Estrellita de oro / Little Gold Star: A Cinderella Cuento - Hardcover

Hayes, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0938317490 ISBN 13: 9780938317494

Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press, 2000

Synopsis

Ages 4-8. Hayes, a veteran folklorist, offers an engaging telling of Cinderella that is popular in the mountain communities of New Mexico. There are some significant variations that add depth to the story, making it in many ways more interesting than the original...The English text, which is made full-bodied by its many details, appears with a Spanish translation. The impressive acrylic illustrations, done in a sturdy folk-art style, are thick with color and bright with humor.-Booklist

"The telling, in both English and a charming colloquial Spanish, is crisp, lively and individual. It is well matched by the primitive, acrylic-on-art board paintings that blend vivid colors with strong lines to impel the movement of the story. The unique flavor of this retelling from the American Southwest makes this not only a good introduction to the teller's art, but also an engaging entrée into Hispanic culture."- School Library Journal

About the illustrators:

Cinco Puntos Press has long admired the work of Gloria Osuna Perez. In the spring of 1999, we asked Gloria to do the paintings for Little Gold Star. We felt this wonderful cuento and her work were a perfect match. Gloria eagerly agreed to the project, but said that she would have to take it one day at a time. She had been battling ovarian cancer for three years-she didn't want to sign a contract. She sketched out the fifteen scenes from the book and began the paintings. She was able to complete three paintings before her condition worsened.

Gloria's 26-year-old daughter Lucia, who is also an artist, came from Dallas to care for her mother. Gloria was weak and could not do any more work on the paintings. Lucia reported that, for Gloria, one of the most painful things about being bed-ridden was that she could not paint. About two weeks before she died, Gloria called us up and told us that she thought Lucia could finish the paintings. While Lucia was taking care of her, Gloria talked to her about the colors she was using and what she wanted for each of the scenes she had sketched out. After her mother died, Lucia painted the twelve remaining scenes, always with her eye on the work her mom had begun, always remembering her mother's words. The re

About this title

From the Publisher:

In LITTLE GOLD STAR, Joe Hayes' renowned bilingual storytelling is paired with the vibrant folkloric illustrations of Gloria Osuna Perez and her daughter Lucia Angela Perez. Cinco Puntos Press has long admired the work of Gloria Osuna Perez. In the spring of 1999, we asked Gloria to do the paintings for Little Gold Star. We felt this wonderful cuento and her work were a perfect match. Gloria eagerly agreed to the project, but said that she would have to take it one day at a time. She had been battling ovarian cancer for three yearsshe didn't want to sign a contract. She sketched out the fifteen scenes from the book and began the paintings. She was able to complete three paintings before her condition worsened.

Gloria's 26-year-old daughter Lucia, who is also an artist, came from Dallas to care for her mother. Gloria was weak and could not do any more work on the paintings. Lucia reported that, for Gloria, one of the most painful things about being bed-ridden was that she could not paint. About two weeks before she died, Gloria called us up and told us that she thought Lucia could finish the paintings. While Lucia was taking care of her, Gloria talked to her about the colors she was using and what she wanted for each of the scenes she had sketched out. After her mother died, Lucia painted the twelve remaining scenes, always with her eye on the work her mom had begun, always remembering her mother's words. The result is truly remarkable, a tribute to the powerful relationship between a mother and her daughter.

In mid-February, just about the time LITTLE GOLD STAR came from the printers, Lucia gave birth to her first child, a little girl she and her husband named Gloria.

From the Author:

Note for readers and storytellers From Joe Hayes:

This Cinderella cuento was extremely popular in the mountain communities of New Mexico. In the 1930s both Juan B. Rael and J. Manuel Espinosa, two of the principal collectors of Nuevo mejicano folktales, recorded several tellings of it. All the traditional versions influenced my treatment of the tale, but I especially relied on that of Aurora Lucero White Lea in Literary Folklore of the Hispanic Southwest, which was published almost fifty years ago. It is from her version that I got the name Arca.

The traditional versions are consistent in many detailsI've tried to retain what I see as essential to the story. The symbolic reward of a gold star on the forehead appears in almost every version of the Cinderella tale in New Mexico. It appears in other tales as well, but it seems especially central to this tale.

One way in which many traditional tellings differ from mine is in the animal which snatches an object away from the girls. The thief is most often a fish, rather than a bird. And in most versions the sheep is slaughtered and it is the sheep's intestines that are stolen. Indeed, I retain that detail in my retelling found in my book THE DAY IT SNOWED TORTILLAS, but I thought it was a bit gruesome for a fully illustrated picture book.

Another element found in many traditional Hispanic tellings, but not in mine, is the appearance of the Blessed Virgin to advise the girls. Of course, only the heroine heeds her advice. I assume she is the same figure who is identified as the Fairy Godmother in the best-known version of Cinderella. I base my telling on a plot form that doesn't require her intervention.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0938317490
• ISBN 13: 9780938317494
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Perez Gloria Osuna, Perez Lucia Angela