La Llorona / The Weeping Woman

by Joe Hayes, Vicki Trego Hill (Illustrator), Mona Pennypacker (Illustrator)

This retelling of the classic tale of the Weeping Woman will cause shivers and delight in readers of all ages! ¡Este recuento del folclore de La Llorona causará escalofríos y deleite en lectores y oyentes de todas las edades! Have you ever heard the story of La Llorona, the ghost woman they say is crying and crying for her children? In this bilingual Spanish and English edition, The Weeping Woman retells the tale of a beautiful woman whose fear and jealousy dooms her to an eternal search for all she's lost. ¿Has escuchado alguna vez la historia de La Llorona, la mujer fantasma que dicen que llora y llora por sus hijos? En español e ingles, La Llorona cuenta la historia de una hermosa mujer cuyo miedo y celos la condenan a una búsqueda eterna de todo lo que ha perdido.

Genres: Horror, Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Spanish Literature, Folk Tales, Classics

32 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1986

About the author

Designated New Mexico Eminent Scholar by the New Mexico Commission on Higher Learning (1979).

Joe was the youngest of five children. His father loved to tell stories. The family moved to Arizona where Joe learned to speak Spanish which became an integral part of his storytelling and writing.

In 1979, he began to devote himself full time to sharing stories. He focuses on elementary school audiences although his work appeals to a wide range of ages.

In 2001, he traveled to Cuba participate in a translation workshop sponsored by Writers of the Americas.

For children and adults alike, Joe's storytelling sessions outside the tepee at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe are a summer tradition that has continued for over 25 years.

Other facts:
*Youngest of five children
*Graduated from University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts in English.
*Taught at Sunnyside High School in Tucson, Arizona and also in Los Alamos, NM.
*Employed in mineral exploration work, working all over the western U.S. as well as in Mexico and Spain.
*Delivered the Commencement address at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U.C.L.A.
*Currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am now in my Mid twenties. I can still remember most of his story's and they what he tells them. I first heard this story in my 3rd grade class. It is a fantastic scary story. I love Joe Hayes. I would highly recommend listening to any of his stories on tape he tells him so well!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up near the Mexican border in Texas, and this is a traditional ghost story told around campfires and at sleepovers. It is pretty disturbing, but it is meant to be so. I hadn’t ever read a written version of it, and while there are always variations to legends that are usually told orally, this one is pretty much the one I remember. The art is appropriate to the story, morphing from quite normal to creepy and evocative.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked up more words in Spanish the second time...

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent bilingual retelling of this legend.

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Mexico's culture is rich with legends, most from old Spanish or Mexican roots. The most famous legend of the Southwest is that of La Llorona, the weeping woman, which appears to be dominantly of southern New Mexico origin.

This legend has been retold in many variations & is considered a ghost story too. Its about a beautiful woman, who was extremely proud of her looks. She would think herself better than the rest & would only marry to the most handsomest man. And she did! But soon felt neglected by her own husband. She thought she would forever gain his attention by her beauty, but she was wrong. What happens in the end? You have to read to know the rest of the story & how she got the name "the weeping woman".

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has always reminded me of the Greek myth of Medea.

I enjoyed this retelling. The English / Spanish format make it a great choice for learning either language as a 2nd language.

It could also make an interesting readers theater piece for a bilingual group.

The art is a little dark, befitting the story, with its cross hatch black ink.

I really didn't like Maria or her husband. It's interesting, because it is a story without any sort of likable hero.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books by Joe Hayes! This is another book I bought with money donated by two Esperanza Board members for our Esperanza School Library. It would be great to have a number of versions of this story by different authors in our library.

[Claire Casso · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent re-telling of the folk-legend in a text that is both accessible and well-written for adolescents and younger children.

