Alma Flor Ada was born in Camaguey, Cuba. She has studied and taught in Spain, Peru, and the United States. Her children's books have been published in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and the United Sates. A recipient of the Marta Salotti Gold Medal Award (Argentina) and the Christopher Award (United States), Alma Flor Ada has four children and three grandchildren. She lives in San Francisco, from where she embarks on many trips to places all over the world to look for the nature that she loves.
copyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.
PreSchool-K-- Rooster, en route to his uncle's wedding, struggles with the dilemma of whether he should risk of getting dirty in order to obtain a kernel of corn. His hunger overcomes his better judgment and, of course, he winds up ". . . with a beak full of mud." This leads into a cumulative tale that will be familiar to anyone who knows "The Old Woman and Her Pig" or any number of its variants. In this case, his quest to get clean is nicely circular: the sun, just coming up as the book begins, is the one who agrees to break the chain of refusal, to repay the rooster for greeting him each morning. Ada's lively adaptation uses economical language with just enough detail to move things along. Vivid hand-colored prints illustrate the story well. All of the characters are festively arrayed: the blades of grass, for example, play musical instruments, and one is wearing a gaucho hat and a cape. The sheep wears a ruffled dress and has a bowl of fruit on her head, a la Carmen Miranda. The plain white borders contribute to the clean pleasing design. The stylized patterns, with lots of diamonds and zigzags, have the look of Central and South American folk art. A solid addition to folklore collections and a story hour hit as well. --Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.