Uncle Snake - Softcover

Gollub, Matthew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1889910325 ISBN 13: 9781889910321

Publisher: Tortuga Press, 2004

Synopsis

In this mysterious tale set in ancient Mexico, something unearthly happens when a boy enters a forbidden cave. No curandero can change him back. Only the nahual, a shape-changing magic worker, can see beyond the horizon: “You are destined,” he tells the boy, “to show the world something new.” Twenty years later, the boy is a young man, known to village children as “Uncle Snake.” Finally, it’s time to discover the glorious change that awaits him. On this third collaboration, Matthew Gollub and Leovigildo Martínez have woven a captivating story, again set amid the rich folk culture of Mr. Martínez’s native Oaxaca.

Américas Commended Book
Artwork honored by the Society of Illustrators in New York
Paintings and text displayed in over 20 museums nationwide

About this title

About the Author:

Matthew Gollub is a nationally known children’s author, speaker and performer. He has created 18 picture books which together have garnered 25 national awards and distinctions. His musical narrations on audio CDs accompany some of his most popular books including The Jazz Fly and Jazz Fly 2: The Jungle Pachanga. A dynamic drummer and bilingual presenter, he has also performed at over 1,000 elementary schools nationwide, inspiring students and families to read for fun. He lives with his family in Santa Rosa, CA.

From Booklist:

Ages 6^-10. After going into the forbidden cave, where he discovers snakes with human heads (who are actually children who have been enchanted and cannot leave the cave), a young boy's face becomes that of a snake. He is told that for 20 years he must wear a mask and dance each year at the village fiesta. Twenty years later, the boy, now known as "Uncle Snake," returns to the cave and is transformed into a snake with a human head whose zigzagging leap into the sky is the lightning that heralds life-giving rain. Although inspired by the ancient Mexican belief that a snake in the sky brings the rain and incorporating other pre-Hispanic folklore elements (as explained in the author's note), this is another original folktale from the pair that created The Twenty-five Mixtec Cats (1993) and The Moon Was at a Fiesta (1994). With an authentic ethnic flavor and richly complex watercolor illustrations, this pourquoi tale is spooky and dramatically compelling, but there are some unsatisfactory lapses in the logic and gaps in the story line. No explanation is given for why the boy is not immediately transformed into a snake with a human head and trapped within the cave like the other enchanted children. More unsettling to young listeners, the story fails to make clear the fate of these cave snakes after they timidly tell Uncle Snake, "You go firssst, . . . but don't forget about usss!" For larger collections needing Mexican materials. Annie Ayers

About this edition

• Publisher: Tortuga Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1889910325
• ISBN 13: 9781889910321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Martinez Leovigildo