Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. American children may be more familiar with the cumulative tale called The Old Woman and Her Pig, but this Cuban version, featuring a feisty rooster, has a charm of its own. Here, the rooster is on his way to his uncle's wedding but cannot resist picking two kernels of corn from the puddle and becomes very messy in the process. The rooster tries to get the grass to clean his beak, but the grass refuses; so he asks the goat to eat the grass, but the goat refuses. Not until the sun agrees to get involved do all the rooster's prospective helpers fall in line, and he manages to get his beak cleaned. A Spanish translation appears on the same page as the English text, which also contains a few Spanish words. Delacre's artwork, executed in watercolor with colored pencils and gouache, appears as borders on the text page and in oval frames and two-page spreads. Although it doesn't have the boldness one might expect considering the story and its Little Havana setting, the book is still pleasant fare. Appended are a glossary, interesting notes about the story and art, and something of the tradition and culture of Cuban weddings. This information appears in both English and Spanish. ~--Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 5-This classic, cumulative, bilingual story from Cuba centers around a greedy little rooster (gallito) who gobbles up some corn and gets mud on his beak. He asks the grass to clean it off, but the grass says, "`I will not.'" He then asks a goat to eat the grass, receives the same response, requests a stick to hit the goat, with the same result, and so on. At last he politely asks the sun- who owes him a favor for crowing it up every morning-to solve the problem, and all the other entities involved back down. Beak cleaned, the gallito is sharp-looking for his Uncle Parrot's wedding. The text is in a slightly syncopated verse that reads just as well in English as it does in Spanish. Indeed, the cadence may make the connection between the two languages clearer than it would be otherwise. The mixed-media illustrations are intriguing. Delacre uses birds native to the Caribbean as anthropomorphic characters; they observe traditional wedding customs, all of which are explained in the back of the book in both Spanish and English. Both text and pictures are bordered by ovals, giving the pages a formal, framed look that points up the riotous colors of the artwork and the action of the story. A fine introduction to Cuban folklore that adapts itself well either to ESL classrooms or story times.-Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A bossy rooster sets off for his uncle's wedding but, on the way, dirties his spotless beak and demands that a series of characters, including a goat and the sun, help him clean it. This Cuban version of 'The Old Woman and Her Pig,' told in both Spanish and English, is quite funny, and the story is peopled with handsome birds that reside in Miami's Little Havana. Extensive notes about cultural details of the text and illustrations follow the cumulative tale. From HORN BOOK 1994, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A tale that was also recently retold by Alma Flor Ada, with handsomely decorative illustrations by Kathleen Kuchera, as The Rooster Who Went to His Uncle's Wedding (1993) now appears in a bilingual edition with a setting based on Miami's ``Little Havana.'' The story, a less bloodthirsty variant of the cumulative tale Joseph Jacobs called ``The Old Woman and Her Pig,'' is so appealing that most collections could easily use both versions. Delacre's artistry may not quite match Kuchera's, but her carefully rendered illustrations are attractive, well designed, and full of amusing and authentic detail (including several bird species indigenous to Miami). A glossary and several notes (also bilingual) about the story, illustrations, and culture are excellent addenda. (Folklore/Picture book. 3-8)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
