I thought this was a 4 star book. I love that this book was a retelling of a Mexican folk tale. I thought that made the book that much better. The book featured a lot of Mexican heritage as well. There were multiple activities such as directions for crafts and how to count to 10 in Spanish. I believe when authors add those extra pieces into their books, it allows the reader to expand their knowledge and become more familiar with different cultures. The book also had a glossary for words mentioned in the book. For example, "Borreguita" is Spanish for "little lamb" and that "Ayutla" is a city in western Mexico. The illustrations were awesome as well. The colors used in this book were so vibrant and kept me engaged. I felt that the way I pictured some of the scenarios in my head correlated to the illustrations on the page. The whole story kept me on the edge of my seat as well. I was constantly waiting to see how the lamb would trick the coyote next. I overall thought the book was a cute interpretation of the old folktale. I think the author did an awesome job transforming the tale into a children's book. I would read this to my class and then incorporate it somehow into a lesson and definitely do one of the activities in the book. I think that this book gives teachers a great opportunity to incorporate diverse text into their classrooms. It also opens a door to expanding their knowledge on different cultures and stories.

Time Machine
The Borreguita and the Coyote, April 6, 2005

I so wanted my children to like this book. The artwork is attractive and I like to expose them to literature from other cultures, but they just did not take to it.

Although the story is fresh and has its amusing side, my son would just wonder away and no one (either the 3 y.o. nor the 5 y.o.) asked for it to be read again, even after multiple readings. (I don't assume that they will take to a book the first time.) Further, my daughter, who is the sensitive sort, was bothered by the fact that the coyote wanted to eat poor little borreguita.

We love "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain" by Verna Aardema but that book has more of a rhythmic cadence that this book lacks and perhaps that is why it was not a hit in my house.

That said, you can see from the other reviews that other children loved it. And it is not that this is not a good book, but if your children are like mine you just might want to try it out at the library first. ( )

This retelling of a popular Mexican fable was okay. The story was funny but I was expecting it to have a little bit more Spanish language interspersed throughout. The illustration style fit what I was expecting from the story. ( )

This retelling of a popular Mexican fable was okay. The story was funny but I was expecting it to have a little bit more Spanish language interspersed throughout. The illustration style fit what I was expecting from the story. ( )

This retelling of a popular Mexican fable was okay. The story was funny but I was expecting it to have a little bit more Spanish language interspersed throughout. The illustration style fit what I was expecting from the story. ( )