Martina, una cucarachita muy linda: un cuento cubano. (Martina, a Beautiful Cockroach. A Cuban Folktale)

By staff -- Críticas, 8/15/2007

K-Gr 3–The award-winning Cuban-born author retells the story of a green cockroach indigenous to her native country. When it is time for beautiful young Martina to find a husband, her grandmother gives her some wise advice: to always spill coffee on her suitor’s shoes to test his temper. Martina uses the coffee test on her first three suitors—a rooster, a pig, and a lizard—and is not pleased by their insulting and rude behavior. When Martina immediately likes her fourth suitor—the humble gardener mouse—she refuses to apply the coffee test. Her grandmother insists, but before she can spill coffee on the gardener’s shoes, he spills some on hers. They both have a good laugh when the mouse reminds her he also has a Cuban grandmother. The skillfully crafted acrylic illustrations capture the island’s ambience—its colonial architecture, baroque ironworks, and wardrobe details like the floral design on Martina’s lace scarf. The cockroach and her grandmother share eye-pleasing, human characteristics, and their whimsical expressions make them lovable. The text flows easily, and the few Cuban colloquialisms do not get in the way of understanding the entertaining story. Recommended for public and elementary school libraries, and bookstores.—Cristi Jenkins, Access & Programs, FortVancouver Regional Library, WA