Martina, the beautiful cockroach
Subtitle: a Cuban folktale
By: retold by Carmen Agra Deedy ; illustrated by Michael Austin
Contributors: Austin, Michael Allen, illustrator
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780545172103
Copyright date: 2007
Subjects: Cockroaches; Folklore
Description: Carmen Agra Deedy delivers a deliciously inventive Cuban version of the beloved Martina folktale, complete with a dash of cafe cubano. Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn't know coffee beans about love and marriage. That's where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increible, some shocking advice. You want me to do what? Martina gasps. At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela's unorthodox suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails The Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love. Soon, only the gardener Perez, a tiny brown mouse, is left. But what will happen when Martina offers him cafe cubano? After reading this sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale, you'll never look at a cockroach the same way again.
Notes: Pura Belpré Author Honor, 2008.