[Yaneli Solorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a child all the time, i think thats what made my obsession of scary things but uh GREAT BOOK TOTALLY RECOMEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mary Liss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved how each page was in Spanish with the English translation right next to it

[Makenna Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written by Joe Hayes who is a known author with many awards. This book is traditional literature/ folklore story originating in Mexico. It has a scary story with an underlying lesson for readers to it. There are many different versions of this story and in this book specifically, it tells the story of a weeping woman who cries during the night for her children who died. The messages or themes this story really conveys is almost a frightening one for children in order to keep them from wandering around at night. You could use this book instructionally with kids by teaching them about folklore and stories passed down from generation to generation. This book is written in a story telling manner/ sequence of events and is structured in sentences and words both in English and Spanish. My initial reaction to this book was wondering if it was going to be appropriate or too scary for children. With that being said, after reading this book it did a wonderful job of explaining the story and what happened in an age appropriate way. Because of the way the way the book captured the story so well is why it made this book a WOW book for me! I recommend this book and I think it is great to incorporate Hispanic culture into lessons as well.

[Hugo Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Hayes has written this book based on a well known legend that has been told to all Mexican children for many generations. In this story a woman named Maria falls in love with a rich rancher whom later leaves her and her children for a rich woman. Maria filled with anger throws her children in to a river and they end up loosing their lives, as a punishment Maria can not rest in peace and has to weep for her children by the river bank. Children are warn not to be out too late or la llorona will get you. It is a great read for children whom are trying to learn about Mexican culture or want to explore their own more. Hayes does an excellent job retelling the legend of the weeping woman in this bilingual book.

[Kimberly Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god!,can you believe la llorona kill he own children,yep she did.In this story is about a young lady (maria)who dreams with a perfect man in her life.Later like 3 weeks i dont remember how many pass but then she have 2 children.One is a boy and the other one is a girl.Maria husband have to work but when he come back home he only visited his children,maria so jealous and anger she go to the river with her children and she put them under water.Days pass maria be came a gost and she is saying(where are my children).SOMETIMES SHE CAN MESS YOU ONE OF HER CHILDREN.

[Guadalupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

La Lorna, the weeping woman: an Hispanic legend told in Spanish and English this book is by Joe Hayes.This book is about a woman who droids her kids and cry for her kids around the river and it tells that she graves kids that look like hers. My opinion about this book is that i love this book and i like it so much because my grandmother use to tell me that story a lot. In the book is says"people tell this story to their grand child and they tell it to their and it never gets old".I recommend this book to the people that like to read small stories to their relatives.

[Meredith Miner · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students all love the mystery of La Llorona, but I (and most of them) don't know anything about the traditional story. This version is written by Joe Hayes, an author I really like. For these reasons I bought this book on our trip to Bookies. The story turns out to be, in my opinion, a little inappropriate, as the woman drowns her children and then kills herself. So, I am not sure that I would use it in my class.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living in New Mexico, I’ve known of the story of La Llorona for many years but this was the first time I had read it. I decided to read it because it is dual-language. I picked up some new Spanish vocab and understanding of sentence structure. I’ll probably reread the Spanish parts again before returning the book to the library.

[Kristin Herrmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students wanted to learn about cultural folktales from our region and loved this book! We had a great discussion on how it was different from some of the tales that our own parents and grandparents had told us all. It was a great discussion piece for our New Mexico classroom!

[Baroness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic story! It’s a must read.

[Sarah Underwood]

A chilling and captivating folktale. It's lovely read aloud in English and Spanish

[catalina rosado]

