Obtain Domitila: A Cinderella Tale From The Mexican Tradition By Jewell Reinhart Coburn Available As Document

illustrations by Connie McLennan were quite beautiful, and I was curious to see the Latin American take on the Cinderella theme, and while I enjoyed the book as a whole, the machismo the male character portrays and the subservient nature of the lead left something to be desired for this Americanized Latin American kid.
I loved the way the author took the "cinderella" concept and applied it to this Mexican tale, It was about a girl who lived with her mother and her mother taught her how to cook and clean so well that one day a male guest came over and wanted to know who cooked the food.
Domitila did. He then became interested in her, The book was also sad because her mom passed away, The book had beautiful illustrations, By following her mother's admonition to perform every task with care and love, a poor young Mexican girl wins the devotion of the governor's son.
Summary,

This story takes place in Hidalgo, Mexico where a young girl by the name of Domitila goes to work at the Governors mansion as a cook to buy food for her family.
When she worked at the governors office she was asked to make a delicious meal for the governor, Domitila decided to make

“nopales, ” The governor was mad about having to try the food and yelled at Domitila, He decided to give it a try and thought the food was the most delicious plate he had ever tried, One day Domitila received a message that her mother was very sick so she ran home without noticing she lost her strip from her sandal but by the time she got home her mother had passed away.
Since the governors had loved the food she had made he decided to go look for Domitila, When he asked Malvina she gave him wrong directions so he would never find Domitilia and he can marry her daughter.
Within time his father remarries Malvina which was a torture for Domitila since now she had to serve them and take care of them.
After a search for Domitila the Governor smells one day the smell of food and follows it and finds Domitilia, They get marry her father leaves Malvina and moves in with Domitilia, This book is way different then the english version of Cinderella, The book provides the readers with a Cinderella tale that is set up in the Mexican culture, The reader is able to see the culture of Mexico by the foods, language, housing, clothing, and traditions that represent the Mexican life.



Response:

I give this bookstar rating, The illustrations on the book were so detailed and beautiful, Mexico has beautiful land and to show this on a book for children to look at is lovely, Aside from the illustrations the message around each square box where the writing was had a message in Spanish then translated in English.
I felt like those messages around the square box fit well with each page because as you read that quote and then read the passage you see how well each connect with each other and then the illustration adds more information to the story.
The one thing that I love was the quote from the book, “Do every task with care and always add a generous dash of love.
” I love this quote because its true you cannot make something and expect it to come out good if theres no love and patience to it, and thats what my mom always tells me.



Classroom Connection:

An activity can be for students to get in groups and maybe discuss between themselves different ways they celebrate either birthday, Christmas, Halloween in their own culture.
Another activity is to have each student bring either Mexican treat or Mexican food for each student to try,


Lexile:
Grade Level:rd grade
Guided Reading: Q
pages
Domitila is a young woman from a poor family who is an excellent cook.
In order to support her family, she leaves home and gets a job as a kitchen worker for the Governor, It is there that she impresses the Governor's son, Timoteo, with her special dish, Before Timoteo is able to learn more about the special cook who impressed him, Domitila is forced to go back home suddenly after she finds out her mother is sick.
Timoteo then goes on a journey to find Domitila, but he is fooled by a woman named Malvina who is trying to trick Timoteo into marrying Pereza, her daughter.
Timoteo struggles with Malvina's false directions in order to find the woman that impressed him,

