Juan and the chupacabras Juan y la chupacabras

Gr 2-4-Tall tales or true adventures? Cousins Luz and Juan can't tell if the wild stories their grandfather tells them of his own life-and-death battles with the infamous Chupacabras are fact or fiction. So they arm themselves with a trusty slingshot and a bag of marbles (that have been soaked in holy water for good measure) and venture out into the night-shadowed cornfields in search of the legendary bloodsucking stealer of children. When the demon makes a frightening appearance, Luz shoots her slingshot directly at its forehead. Before the children can celebrate, the monster yells out their names in a strangely familiar voice. It turns out that they have mistaken Juan's dad for the Chupacabras. When they explain that they were only trying to verify Abuelo's stories, the father merely smiles and urges them to run along home. Besides, he says, the Chupacabras only comes out when the moon is full. The English and Spanish texts appear on the same page, separated by a narrow illustration. The full-page illustration moves the action along nicely. An excellent choice for storytime and classroom sharing. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Their grandfather's tales of his encounters with Latin American terrors La Llorona (the ghostly Weeping Woman) and the Chupacabras inspire Juan and his almost fearless cousin Luz to sneak out late. Their hopes of confronting the Chupacabras, a somewhat vampiric creature illustrated here as a rather comical dragon with birdlike legs, seem to come true when they meet up with a shadowy upright figure that apparently has wings fluttering near its head. Luz goes on the attack with her "magic" marbles, which she has soaked in holy water, and slingshot. Unfortunately, her victim turns out to be Juan's father with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, coming out to bring them back inside the house. Ward's illustrations reflect Garza's South Texas background, showing both cacti that flourish in semi-aridity and trees and fields of corn that benefit from irrigation. The expressions of La Llorona and the Chupacabras are both funny and scary, and the human characters are realistically drawn. Both Spanish and English texts flow smoothly, with enough action to keep younger readers involved. Another successful title for the author of Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask (2005). (Picture book. 6-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.