El Romance de Don Gato y Otros Cuentos Populares de America Latina by Lucia M. Gonzalez

by Lucia M. Gonzalez

A collection of popular tales told to young children in places such as Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

Genres: Childrens, Hispanic, Picture Books, Cultural

Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

About the author

Has fond memories of listening to storytellers while growing up in Cuba. Was previously a translator and is now a children's librarian, a storyteller, and a puppeteer. Lives in Miami Florida with her Venezuelan husband and their bilingual daughter, Anna.

Reviews

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sure, they're called "favorite" stories. They might just as accurately be called ZANY stories. Delightful!

For starters, consider the story about Juan Bobo. He competes against a three-legged pot to race him home.

I'm partial to beautiful Martina, a cockroach. She's intent on finding the perfect husband.

Also, there's the title character, Mr. Cat. (Okay, Senor Sir Cat, if you're speaking Spanish.) Attending his own funeral -- as the corpse -- a scrumptious smell of fish brings him back to life.

Will these stories become your curentos favoritos? Even if not, they're so well worth reading.

FIVE STARS worth, I'd say.

[Liane Anderson]

There were three folk tales in this book that we had read already on their own so it was fun to see how they differed. At the end of each story is a little info on the variations and countries of origin.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the short little stories in "Senor Cat's Romance". It was really fun to get to read stories from another culture. I also really appreciated the beautiful illustrations that accompanied each of the stories. Even though I really enjoyed the character of Juan Bobo, partially because I liked his name, I loved the story about the cockroach Martina on her quest to find the perfect husband. Also, I very much appreciated the glossary at the end of each story and think that reading short stories such as these is a great way to introduce young students to different cultures and languages.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with folk tales from various Latin American countries. The six stories are very different, very entertaining and are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations. Our girls really enjoyed these stories and so did I.

[Rima Halig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book filled with many small tales carried from Latin America. So cute to read before the introducing Latin American culture to the class.

[WSL Library]

x2

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stories I've never heard before from Latin America with beautiful, vivid color illustrations.