Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes / Los perros mágicos de los volcanes

by Manlio Argueta, Elly Simmons (Illustrator)

When the magic dogs who live on the volcanoes of El Salvador and protect the villagers from harm are pursued by wicked lead soldiers, they are aided by two ancient volcanoes.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Childrens, Animals, Science Fiction Fantasy

30 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1990

About the author

Argueta was born in San Miguel (El Salvador) on November 24, 1935. Argueta has stated that his exposure to “poetic sounds” began during his childhood and that his foundation in poetry stemmed from his childhood imagination. Argueta’s interest in literature was strongly influenced by the world literature he read as a teenager. Argueta began his writing career by the age of 13 as a poet. He cites Pablo Neruda and García Lorca as some of his early poetic influences. Although he was relatively unknown at the time, Argueta won a national prize for his poetry around 1956, which gained him some recognition among Salvadoran and Central American poets. As he became more involved with the literary community of El Salvador, Argueta became a member of the "Committed Generation". Because of his writings criticizing the government, Argueta was exiled to Costa Rica in 1972 and was not able to return to El Salvador until the 1990s. Argueta currently lives in El Salvador where he holds the position of Director of the National Public Library.

He belonged to a literary group by the name of Generación Comprometida (Committed Generation, referring to political and social commitment), also known as Círculo Literario Universitario (University Literary Circle), created by Italo López Vallecillos (1932-1986). Other members of the group included Roque Dalton (1935-1975), Alvaro Menen Desleal (1931-2000), Waldo Chávez Velasco (1932), Irma Lanzas (1933), Orlando Fresedo (1932), Mercedes Durand (1932-1998), Ricardo Bogrand (1932), and Mauricio de la Selva. Members of the group were revolutionary in both their writing and their political views, though some members claim that "Generación Comprometida" and "Círculo Literario Universitario" were two different groups, it's been said that "Generación Comprometida" would be formed three or four years after the "50's Generation", a group which would be formed by those writers whom started publishing between 1950 and 1952 and had been members of the “Cenáculo de Iniciación Literaria” such as Mercedes Durand, Irma Lanzas, Orlando Fresedo, Italo López Vallecillos, Waldo Chávez Velasco, Álvaro Menéndez Leal, Mauricio de la Selva and Ricardo Bogrand. The group sought to create social change in terms of the treatment of the lower class. But they also initiated rediscovery of cultural heritage to a certain extent. Manlio Argueta and his Committed Generation were heavily influenced by the French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre and his existentialist ideas. Existentialism is an outlook on life that emphasizes the existence, freedom, and actions of the individual. This perspective tends to be atheistic and stress human freedom and experience as a definition of existence as opposed to scientific definitions. Existentialists also do not believe in the existence of objective moral values.

Some of Argueta’s works include El valle de las Hamacas (Editorial Ariel, Buenos Aires, 1977), Un hombre por la patria (poetry, Editorial Universitaria, San Salvador, 1968), En el costado de la luz (poetry, EU, San Salvador, 1968), Caperucita en la zona roja / Little Red Riding Hood in the Red Light District (Casa de las Américas Prize 1977, various editions), Un día en la vida / One Day of Life (1980), Cuzcatlán, donde bate la mar del sur / Cuzcatlán, Where the Southern Sea Beats (1986), Milagro de la Paz / A Place Called Milagro de la Paz (San Salvador, Istmo Editores, 1995) Siglo de O(G)ro (San Salvador, DPI, 1997). A characteristic of Argueta’s writing style present in the majority of his works is the use of Salvadoran Spanish vernacular and slang. Argueta considers this a way to express and preserve some of El Salvador’s cultural identity.

Argueta is best known for his book One Day of Life, which has been translated into over 12 languages. The book takes the reader through one day of the life of Lupe, the main character. Lupe is a grandmother in a small vi

Reviews

[Kennia Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Spanish/English book about the Cadejos (magic dogs) that come out at night around the volcanoes in El salvador and they protect the people from many dangers. The people of the villages love the cadejos because they protect them. The dogs are considered great great grandchildren of the volcanoes. For example, the dogs can turn into wind to sweep an endangered child if there is a snake or a hole that is going to harm the child. This story shows how good can always win against evil. The story has great vibrant colors in the illustrations and it is read in english than right below the english paragraph there is the spanish translation! This book is great for spanish speaking students in elementary to teach them english of teach english speaking children spanish. It is an amazing book! very intriguing and sweet! Shows children how they should always be caring for others.

