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

Joe Hayes (Author), Gloria Osuna Perez (Illustrator), Lucia Angela Perez (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Joe Hayes tells one of the world's favorite folktales in Spanish and English. The Cinderella story is common to cultures the world over. Spanish settlers brought the tale to the New World centuries ago, and through many tellings it evolved into LITTLE GOLD STAR. Like every Cinderella tale, LITTLE GOLD STAR is a wonderful celebration of the human spirit. As always, the kind heroine triumphs over her envious stepmother and stepsisters. But in this humorous version the teller weaves the enchanting elements of the story to show us how the inner qualities of the characters are revealed in their appearance. Each girl has an encounter with a magical hawk. When the heroine is kind to the bird, she receives a gold star on her forehead; but when her spiteful sisters go in search of their own gold stars, one is rewarded with a donkey's ear and the other gets a cow's horn. You can just imagine how a prince would feel about asking those two stepsisters to be his bride!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-When young Arc'a tries to convince her father to marry the woman next door, he warns her that, "Today Margarita is so sweet and kind,/But her sweetness will turn bitter with time." Sure enough, soon after the marriage, Margarita favors her own two selfish daughters, and her stepdaughter is reduced to being a servant. The gift of sheep, one for each girl, from Arc'a's shepherd father sets things in motion. His daughter's lamb grows large and healthy, and once it is sheared, a hawk appears and steals the wool. When Arc'a asks for it back, the bird tells her to look where he flies. When she does, a gold star drifts from the sky and fastens itself to her forehead. Naturally, the jealous sisters want gold stars, too. However, one ends up sprouting a donkey's ear and the other a green horn. Arc'a doesn't go to the ball in this version; she merely peeks in the window and the prince falls in love at first sight. 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 entr?e into Hispanic culture.
Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

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. Arcia, the Cinderella figure, wants her father to marry, even though he warns her that the stepmother's sweetness "will turn bitter in time." True enough. When her father goes to the mountains to tend his sheep, Arcia becomes the unloved workhorse. In a bit of folktale mixing, Arcia gets a gold star on her forehead from a hawk, while her stepsisters get a horn and donkey's ear for their cruelty. It is by the star that the wealthy young prince remembers Arcia; and with a talking cat's help, he finds her. 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. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English, Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0938317490
• ISBN-13: 978-0938317494
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,214,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers--a nationally recognized teller of tales from the Hispanic, Native American and Anglo cultures. His bilingual Spanish-English tellings have earned him a distinctive place among America's storytellers. His books, CDs and tapes of Southwestern stories are popular nationwide. Born in Pennsylvania, Joe Hayes moved as a child to a small town in southern Arizona, some fifty miles from the Mexican border. From Mexican-American friends and schoolmates he began to acquire a knowledge of Spanish and an appreciation for Hispanic culture. As an adult, his experience with Spanish helped him find work doing mineral exploration in Mexico and Spain. When Joe moved to New Mexico in 1976, he first taught high school English, but his interest in the rich folklore of the region was already growing. He enjoyed sharing stories with his own children so much that he decided to shape a career for himself as a storyteller. Joe gathered traditional stories of the Southwest, added a little of his own spice and hit the road, traveling all over to share his stories. He has captured the imagination of children in schools all over the United States. In 2005, Joe received the Talking Leaves Literary Award from the National Storytelling Network, an award given to members of the storytelling community who have made considerable and influential contributions to the literature of storytelling. Joe has taught storytelling to teachers at the University of New Mexico and been a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities, delivering the commencement address for the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at U.C.L.A. He was designated a New Mexico Eminent Scholar by the New Mexico Commission on Higher Education, and in 1995 he received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence. Joe began sharing his stories in print in 1982. His books have received many awards including the Arizona Young Readers Award, two Land of Enchantment Children's Book Awards, and an Aesop Accolade Award. Joe's books have also been on the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List three times, and Ghost Fever--selected by Texas school children--won the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 2006-2007, the first bilingual book to achieve that distinction.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A rare treasure. A dynamic duo; bi-langual and bi-cultural., May 11, 2000

By 

Marilyn Maher - See all my reviews

This review is from: Estrellita de oro / Little Gold Star: A Cinderella Cuento (Hardcover)

This children's classic is beautifully written and illustratedin both English and Spanish, which makes it truly unique andextraordinary. Many books are translated into other languages from English but this book was written in both lanuages and reflects the culture of the southwestern United States and Mexico.

