The Fairy and the Chupacabra and Those Marfa Lights (Fairy and the Chupacabra) (Libro Uno of the Fairy and the Chupacabra) - Hardcover

Sidney Spires

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0979839157 ISBN 13: 9780979839153

Publisher: John M. Hardy Publishing Company, 2008

Synopsis

The de Veras fairy clan lives in the Glass Mountains near the village of Marathon, Texas. Javier, a fairy prince, decides to travel to town by himself. He 'forgets' to tell his parents. Once in Marathon, Javi encounters a very lonely and misunderstood chupacabra. Cuidado, Javier! Now his brave sister, Princess Marisol, must rescue him. Deje la aventura comenzar! Let the adventure begin.

About this title

About the Author:

Mangum is an award winning Texas novelist and folk artist. He and his wife Sidney Spires live in a tiny yellow house on a hill overlooking magical, mystical Marathon, Texas. Their West Texas neighbors include fairies, chupacabras, dragons, gnomos, javelinas, pronghorns, buhos and other creatures - ambos verdaderas e imaginarias.

Review:

"Pity the poor Chupacabra, the bane of goats and the terror of dark nights. Now the vicious creation that stalks Latin lands is a main character in a bilingual children's book. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. "Mangum and Spires use English and Spanish to tell the story, which includes...the Chupacabra, an unconfirmed creature blamed for mysterious livestock deaths, and the Marfa lights, unexplained spheres of light observed around Marfa, in West Texas." --A.M. Costa Rica Staff

"Besides La Llorona, the most charismatic figure in southwestern folklore has got to be the Chupacabra, whose name means "goat sucker".... In their picture book The Fairy and the Chupacabra ... Mangum and Spires have portrayed the Chupacabra as a winged creature with green, purple-polka-dotted skin and pointy teeth who is "the most misunderstood of creatures." "Set in West Texas, the book features Mangum's charming, colorful illustrations of regional flora, landscape, and fauna, such as the javelinas that Javier likes to ride, and big-eyed pronghorns, or "fluffy bottoms." The Fairy and the Chupacabra is sprinkled with Spanish throughout, words that are easy to understand from the context and that are also defined in a glossary in back. The story concludes in a big party, with the glowing fairies dancing and singing songs about Chupacabras, and their luminance produces the "Marfa lights." ... "ghost lights" on Mitchell Flat east of Marfa, Texas." Thus, the book serves to explain to little ones and render benign two mysterious regional phenomena - the Marfa lights and the legend of the Chupacabra." --Jenny Shank, New West

"Did you know that those vampires of the horned Capricorn world, the chupacabras (literally, "goatsuckers") are "the size of a full-grown man, but they are covered with the green skin of a lizard ... and orange stripes ... and, of course, those primarily purple polka dots." They also have wings and tiny teeth except for the fearsome fangs. But Chuy is not your average terrifying chupacabra. In "The Fairy and the Chupacabra," a new comic adventure tale set in the Glass Mountains near Marathon by award-winning Texas novelist James Mangum, Chuy is "one silly young chupacabra ... un chupito tonto!" In fact, when he encounters fairy prince Javi, all he really wants is a bedtime story, a place for the parentless prowler of the pasture to fit in. Here's an enchanting take on the chupacabra myth that is so familiar to generations of Hispanics in the Southwest, brought to life by Mangum's captivating (but muy tonto!) illustrations. Lots of Spanish terms throughout, with a glossary at the end." --Lisa Brothers Gutierrez, San Antonio Express-News

About this edition

• Publisher: John M. Hardy Publishing Company
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0979839157
• ISBN 13: 9780979839153
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: James A. Mangum