Blue Frog: The Legend of Chocolate
Vibrant cut-paper collage illustrations bring to life this pourquoi story that explains how people learned to enjoy chocolate as a delicious treat. Sun God loves cacao beans, which he considers food of the gods. Wind God, on the other hand, urges him to share with humans. Sun God becomes angry, and Wind God transforms himself into Rana Azul (Blue Frog), so that he can visit earth and tell the people about cacao. The telling is straightforward, making it suitable for young listeners, and interspersed with Spanish words (los niños, el tesoro, etc.) and Rana Azul’s refrain: “Rrrrrreeeeep. Rrrrrreeeeep.” It is especially fitting that the first ones to hear and understand Rana Azul’s song are children, who fetch their mothers from the village to spread the word about the hidden cacao beans. Unfortunately, sources are not cited (what looks like Mayan numbering is used to number the pages, but the system isn’t explained), but an author’s note and a recipe for Mexican hot cocoa round out this tale quite sweetly. Grades K-2. --Diane Foote