The Song of El Coqui and Other Tales of Puerto Rico

by Nicholasa Mohr, Antonio Martorell

Three Puerto Rican stories include the title story, which represents the land's indigenous Tainos; the tale of la Guinea, which is rooted in the nation's African culture; and la Mula's tale, a story of Spanish origin.

Genres: Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Nicholasa Mohr (born November 1, 1938) is one of the best known Nuyorican writers. Her works tell of growing up in the Puerto Rican communities of the Bronx and El Barrio and of the difficulties Puerto Rican women face in the United States. She was raised in the Bronx. From 1988 through 1991, she taught at Queens College, City University of New York. From 1994 through 1995, she was Writer-in-Residence at Richmond College, the American University in London.

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Actual Star Rating: 3.5 Stars***

This is a collection of three very different stories that are all suppose to take place either in or coming to the island of Puerto Rico. As a result some of the community names or other locations that were mentioned are actually places that I had heard before.

What makes this book interesting is that there are three very different stories included while the animal that is the main protagonist is meant to symbolize one of the ethnic groups that can be found on the island. Thus the first story about the creation of local only found frogs (The Song of El Coquí) is a nod to the local tribe of Tainos who lived on the island first. This is then followd by La Guinea the Stowaway Hen, which is a nod to the bringing of the African slaves to the island and La Mula, the Cimarron Mule discusses the slow combination of the Spaniard blood into the islands while combined together all three stories provide indirectly the history of Puerto Rico.

The illustrations for this book are just gorgeous with the majority of it being brightly colored swathes to provide atmosphere to each page whether it is the color of the sea, the darkness of tragedy or even the colors of night turning into day. For the rest each artistic component is brightly colored yet stands apart from the background colors while still sharing to the full ambiance on the page thus making for some breathtaking artwork to be paired with the stories.

Now whether these are actual folktales that can be found on Puerto Rico or not doesn't really bother me as much as it normally would just since of the creative twists this book did to bring me a bit of history and cultural acknowledgement even when those topics may have a bit of a bite to them. And furthermore there is an almost index in the back that provides the reader with definitions of some Puerto Rican words that were used in the book.

This is most definitely one book that I will recommend to readers of mythoi whether child or adult since it is fascinating. And also a book that should be incorporated into history lessons as well....

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice stories. Nothing horrific like you sometimes get surprised with in folktales.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories that tell a separate tale from each of the peoples who contribute to the identity of people from the rich port.

[Lauren Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright illustrations, and culturally instructive. Make sure to teach the vocab before reading to class!

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute story.