This Domitila's illustrations are amazing, The detailing in every brush stroke is very eyecatching, One page that stands out to me is the image of Domitila in the rain, The illustrator did a great job at showing each drop of rain, Another element that stood out to me was the boarder around the text on each page that somehow connected to the illustrations.
The boarders did a great job at connecting the text to the illustrations, Overall, I really enjoyed this book, The story gave readers a good glimpse into Mexican culture, and there was even a glossary provided in the back to help nonSpanish speaking readers understand some of the Spanish terms that were used.
Sweet tale A Mexican Cinderella tale originating from Hidalgo, Mexico and passed down through generations, Some familiarity with Mexican culture is needed to fully understand the story, Spanish words are not defined within the text but there is a glossary at the back, This Cinderella story is unique in that there are no magical elements, Domitilia wins the heart of the Govenor's son through the love that she puts into every task she does, Beautiful, bright, paintings wonderfully compliment the text, I read Domitila as a part of mybook challenge in the Traditional Literature category, It's a retelling of Cinderella in the Mexican tradition, I liked it it was an interesting retelling, but I don't particularly like the story of Cinderella in the first place.
In this version, the message is to do everything with love, but I couldn't help noticing that she wins over a rich man by cooking for him, which doesn't sit great with me.
So, just ok. The Mexican Cinderella story of the girl who was a rich man's kitchen maid and became the lady of the house.
The illustrations really transport you to the terra cotta desert of Mexico, Maybe too textheavy for Cinderella Around the World program, To help support her family, Domitila, known for her exceptional cooking and crafting skills, takes a job at the governors mansion.
There she encounters, Timoteo, the governors son, who develops a love for her cooking, When she learns of her mothers illness, she returns home to be by her side, After her mothers death, she stays to help her widowed father, yet Timoteo longs after Domitilas cooking, and he goes on a journey to look for her.
Along his journey, he meets a mischievous woman, Malvina, who works to marry Domitilas father, in order to sway Timoteos affections from Domitila to her own daughter.
Great culture is shared in this Mexican Cinderella tale, Surrounding the text on each page are words of wisdom that have been passed down through generations, expressed in both Spanish and English.
“Obras son amores y no buenas razones, . . Deeds, more than words, are proof of love, ” The rich, bright colors in the authentic illustrations also highlight the warmth and light of the Mexican culture and land, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the story plot very different from other cultural Cinderella variations, especially those of Latin traditions, like Little Gold Star.
Nonetheless, it holds the essence of the Cinderella story, Raised by loving parents in the vast desert state of Hidalgo, Domitila grows to be a talented and beautiful young woman in this Mexican folktale, skilled at both cooking and working with fine leather.
When her mother becomes ill, and Domitila must leave home in order to find work, she eventually gains a position as second cook in the governor's kitchens.
Here, putting her mother's oftrepeated mantra "Do every task with care, and always add a generous dash of love" to work, Domitila so impresses the governor's son, Timoteo, with her delicious nopales, that when she must return home, he sets off in pursuit.
Gaining great insight into this humble girl, with her many gifts, Timoteo is much changed by his journey, and even the meddling of the evil widow Malvina, who wants him to marry her own daughter, cannot prevent him from finding his true love, Domitila.


Based upon a story passed down in the Rivero family of Santa Barbara, California, Domitila is a fascinating variant of the Cinderella type tale, complete with the worthy but poor heroine, the 'prince' who comes to love her, and the meddling stepfamily.
There are some significant differences, of course, with Domitila's nopales, and a small sample of her leatherworking, providing Timoteo with the means of locating her, as opposed to some kind of footwear, but this only adds depth and richness to the tale.
In this story, it is Cinderella's skill, and her goodness, that win the prince, not her elusive beauty, or small feet.
The accompanying illustrations by Connie McLennan are appealing, although I think I agree with another reviewer, in thinking that Domitila's face looks very different, at certain points in the story.
Despite this quibble, this book has both narrative and illustrative appeal, and is one I would recommend to all young fairytale lovers, and to anyone looking for Cinderella variants.
Text Summary
Domitila is the talented young woman “who can turn desert weeds into food fit for kings and scraps of leather into works of art.
” When her family does not have the resources to maintain their home, Domitila leaves to earn money by becoming a kitchen worker at the Governors mansion.
Here she cooks a special meal for the Governors family, which has quite an impact on the Governors son, Timoteo, Before Timoteo has a chance to find out more about this food and the young woman who has made it, Domitila has suddenly left to return home because she receives news that her mother is very ill.
Timoteo sets off on a journey to find Domitila, and on the way is deceived by the dishonest Malvina, who in hearing Timoteos plight, tries to devise a plan to make Timoteo marry her daughter, Pereza.
In her attempt to gain some time to carry out her plan, Malvina gives Timoteo the wrong directions, sending him on a “wild goose chase.
” Malvinas directions actually end up, to her misfortune, leading Timoteo directly to his fated love, Domitila,

Literary Merits
Jewell Reinhart Coburns tale of Domitila has origins from the Rivero family of Hidalgo, Mexico, from many generations ago.
In the book, Coburn weaves the fairy tale elements of the Cinderella story with Mexican culture and tradition, Coburn sets the story on a rancho in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, where Domitila and her family have an adobe casa with a view of the Sierra Madre mountains in the distance.
The textual imagery combined with the actual imagery depicted on the pages of this picture book allow the reader to not only visualize but enter into Domitilas home and culture.
The author weaves Spanish into the text, but at the end of the story, a glossary of terms is provided, to help nonSpanish speaking students along with their understanding of some of these words e.
g. “arbusto,” “serape,” “pereza,” etc. .

Classroom Recommendations
I like this text more than other Cinderellatype stories Ive read before because it speaks more deeply to other important themes.
For example, in the book, one quote that is echoed throughout the story is “Do every task with care and always add a generous dash of love.
” This reminder is something that Domitila has been given from her mother that has been passed down from her mothers mother, and so on.
Coburn communicates clearly the message of completing every task with care and love, but she also represents the careful and special way that this message has been passed along from generation to generation.
Teachers can use this text to help young readers understand these interwoven themes, I would recommend this text for gradesand up, The text I found reads in English, but there is a Spanish edition that can be used as well,
.