Catch Tales Our Abuelitas Told: A Hispanic Folktale Collection Executed By F. Isabel Campoy Expressed As E-Text

thought this book, which containsHispanic heritage fables, would be a wonderful way to round out mytraditional book reviews, Mybooks are very diverse and contain Incan, Aztec, Hispanic, Russian Japanese, British, and Mayan folktales, This collection of Latin American folk tales and fables is coauthored by wellknown Latin American children's author Alma Flor Ada, Though it can be hard to find, I love when I find Spanish language children's books written by Spanish speakers, One of the first pages features a wonderful section on how to start a story with a myriad of great phrases such as "Once upon a time.
. . " and "In a far away place, . . " to spark children's imaginations for their own stories, The introduction which gives a brief history of many of the stories, as well as the authors' notes after each story is a wonderful literary and cultural resource for parents and teachers.


Approximate reading level: N I've never heard a single one of these stories before today, yet every one of them had elements that felt both oddly familiar and familiarly odd.
I loved reading the stories and reading the stories of the stories, I carry away from this book a new sense of how interconnected we all are,
Campoy and Ada have done a fine job, Think of "fine" as in "fine silver",
The stories have been shared and altered with the generational changes and the location changes, The stories have been so well researched that all the stories are known to have originated in the Old World, One story origins have been so well rememberedthese are stories told by abuelitas/gramdmothersor researched that Campoy notes that "The Story of the NotSoSmall Animal" comes from the Basque Country in modernday Spain.

At least on of these stories collected here have characters of Moorish Spain, The story takes place in the valleys of Al Andalus, a place in Moorish Spain, So a story who belongs to the New World, that came from Spain, that came from Ottoman Turks/Moors who had travelled throughout the Mediterranean, bringing African and Middle Eastern information and influences into Spain, including this story.

The art used has been updated, The language always changing. Several times, the collector and writer of the printed story tells alternate versions she knows of,
This collection so impressed me that I had to go bad and reread other collections of Hispanic folk tales In have read this year, back down tostars.

This book is great piece of academic and family history work, Fine Literature Twelve stories have flown from the peaks of the Basque Region, from the deserts of Arabia, across the oceans from Spain, from the heart of Mexico and the indigenous lands in South and Central America, over the Sangre de Cristo range and the blue rivers of New Mexico.


These stories form this rich and beloved collection of Latino folk stories, that include sly animal tales with familiar characters like the fox, and happy and endearing tales like the magic bagpipes that make all who hear them dance joyously, to the tale of Blancaflor, to my personal favorite, the Tale of the Happy Man's Tunic, in which a kingdom is searched high and low for the tunic of the man who is the most content of all.
These beautifully written tales are perfect to tell to a little one at bedtime or to a family gathered 'round, and make up a rich heritage of cultural stories.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection of folktales very much, the ones toward the end more so than the ones at the beginning, "Dear Deer! Said the Turtle" reminded me of the Aesop fable about the race between the tortoise and the hare, with elements from some African versions I've read.
"Catalina the Fox" reminded me of an Uncle Remus tale, which originated in Africa, "Juan Bobo" is the Spanish version of the Jack tales popular throughout Europe, My favorite stories were the lengthy "The Little Horse of Seven Colors", "The Happy Man's Tunic" such a wonderful moral!, and "Blancaflor",

What I enjoyed most about the book were all the notes that accompanied each story, I learned some interesting things from those notes, For example, I didn't know that people from the area of Spain called Galicia are Celtic in originhence, the bagpipes played by the youngest brother in "The Joyful Bagpiper".
I also didn't know that a large Basque population exists in the northwest Rocky Mountain area of the U, S. Also, at the beginning was a list in Spanish and English of traditional ways to begin a story, and at the end was a list in Spanish and English of traditional ways to end a story.


Recommended for folktale enthusiasts and those who want to learn more about the culture of Spain, really enjoyed these stories While I don't love all of the tales, I do love the fact that the person who collected the tales explains the history behind each tale and why the specific version of the tale was chosen for this book.
this book is amazing
but what about the poem "the castle of

chuchurumbe"
it just cuts off when you think there's gonna be more, and it is so boring, i made up a version of it where a dragon kidnaps the queen and takes her to his evil lair, but seriously ANYTHING CAN BE MORE EXCITING THAN THAT POEM!!!!!!!!! Once upon a time, in a land far away, . . These stories have journeyed far over mountains, deserts, and oceans carried by wind, passed on to us by our ancestors, Now they have found their way to you,
A sly fox, a bird of a thousand colors, a magical set of bagpipes, and an audacious young girl, . . A mixture of popular tales and literary lore, this anthology celebrates Hispanic culture and its many roots Indigenous, African, Arab, Hebrew, and Spanish,
F. Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada have retold twelve beloved stories that embody the lively spirit and the rich heritage of Latino people,
The work of four leading Latino artists and illustrators highlights this unforgettable collection, This is a collection of twelve stories from Latin America, The introduction of this collection goes into great depth about the connections between Latin America, Spain and the rest of Europe, and Africa, providing a rich source of information for the curious folktale aficionado.
Most of the stories are followed by an equally detailed account of the sources consulted and the process of choosing and refining the story.
Some tales have more detailed notes than others,
While most of the tales are a little lengthy at ten pages on average, and usually very lyrically told, they are simple enough to be revised for storytelling to younger children, perhaps five and older.
Animal themes are common in this collection, also making them suitable for younger children, Noteworthy stories for this would be “Catalina the Fox” and “Martina Martinez and Perez the Mouse”, There is no specific order to the stories,
Extra areas of interest in the collection are sections dedicated to how to begin and to end a tale in the style of the traditional Hispanic storyteller.

