacha, won't you be my wife?" "Coffee, señor?" she replies to each potential husband. Don Gallo the cocky, self-important rooster is infuriated. "Clumsy cockroach! I will teach you better manners when you are my wife." Don Cerdo, the stinky, self-absorbed pig, squeals, "What a tragedy for my poor loafers!" Don Lagarto, the creepy lizard, hisses, "And to think I was going to eat-er-MARRY you!" It's not until she meets Pérez, a kind little mouse who thinks she is beautiful, that she finds her perfect match. Huge glossy acrylics portray that cockroach as the most delectable of creatures.
THEMES: FOLKLORE. LOVE. MICE. MULTICULTURAL BOOKS. SPANISH LANGUAGE.
At the ripe old age of 21 days, Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, a beautiful cockroach who lives with her family in a cozy street lamp in Old Havana, is ready to give her leg in marriage. Abuela, her Cuban grandmother, gives her "un consejo increíble, some shocking advice." She tells Martina to spill coffee on each of her suitor's shoes to make him angry. Then she will know how he will behave when he loses his temper. Abuela says, "The Coffee Test never fails." Hearing that Martina is available, the fellows come calling, singing her praises: "Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, beautiful muchacha, won't you be my wife?" "Coffee, señor?" she replies to each potential husband. Don Gallo the cocky, self-important rooster is infuriated. "Clumsy cockroach! I will teach you better manners when you are my wife." Don Cerdo, the stinky, self-absorbed pig, squeals, "What a tragedy for my poor loafers!" Don Lagarto, the creepy lizard, hisses, "And to think I was going to eat-er-MARRY you!" It's not until she meets Pérez, a kind little mouse who thinks she is beautiful, that she finds her perfect match. Huge glossy acrylics portray that cockroach as the most delectable of creatures.
Don't you just love that Coffee Test? Ask children what other ways they can use to tell if someone is just right for them. A Spanish language version of Deedy's book is available, under the title, Martina Una Cucarachita Muy Linda. You'll find the story retold as "Martina Martínez and Pérez the Mouse" in the terrific collection of Hispanic folktales, Tales Our Abuelitas Told by F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada. For a Puerto Rican version of the same story, read Pura Belpre's classic picture book, Perez and Martina, first published in 1932. Storyteller Pura Belpré (for whom the Pura Belpré Medal was named) was the first Puerto Rican librarian in the New York City Public Library system. Read Lucia Gonzalez's lovely picture book, The Storyteller's Candle / La Velita de los Cuentos, about how Belpré organized a library fiesta in El Barrio, a Spanish neighborhood in northern Manhattan, complete with a children's performance of "Pérez and Martina," to celebrate Three Kings' Day in 1929.
THEMES: FOLKLORE. LOVE. MICE. MULTICULTURAL BOOKS. SPANISH LANGUAGE.
