Pajaro Verde / The Green Bird Book

Storyteller Joe Hayes tells another classic tale in Spanish and English from New Mexico's magical folklore.

Criticas

Gr 4-6-Fans of this master storyteller will recognize and appreciate the rich complexity of this traditional tale. In a postscript, Hayes tells readers that he created this story by combining many similar tales from the oral tradition of northern New Mexico. Those tales, in turn, bear kinship with the medieval tales of Spain. A girl named Mirabel (loosely translated as "Beautiful Sight") is her mother's only two-eyed daughter. Each of her eight sisters has a different number of eyes. One has nine, one has seven, another has four, and so on. When Mirabel accepts an offer of marriage from a beautiful green bird, the sisters and mother are scornful, for only she can see the true character of her suitor. Consumed by their curiosity, the siblings snoop around her new home and learn that the green bird is really an enchanted prince. Their jealous plots then cause the prince/bird to be injured and abandon his new wife. Mirabel searches high and low for her husband until she finds him and tends to his wounds. The reward for this loyalty and persistence is the traditional happy ending. The plot offers many twists and turns and multiple folklore themes. The illustrator offers a realistic version of Hispanic beauty, as the illustrator used real-life models for his characters. The Spanish text is masterfully rendered and is given its own space on each page apart from the English. This is a true classic in the making and belongs on the shelves of every library and bookstore. Maria Otero-Boisvert, "Criticas" Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.