Paco and the Witch : A Puerto Rican Folktale

On an errand through the woods on fiesta day, Paco gets into real trouble with a scary witch, and a jovial crab has to help him break the witch's spell. By the creators of Juan Bobo and the Pig.

Grade 1-3?Pitre retells a Puerto Rican folktale about a young boy trapped by an evil bruja (witch), who casts a spell that can only be broken by his guessing her nombre (name). She puts Paco to work preparing her stew; when he asks what she's going to use for carne (meat), she tells him it is a surprise. At the riverbank, Paco meets un cangrejo (a crab) who teaches him a song to remember el nombre de la bruja?Casi Lampu'a Lentemue. The boy is saved, but the witch goes looking for the animal who betrayed her. And ever since, el cangrejo hides when he sees humans for he is afraid the witch has sent them to beat him for telling her secret. The story is flavored with the tradition and culture of the author's native Puerto Rico. His use of rhyme and song adds humor to the narrative. Hale's illustrations are full of color, relating the ever-changing mood of the story. This folktale was first published in The Tiger and the Rabbit (Lippincott, 1965; o.p.), a collection of stories by Pura Belpre. This unique version of it should make Paco and the Witch a favorite of children and adults for years to come.?Maria Redburn, Collier County Public Library, Immokalee, FL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Pitre and Hale, who retold a Puerto Rican tale in Juan Bobo and the Pig, here present another such story sprinkled with Spanish expressions. While hurrying to the bodega on an errand, Paco mistakenly accepts a cool drink from "una viejita, a little old woman." The woman is in fact "una bruja, a witch," and, like Rumplestiltskin's captive, Paco can break the evil spell only by guessing the witch's name. Luckily, a little crab provides the information-her tough-to-say moniker is Casi Lampu'a Lentemue. Pitre effortlessly integrates Spanish and English words, and if readers stumble, a glossary at the beginning defines 45 Spanish terms and supplies pronunciation guides as well. Hale exchanges her Juan Bobo linocut technique for painting, but her distinctive, sultry palette of purples, greens and golden browns is immediately recognizable. Bold compositions suggest the drama of the story, while caricaturish perspectives take some of the fear out of its menacing moments. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-8. In this Puerto Rican version of the Rumpelstiltskin story, a boy on the island is caught by a fearful witch who threatens to eat him if he doesn't guess her name. Pitre includes a note about his sources and about what he's added to the original tale, including material on the boy's relationship to his family and his culture. The storytelling is immediate and vital, and the pictures, in very bright tropical colors, have the wild exaggeration and simplicity of poster art. Lots of Spanish expressions are included, and there's a long glossary, but unfortunately, they're all overexplained in the text, so that it sounds as if the storyteller is talking to outsiders ("In Puerto Rico el sol, the sun, shines very brightly, and it feels muy caliente, very hot" ). What kids will love about this story is the witch, a truly scary hag, laughing and screaming at the small, cowering boy. In one picture, she's just a nose and claw sticking out of a dark, swirling cloak. The setting is particular; the nightmare is universal. Hazel Rochman