Dance, Nana, Dance / Baila, Nana, Baila: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish

by Joe Hayes, Mauricio Trenard Sayago (Illustrator)

Joe Hayes received the Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award for Dance, Nana, Dance . In his acceptance speech, Joe talked about his hopes for his “Someone has said that enemies are just people whose stories we don’t know. I see a lot of truth in that. The more other people’s stories are hidden from us, the easier it is for us to view them as enemies. But when we begin to learn their stories we recognize all we share in common with them and we delight in how the unique beauty of their traditions enriches our own lives.”

Genres: Short Stories, Childrens, Folk Tales, Folklore, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

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

[Cynda reads little. Welcomes prayers for health. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 *
Beautifully selected stories. The reseller of the stories Joe Hayes repeatedly visited Cuba, visiting with a friend he made there, working to get right what he calls the roots of the stories. I play at Spanglish, have studied Spanish, grew up hearing Spanish, and was for a few months "forced" to speak Spanish when living elsewhere, so I am familiar with the (Mexican-style) Spanish spoken in Texas. I am thrilled with this translation. Sometimes terms are not very translatable. The reteller Hayes does translate one term at the end of the text. I would have liked for him to have translated more terms, terms not used here in Texas and perhaps only in places where Cuban-style Spanish is familar. I would have liked a glossary of all the untranslated terms.
I am glad to see that The people depicted in the book are shown to be of mulatto African American heritage. (US citizens are not the only Americans in the Americas.) Maybe someday German Hispanics and French Hispanics and Chinese Hispanics, and let me not forget the Jewish Hispanics. Step-by-step.
Impressed.

[L13F_Jana Wilkening · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the 2009 America's Award Honor List, this is a delightful collection of Cuban folktales told in both English and Spanish. The author notes that the important thing about the stories is that you have fun while reading them. They are certainly fun stories! Many of the stories include tales of "tricksters." Some tell how things came to be. Almost all of them have a moral. My favorite story was "Buy Me Some Salt." This story had me laughing out loud. It follows a young boy who is trying to remember the word "salt" to buy for his mother. He repeats it over and over until he hears someone else. Then he starts repeating that phrase which always gets him in trouble. So, for example, when he hears a police officer say "Break it up right away!" he starts repeating it. He then repeats it to a just married bride and groom... These funny phrases and situations continue throughout the story. At the end of the book, the author provides notes on each of the stories which explains the origin or gives insight into telling the story. This reminded me of a wonderful workshop I attended through the CTTCB at NLU where Anne Pellowski taught about the power of storytelling. This is an awesome resource for a storytelling unit in your classroom. I would use it with grades 2-5. I think your students, especially the little ones, will be laughing out loud at these great tales!

[Catherine Woodman]

I read two books of fables this week, and this one was the definitive favorite. The illustrations definitely reminded me of Caribbean Hispanic culture, and all thirteen of the stories are unfamiliar (even though many of the morals are very familiar--but not all of them). There is a playfulness to the stories that is really different from the Aesop style, and I think this would be really fun to read one at a time to pre-school and early grammar school aged kids. I also very much enjoyed the bilingual nature of the book--so you could read them in Spanish or in English (or for me, I read in Spanish until I got to a word I didn't know, like heron, and then checked it out in English).

[Shantai Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was on the 2009 America's Award Honor list and for good reason. Visually stunning and has some of the most delightful Cuban folklore stories I have ever read. My three year old loves this book and we read it at least three times a week. All thirteen stories are amazing and it is a great introductory into Spanish. The tales are in English and in Spanish. My mothers best friend bought this book for my youngest son since he refers to my mom as Nana and it is a must read for preschoolers and up. Most people know Grimm fairy tales but I been lately trying to introduce my children to folklore around the world and this book was a great start.

[Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love bilingual books.

There are 13 short stories and only 1 illustration per story so this is probably better for an older child.

My favorite story was “Buy me some salt” // “cómprame sal”. It was very funny.

I like this part of the illustrator’s blurb on the book jacket:
“He was raised by his family and society to believe in the power of art to educate and transform the individual and society. This environment strongly influenced him. His goal is to use his work to simplify, exaggerate or change how we see our current realities so that we can make the world a better place.”

[Sundee Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of Cuban folklore was really fun. I've read collections of African-American folklore and New Mexican folklore, and there are definitely some similar themes. I love the trickster turtle and how smart the animals are. And the illustrations are stunning!

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reading level for "Dance, Nana, Dance / Baila, Nana, Baila" is generally suitable for grades 4-8. The book is also recommended for a minimum age of 8 years.

This book includes stories in English and then also in Spanish.

[Mykenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought the illustrations were really good. this book would be good for introducing kids to some spanish words or for ELL to help them read in english

[Diana Valdivia-Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Folklore tales fron Cuba.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations by Mauricio Trenard Sayago fill this book of Cuban Folktales. Bright, vivid colors and bold backgrounds help tell the stories of Cuba. Cuba is an island in the Caribbean, which is south of Florida. Spanish and African influences are seen in the Cuban culture. This book of thirteen folktales is actually Cuban Folktales that the author, Joe Hayes, heard while visiting Cuba. He retold the folktales in English and then had a colleague also translate the folktales into Spanish. The folktales in this collection are humorous. For example, in Yams Don’t Talk, a turtle hides in a pile of yams and pretends to make them talk, which scares the people from eating them (pg. 11). The folktales also have valuable lessons to be learned and very smart, witty characters. In the folktale Dance, Nana, Dance (the book is named after this folktale), twin boys outsmart an old lady by switching places when she wasn’t looking (pg. 35). Animals are prominent characters in the folktales, too. In The Lazy Old Crows, two old crows that are too lazy to look for their own food pretend to be baby crows. Two young crows had build their nest in a unsafe spot, so the old crows see the opportunity to teach the young crows a lesson about where to build a safe nest and get fed without any work at the same time (pg. 43). Dance, Nana, Dance/Baila, Nana, Baila: Cuban Folktales in English and Spanish won the Aesop Prize in 2009.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I definitely want to buy this book for my personal library. What a wonderful compilation of Cuban folk tales! They are well written, with great rhythm, and the illustrations are lovely. If you work or live with children, get this book!

[Sam Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, this one is great. I own a lot of books of folktales and this definitely is up there as one of the best. I've really enjoyed reading them aloud to my son, even though he's too young to understand them yet, while he toddles around on the floor. This one goes on the to-own shelf for sure.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute stories with vibrant illustrations. Joe Hayes went to Cuba and researched these stories before writing them using his own simple style.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a DELIGHTFUL book!!! I bought this book for a donation to our future Esperanza school library but had never read it. Wonderful stories that will be fun to share with our Esperanza scholars.