I am sharing this reading experience with my four year old granddaughter. I highly recommend you share it with a child that you love.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cultural Wonder, December 5, 2000

By 

"vava52" (Anderson, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Estrellita de oro / Little Gold Star: A Cinderella Cuento (Hardcover)

Marta C.Valdez-Menchaca; Grover J. Whitehurst. ?Accelerating Language Development through Picture Book Reading: a Systematic Extension to Mexican Day Care. Developmental Psychology, 28.6(1992):1106 Hayes, Joe. Estrellita de Oro Little Gold Star. Illus. El Paso Texas: Cinco Puntos Press, 2000

A Cultural Wonder Gold Star is a picture book that takes the classic tale of Cinderella and adds the Mexican heritage to it. Arcìa is the young heroin of the story. She begs her father to marry her neighbor, Margarita because Margarita is so nice to her. Finally the father agrees and marries her. Margarita turns out to be a bad person who only cares for her two daughters. Arcìa?s father buys all the girls a sheep so that they can raise and take care of them so that later they can shear and sell them. Each girl takes her sheep to bathe at a river where they meet a hawk. Arcìa is nice to the hawk and receives a gold star on her head but the other two sisters are mean to the hawk. One gets a donkey ear while the other gets a greenhorn. When it is time for the ball the sisters cover their obscenities and go. Since Arcìa doesn?t have any shoes or nice clothes, she goes and watches from a window. As in most Cinderella tales, the Prince goes on a hunt, but this prince goes on a hunt for the girl with the golden star. Arcìa marries the prince, and they live happily ever after. Joe Hayes retells the classic story of Cinderella with a Mexican her flair. On the last page of the book Hayes tells us that Cinderella was very popular in the mountain communities of New Mexico. This version, he says, retains most of the traditional details. This includes the golden star on the forehead. Hayes says that the symbolic reward of the golden star on the forehead appears almost in every episode, but the star is more central in his tale. Also in most traditional versions, a fish takes the wool, the sheep is slaughtered and his intestines are stolen. Hayes says that these details where a bit too gruesome for a picture book. The blessed virgin (the fairy godmother) who usually guides the girl does not appear in Hayes?s story. He says that he based his story on a plot form that doesn?t require her intervention. This book combines the Mexican culture and a classic fairy tale. The wonderful illustrations add life to the story. Mother and daughter painted the story illustrations. Gloria Osuna Perez did the first three pages because she was sick with ovarian cancer. Her daughter, Lucia Angela Perez, did the last twelve illustrations in honor of her mother. The oil painted illustrations show a part of Mexican culture. Being panted by the Perezs they put their heritage and soul into the illustrations. Any child will enjoy these wonderful drawings. I enjoyed this rendition of Cinderella. Arcìa didn?t need a godmother-like character to help her. She did it with her own will and personality. The book deals more with the human spirit and the power it has. Arcìa is kind hearted and doesn?t think about herself. Even when Margarita doesn?t give her new shoes or nice gowns, Arcìa doesn?t complain or show any remorse. Her kind heart is what gets the golden star put upon her forehead. This book can be used to help young children learn. By using Spanish or any other language in reading a child can learn and interact more with the picture book . The book is written in both Spanish and English, which helps readers easily learn a new language. Foreign languages are being taught in elementary schools and they are required to get into most colleges. If a child is taught young, he will have a better grasp on the language when he is older. This picture book would be a good way for a child to be introduced to another culture and language. I enjoyed reading this book. Seeing Cinderella written from Mexican heritage is educational as well as enjoyable. The illustrations are as wonderful as the story.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great version of Cinderella, February 22, 2002

By 

A. Marbach "badgroove" (Sometimes Sunny California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Estrellita de oro / Little Gold Star: A Cinderella Cuento (Hardcover)

This is a very interesting version of Cinderella and I really like the fact that it is a truly bilingual book. Great for elementary school libraries.