Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y la llorona

Maya Christina Gonzalez,Gloria E. Anzaldúa

ISBN 10: 0892391367 / ISBN 13: 9780892391363

Published by Children's Book Press, 1997

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

Title: Prietita and the Ghost Woman / Prietita y la...

Publisher: Children's Book Press

Publication Date: 1997

Binding: hardcover

Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis:

In a bilingual retelling of a famous Mexican legend, Prietita sets out to find the missing herb that can cure her mother's illness and, while lost in the woods, comes face to face with the mysterious la Llorona, the ghost woman.

Reviews:

Grade 3-6?In this bilingual (English/Spanish) tale, Prietita seeks a remedy for her mother's illness. Do?a Lola, the curandera or healer, sends her in search of the rue plant, but Prietita gets lost in the woods. She appeals to the various animals (deer, salamander, dove) that she meets for help, but in vain. Then La Llorona appears and guides the girl to the plant and out of the woods. La Llorona, the "Crying Woman," is traditionally a bogey: frightening, unredeemable, she lures children away from their families and disappears with them. Anzaldua's story, though, casts her as a helpful, benign figure. A source note explains the reason for this change. Whether readers can accept this version or not, this tale provides a fascinating context in which to introduce and discuss folktales. The well-written English text includes a number of Spanish terms. Gonzalez's lovely folk paintings, awash in bright colors, authentically portray the people and native plants and animals of this South Texas locale. Prietita was also featured in Anzaldua's Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del Otro Lado (Children's Book Pr., 1993).?Marilyn Taniguchi, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Anzaldúa (Friends from the Other Side, 1993, etc.) offers a feminist interpretation of the familiar Mexican legend of la Llorona, the sobbing ghost woman who steals children at night. Night has already fallen when Prietita, lost in the Texas woods while seeking the plant that will cure her mother, hears a woman crying. In spite of her grandmother's frightening stories about the ghost woman, Prietita forces herself to go to her, and in the process discovers that ghosts--and probably people, too--aren't always what others think. The ghost woman benevolently guides Prietita to the right plant and then out of the woods. The text appears in both Spanish and English; dramatic illustrations with the bold forms of mural art completely fill each spread, laden with southwestern flora and Mexican motifs. (Picture book. 4-9) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.