Review by Booklist Review
La Matadragones collects three classic Latin American folktales in comics format. The titular tale starts with the magical words Había una vez (Once upon a time . . . .) and tells a feminist fantasy story about a girl who makes her own destiny and slays a dragon for her prince. Next up is ""Martina Martínez y El Ratoncito Pérez,"" which many Latinx might recognize as ""La Cucarachita Martina."" This story also ends with the colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado a beloved, familiar refrain. The final tale is ""Tup y las Hormigas,"" which doesn't celebrate valor, compassion, or other typical folk morals, but rather intelligence and creative thinking. Hernandez' lively, full-color cartoon artwork vividly brings the stories to life. As educational as it is entertaining, this is perfect for folklore lovers of all ages.--Kristina Pino Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
For his retellings of three traditional Latin American tales, Hernandez (the Love and Rockets series) creates panel artwork that¿s satisfyingly crisp and sure. In the first story, an unnamed but resolute young woman uses a talking magic wand to slay a dragon and win a husband. In the second, a rat named Ratón Perez falls into a vat of soup, and the community grieves for him¿until an old woman realizes that he might not be dead. In the third, Tup, a lazy but enterprising young man, enlists ants to do his farmwork and outwits his older brothers. Fairy tales with brown heroes and heroines are rare, and these stories are full of unexpected twists, as a rat wins the heart of a woman (¿I have been meaning to ask you to go out with me for a long time,¿ Ratón Perez murmurs to Martina) and industrious ant employees build an earth oven and roast Tup¿s corn while he naps. Sensitive readers may be disturbed by the mourning rituals in the second story, in which grieving birds cut off their own beaks and tails. Available in English and Spanish. Ages 8¿12. (Apr.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-This is the first children's book by groundbreaking comic artist Jaime Hernandez, one of the three Hernandez brothers responsible for the comic "Love and Rockets." Readers will most likely skip over the old-fashioned, didactic introduction by F. Isabel Campoy on the power of folktales to get to the fun part, and what fun it is. In "The Dragon Slayer," a resourceful farm girl refuses to let a seven-headed dragon interfere with her plans of marriage to a prince. "Martina Martinez and Perez the Mouse" centers on a foolish young bride who, when her mouse husband falls into a pot of soup, cries instead of rescuing him. And in "Tup and the Ants," a lazy young man goes far on his wits and ability to get others to do his work. Hernandez's colorful, expressive drawings are full of movement, helping the stories extend beyond the concise, direct text. As so often happens in folktales, humans and animals exist on the same plane, adding to the whimsy. A brief discussion of the three selections closes out each volume. VERDICT These delightfully rendered stories should easily find a home in the folktale/fairy-tale section of any library.-Lucia Acosta, Children's Literature Specialist, Princeton, NJ © Copyright 2018. 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
Three amusing and enlightening folktales full of action, magic tricks, and fantasy are presented in a spirited and lively comic-book format (simultaneously published in Spanish as La Matadragones: Cuentos de Latinoamerica, translated from the English by Maria E. Santana). In the titular story, a resourceful young lady stops at nothing (not even taking on a seven-headed dragon) to get what she wants. Martina Martinez and Perez the Mouse is an engaging new take (written by Alma Flor Ada) on the traditional tale that serves as a reminder of the common sense of the doas, adult women in Latinx communities. In Tup and the Ants we meet a lazy young man who outwits his older brother with his cleverness. Folktales can transcend space and time and, as this title proves, genres too. The (mostly) six-panel pages feature expressive characters and colorful tones that add to the playfulness of the stories. An introduction by F. Isabel Campoy places the tales in the context of the folktale traditions of the Americas; comprehensive back matter provides primary sources, a bibliography, and contextual facts. alicia k. long (c) Copyright 2018. 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.
