The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America by Jaime Hernandez by Marissa Posada

Image:

Justification: The first reason I picked this book, is because I personally like dragons, so the title is what caught my eye. I also really like folktales and graphic books. There is really nothing that I wouldn't like about this book and I am basing that opinion on just the cover of the book. After flipping through a couple of pages, I also liked the art style that they used. The synopsis on the back was also intriguing to me.

Evaluation:

The illustrations in this book, just reinforce the text in each panel. Since this is a comic style of folktales, each panel simply shows what is happening as each story progresses. The illustrations for this book where really just get kids interested in reading folktales and not necessarily for the artwork. There is nothing special about the illustrations in this book, but the fact that there are illustrations is a draw for many kids who would not normally be interested in this subject. Also by making this book into a graphic book rather than just a traditional picture book allowed the author to share more than one story in one book. Thereby allowing whoever checked out the book to get a variety of folktales in one book.

As a book of folktales there are unexpected insights demonstrated in each of the stories. The first story starts with the lesson that you should be helpful to others. The youngest daughter shares some of her small provisions she brought with her with an old woman she meets on the side of the road. In thanks, the old woman tells the daughter where she can find work and gives her a magic wand that will tell you anything you need to know. The wand comes in handy for her to accomplish her goals as the story goes on. The second story teaches the lesson on action. Perez falls in the soup and instead of trying to help him, the characters just show their grief for the accident. Dona Pepa is the only one who thinks to save him from the soup, thus saving Perez's life. The last story shows that sometimes the literal instructions is not what you are supposed to do and that what you assume is not always correct. Tup's older brothers follow instructions literally and are unable to accomplish what they are supposed to. Tup does not follow the literal instructions, but get the job correctly done. But because Tup's brothers look like they did work and Tup did not, Tup was scolded.

This book has a good example of music in language. At the beginning of the story Martina gets many offers for marriage because of the ribbon she wears and for the cat, dog, and rooster the situation plays out with the same script. The animal ask for her hand in marriage and she asks how well they can sing. Since they don't sing well enough she declines them. Although when Perez comes by she agrees to spend time with him. Thus breaking the pattern to show the reader that this will end differently than the other animals. This happens again after Perez accidentally falls in the soup. Martina is the first to be upset, and as each character finds out they continue to tell the next character how everyone is reacting to the accident. It isn't until Dona Pepa gets told that she asks how they are rescuing Perez. Dona Pepa breaks the pattern of the characters just accepting the terrible news.

Response:

The text related to me personally because I consider myself Hispanic and my family is very Americanized and sometimes I feel that I miss out on my heritage. This is a great way for me to see if I am more connected to my heritage than I think I am.

I really agreed with the morals of these stories. At the beginning and end of the book there is an explanation on the variations and how it relates to the culture. In those sections, it mentions how these stories are a celebration of strong women and I wish I had grown up with these kinds of stories to encourage me to be more extroverted.

I really enjoyed the text of this book as entertainment. These are familiar stories in general, but it is a nice twist to see a girl as the heroine. The dragon slayer not only saved her prince from the dragon, but then saved him in battle as well. It was a wise woman who saved Perez from drowning.

Conclusion:This book covers great characteristics of a well written book such as unexpected insights, music in language, and illustrations. As expected of a book with folktales, the morals of the stories are great for kids. I would recommend this for young girls to read and see that they can be the hero in their own lives. I would also recommend this for anyone interested in learning about the Hispanic culture.

APA Citations:

Hernandez, J. (2017). The dragon slayer: Folktales from Latin America. New York: A Toon Graphic.