This book is a collection of twelve folk tales from Spain, Europe, Africa, North America, and Latin America, Most tales are told by Abuelitas grandmas, They are so detailed, which the reader can visualize, they are tales from generation to generation, I really enjoyed reading such book, because it reminds me of my childhood, I would recommend this book for first graders up to fourth graders.
Is a beautiful book with great pictures that children can enjoy as well, Tales our Abuelitas Told, written by F, Isabel Campoy and Alma Flor Ada, and illustrated by Felipe Davalos, Vivi Escrive, Susan Guevara, and Legla Torres, is a lovely compilation of Hispanic folktales whose origins span the globe.
Given the length and detail of the stories, this book is best for more advanced readers however, if children are being read to, all ages could enjoy these beautiful tales.


The book begins with a “Welcome” section, where Campoy and Ada introduce not only their objective in creating such a collection, but also the general history and development of many of these tales, starting in Europe, with Arabic and Jewish influence, and moving to Latin America, fusing with African heritage.
While providing an extensive and impressive history of folklore throughout the Iberian peninsula and then the Western hemisphere, Campoy and Ada remind readers of the ultimate beauty and importance of storytelling: “Through stories people share their dreams, their hopes, and the lessons they learn from life, and also their celebration of the imagination and the ingenuity of a welltold tale.
”

The introduction provides an excellent, synthesized overview of the historical context of these stories, which in itself could lead to a variety of lessons on history and geography.
From the European relations between the Greeks, Phoenicians, and Carthaginians, the invasion in Spain of the Visigoths, and the Arabic influence in southern Spain, to the onset of colonization in, the indigenous civilizations of the Americas and their “magnificent civilizations,” and the slave trade, the introduction provides a detailed account of the history of these folktales.
In particular, the authors discuss the influence of African culture in the Americas:

The enslaved African people, who were brought to the Americas, came without material possessions.
Still, they carried with them their experiences, their knowledge, their cultural beliefs and worldviews, their languages and their stories, Some of the bestknown and mostbeloved stories told in Latin America today originated in Africa or among the African people forced into slavery,

This collection is rich with historical context and cultural heritage, weaving in thoughts, sentiments, stories and dreams of peoples from all over the globe, who spent their lives in Latin America.
Imbued in the telling and retellings of Ada and Campoy is a love and awe for the power of storytelling and the resounding tragedy, mirth, and beauty of the past.


The authors “Welcome” section also introduces the format for their rich and highly informative collection: “After each story we tell you a little about its originand in some cases about our relationship with the storyso that you may learn a bit more about the people who created that tale and the long journey it has traveled to reach you.
”

One particular folktale, “Blancaflor,” tells the story of a young prince whose father, the king, has fallen terribly ill, In exchange for his fathers health, the prince makes a deal with spirit, that in three years time, he must go to the Three Silver Towers in the Land of No Return.
Once the king has regained his health, he insists that his son must marry, so that he can live to see his grandchildren, However his son denies every proposition, and, right before three years have gone by, starts making his way towards the Land of No Return.
Although the Land of No Return is a bleak and barren place, the prince meets a young girl by the name of Blancaflor, Here, the story takes an uplifting turn, and readers will delight in Blancaflors cunning and charm, and the ensuing tale of young love: “And this is the story of Blancaflor.
It began with threads of silver and ended with threads of gold, all woven for you in the story I told, ”

At the beginning of the book, following the introduction, the authors have also included a page on “To Begin a Story,” where they provide Spanish phrases and their English translations: “To gain their full attention, the storyteller begins with a phrase that seizes listeners imaginations.
” Readers learning Spanish or English as a second language will benefit from these translations, and more advanced readers could even use them in an exercise on writing and storytelling.
From “había una vez/Once upon a time” to “Para saber y contar y contar para aprender/To know in order to tell and tell in order to know”, students could practice using these opening lines to start and create their own stories.
To deepen the exercise, teachers could also have students focus their original tale on childhood memories, family history and culture, or other such markers of heritage.
At the back of the book, the authors have included a page on “To End a Story,” where again they provide readers and educators with a list of Spanish and English phrases useful for wrapping up a tale “y colorín colorado, este cuento se ha acabado/and, my manycolored feathered friend, now the story has found an end.
” Just as Ada and Campoy have drawn from cultural heritage to exercise their own creativity, students of all ages could do the same,

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