About The Book
One day in a small California barrio, a scary-looking stranger with an ugly scar on his face arrives. Silence falls on the streets. Normally raucous children stop playing, and their fearful mothers quickly beckon them inside. Everyone peeks out of windows and doors to watch the stranger walk down Main Street.
Later in the week, the stranger again appears in town. And a few days later, on a pleasant Sunday morning, the man shows his frightening face yet again. But this time, he’s not alone. Cradled in the stranger’s arms is a big, red rooster with a yellow ribbon tied around its neck. When the rooster sets off after a bug with the stranger hanging on to the ribbon “like a cowboy who had lassoed a wild bull,” the townspeople are finally able to look past the long, ugly scar on the stranger’s face.
Echoing the oral tradition common to so many Latinos, acclaimed author Victor Villaseñor shares with young readers one of his father’s favorite stories. With vibrant illustrations by José Jara, this will soon become the favorite of many children aged 3 to 7.
“Villaseñor’s attention to Mother Fox’s delight in her children and her open awareness that she too is a carnivore make this not only a worthy addition to earlier coyote stories, but also a pointed reminder of the cycle of the wild.” ―Kirkus Reviews on Mother Fox and Mr. Coyote / Mamá Zorra y Don Coyote
“…with vibrant, stylized illustrations and swirling backgrounds of brilliant colors…The text offer[s] great opportunities for reading alone or dramatizing as a play.”
―Booklist on The Frog and His Friends Save Humanity / La rana y sus amigos salvan a la humanidad
“…intensely colored, stylized art shows a natural world full of bright sunlight, richly shadowed crow feathers, and backgrounds with subtle layers of color…strength lies in its traditional origins, its striking illustrations, and the overall message that, occasionally, children can teach their parents a thing or two.”
―Booklist on Little Crow to the Rescue / El Cuervito al rescate
Victor Villaseñor is the author of Mother Fox and Mr. Coyote / Mamá Zorra y Don Coyote (Piñata Books, 2004), The Frog and His Friends Save Humanity /La rana y sus amigos salvan a la humanidad (Piñata Books, 2005), and Little Crow to the Rescue / El Cuervito al rescate (Piñata Books, 2005). He is also the author of numerous acclaimed titles for adults and young adults, including Burro Genius: A Memoir (Rayo, 2004); Macho! (Arte Público Press, 2003), which was chosen by the New York Public Library for its distinguished list of Books for the Teen Age; Walking Stars (Piñata Books, 2003); and Rain of Gold (Arte Público Press, 1991).
José Jara teaches in the English department at MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California, where he lives with his family.
AR Quiz #: 106973
ATOS English: 4
ATOS Spanish: 4.3
ATOS IL: LG