***read for english***

[Sarah Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An illustrated version of the Hispanic folklore of La llorona. Parents used to tell this story to kids to try and prevent them from going out at night and to make sure they came home when it got dark outside. The story begins with a young girl named Maria, who was the most beautiful girl in her village. Her family was hard working, and she had nice clothes and nice things, but it wasn’t enough and she wanted more. She told her abuela that when she was older she would marry the most handsome man in the whole world, he would be strong, rich, and handsome. She met that man. They went on to marry and have two kids. Over time he seemed to be unhappy in his marriage. He would leave town often for work, and when he did come home it was just for his kids and not for Maria. One day when Maria and her kids were by the river, Maria’s husband rides by in a carriage with a young rich woman. He speaks to the kids and completely ignores Maria. In a fit of rage, Maria grabs her kids hands and throws them in the river and they’re taken away by the current. Realizing what she did she runs after them, when she finally gets to them they are long gone. She ran off because of the guilt she felt by what she just did. She wasn’t looking where she was running and her foot got caught on a root and she tripped and fell and hit her head on a rock. She died as a result of her injury. When the people of town found her body, they laid her body to rest right there by the river. The first night when she was buried she had no peace. She just walked the river banks crying looking for her children.

This story has put the fear of God into children all over Hispanic culture. Children are terrified that at night if they hear crying, that La llorona will not be able to notice that that child and her children are different. The illustrations in this book are beautifully done. I don’t recommend this story, per say, to children unless you know they can handle it. It is somewhat of a ghost story.

[Alyssa Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

La Llorona, the Weeping Woman: An Hispanic Legend Told in Spanish and English retells the legend of Maria, the woman who later came to be known as La Llorona. While the story doesn’t give a time period of origin, we know the actions took place in Mexico, as the folktale originates in the Mexican plains with Maria marrying a wealthy ranchero. As the story goes, the ranchero runs off with a wealthy woman, leaving Maria to care for their two kids. In her grief, Maria throws her kids into the river and ends up passing away in her attempts to save them. After her passing, she starts to haunt the village in search of her children. This folklore is common to pass on still as a warning to children, that the ghost of La Llorona will capture them if they’re out late or misbehaving. The book itself is a little creepy for the age group it was written for, but it’s a great teaching resource as the book is written in both English and Spanish on the pages.

[LaDonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having moved to New Mexico when I was 12, the tales of La Llorona - or the ditch witch, as I often heard her called - have been familiar to me, as is Joe Hayes. I've met him a few times over the years and he most certainly is a fantastic storyteller, though I sometimes feel that is shown better when seeing him in person and the way he delivers his stories sometimes shines brighter than the books themselves. That is definitely the case with this one, though the illustrations are pretty amazing. I couldn't resist picking up a copy on a trip to Quirky books in February, and didn't realize it was autographed until I picked it up to put on the bookshelf today, which was a nice surprise. I had autographed books for him I had purchased for my mom's school library about the time this one was signed (1995) and my kids both have autographed books by him from when he visited their elementary school.

[Kassandra Pacheco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The weeping woman it's a storytelling story of a women who fears and regrets losing her children. The women travels by the river screaming "Mis Hijos, where are my children?". Until this day the weeping mother goes by 'La Llorona' and not her actual name which is maria. It is known to not stay outside no later than 10pm as the weeping mother might mistake you by one of her children and will take you. The key theme of this book universal suffering, grief and pain, the reason why I chose this book to read, it is because it tells a folk tale story that has been existing for years.

[Danielle Woolard · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Spanish is a little more advanced than where I'm at, so I did appreciate having the English side by side. I like the retelling as it gives a little more detail (and speculation, I'll say) to the story than what I've previously read. I really like the illustrations, kinda spooky, kinda ugly, but great art.

[Katherine Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this because it shows that there are multiple versions of one story. It also gives an insight into different cultures and seeing how impactful things are for people. I think this could be a group reading maybe in a unit when we talk about traditions in other cultures

[Yolanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was in my wish list for awhile. When I finally bought this , I was very happy I did. It was beautifully illustrated and retold. A good tale to be read near a chimney in a dark and story night.


(2020)

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this retelling with both English and Spanish, but in my opinion, the illustrations left a lot to be desired. Sometimes they were pretty, and at other times they were downright ugly. Maria herself looked like a different person on every page…

[Lynsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but I find it hard to look past the fact that it's about a woman's being punished for being vain and proud when the man is not. I understand this is a classic story, but still.

[Mela · Rating 1 out of 5]

looking for a better adaptation.