The Runaway Tortilla
Kindergarten-Grade 2-A story about a woman and a man and a piece of bread that comes to life and runs away. T'a Lupe and T'o Jos? own a taquer'a in Texas down on the Rio Grande. The secret to their success is their tortillas-so light that if they were any lighter, "Some day they-[might] up and run away!" To their surprise, this is just what happens. The foolish tortilla is so cocky she could almost strut, but since she's round, she can only roll. She rolls away from the couple, two horned toads, three donkeys, four jackrabbits, five rattlesnakes, and six buckaroos, singing all the while, "Run as fast as fast can be. You won't get a bite of me." She is finally tricked and eaten by Se-or Coyote, who takes advantage of her fatuous egotism. The primitive oil paintings feature a palette of sunset colors, a rotund T'a and T'o, and a lipsticked, scowling tortilla. The apt endpapers sport sacks of flour, rolling pins, salt shakers, oil, and skillets. Kimmel's saucy story joins a swarm of similar, albeit popular, retellings of traditional tales with a Southwestern setting.Ruth Semrau, Upshur County Public Library, Gilmer, TXCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.