[Kendrick Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book written by Manlio Argueta, provides a unique touch that not may other international books do. While the english version of the book is written towards the top of the page, the translation in it is in Spanish. this provides children as easy way to compare the two language and have ELL readers be comfortable with the book, if they come from a Spanish background. This book is about the dogs that live in the village of El Salvador and how they are loved by most on the volcano. However, 13 men are not fans of the dogs and plan on killing them. Throughout the book they are trying to do so, but the volcano and people help the dogs and everything ends in a happy ending. I would recommend this for a fourth grade class due to the pictures of guns and implied violence. However, I think this a good international book to show and read a loud.

[Diana D · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this beautifully illustrated and intricate book, Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes, or Cadejos as they are know in El Salvador, tells the story about the mythical creatures, Cadejos (dogs) that live up in the volcanoes of El Salvador. The people of El Salvador honor these animals and credit them with protecting them when they are in trouble by turning into a gust of wind to move them away from the danger. I was mesmerized by all the illustrations and detail that was put into this book, I would love to use this as a read aloud in a classroom.

[Jhoel Centeno · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5*

Not much to review about. It’s a beautiful folklore about the people of El Salvador and how they are protected by magical dogs. Especially when someone evil comes to destroy the peace and tradition.

[Rhea D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated , and a lovely way to tell a folktale !

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought me closer to my culture. My dad is from El Salvador and the author has the same last name as me. I thought it was beautiful

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This international children’s book was written by a native of El Salvador, Manlio Argueta. This book spoke to me through the use of extraordinary original and native pictures and the fact that it is based on traditional Salvadorian folk tales about cadejos, magic dogs. The cadejos protect the people of El Salvador from danger and misfortune and it is believed that the magic dogs are great-great-grandchildren of the mountains. The illustrations by Simmons do a wonderful job capturing the everyday life of a traditional family and style of El Salvador. Families are cooking and talking together and men are playing guitars as the cadejos bustle around. The dogs possess magic powers that sweep children out of the harm of snakes and carry weak old men to shade. However, the cadejos were not loved by everyone. Don Tonio and his 13 brothers own the land and think the dogs make the people lazy. So they called on the Lead Soldiers to hunt down the dogs. I think this native tale is a wonderful international book for children because it provides them with a fun, interesting story with a protagonist and antagonist as well as introducing them into a culture different than their own. The story is told both in the translated language of English and the original language in Spanish which is great for bilingual learners and to introduce a better sense of culture to the classroom environment. Also, the author provided pronunciation of native words so that the teacher or reader would know how to correctly pronounce the words. This is important to give children the best information possible.

[Jennie]

Age: 4-6

Genre: Online book retrieved from http://www.childrenslibrary.org;
bilingual picture book; folktale

Diversity: Ethnicity, belief, language

Illustrations: Bold and brightly colored images complement the text.

Personal Response: I enjoyed both the story and the illustrations. I especially liked that the story is based on traditional Salvadorian folk tales about cadejos, magic dogs.

Curriculum: This would be a great book for an English/Spanish bilingual storytime. It could also be used in kindergarten through second grade as a part of a unit exploring different cultures and folk tales.

[Bryan Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale from El Salvador is a delightful story about the mysterious cadejos (coyotes/dogs) that sometimes appear at night around the dormant volcanoes. The illustrations are vibrant and magnificent, evoking concert posters from Haight-Ashbury circa 1967. I would recommend adding this to a survey of traditional literature from the Americas. Another plus, this book is in both English and Spanish.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book from the ICDL website. The story is a good lesson about greed and over coming evil. I liked the bilingual aspect of the text, both English and Spanish. I'll be letting the teacher know about this site and placing it on the library web page.

[Colleen]

Earth - unit 2
Leveld Books - Advanced

[Christine]

Salvadoran folklore: moral of the story to protect wildlife (coyotes/wolves/deer).