Mexican Ghost Tales of the Southwest: Stories and Illustrations
Grade 4-8-Hacked and badly translated from Mexican legends, these stories do not hold up when compared with classics in the genre. They are ridiculously flat and predictable. In "La Llorona," a woman drowns her children because they annoy her by crying for food. She is condemned to wander for eternity searching for their bones. In "Devil Dog," a drunk walks across railroad tracks and sees two red eyes following him and then disappears, never to be seen again. How many times have we heard that one? Better choices for nighttime campfires and slumber parties would be Alvin Schwartz's "Scary Stories" books (HarperCollins) or Gretchen Mayo's Star Tales (Walker, 1987). Those well-told tales will continue to entertain young readers.Julie Halverstadt, Douglas Public Library District, Castle Rock, COCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.