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Pleasant DeSpain

Emerald Lizard (World Storytelling) Paperback – December 28, 2005

by Pleasant DeSpain (Author)

4.6 20 ratings

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Bank Street College: Best Children's Books of the Year & Parent's Guide to Children's Media Young Adults' Choice Award

Latin America today presents a complex tapestry of native, Spanish, European, and African influences. For the past three decades, Pleasant DeSpain has explored Latin America – its landscapes, customs, cultures, and especially, its stories. Here he presents his finely-honed retellings of traditional folktales, myths, and legends from a broad array of Latin American cultures: Guatemala, Haiti, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Chile.

The fifteen tales presented here are full of compassionate souls, tricks and humor, explanations of nature and geography – and always, fine storytelling. Mario Lamo-Jiménez's Spanish translation reverberates with the rich, vibrant quality for which Latin tales are known. These animal stories are wild with llamas, jaguars and lessons for readers. Oh my! Messages of courage, fairness and resourcefulness run rampant in these folktales.

Reading age

8 - 10 years
Print length

184 pages
Language

English
Lexile measure

730L
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.46 x 8.5 inches
Publication date

December 28, 2005
ISBN-10

0874835526
ISBN-13

978-0874835526
See all details

Alma Flor Ada
130
Hardcover
30 offers from $8.53

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

A bilingual anthology of 15 traditional folktales, myths, and legends, each from a different Latin American culture. The collection includes a few familiar stories such as "Juan Bobo," the Puerto Rican tale of a son who dresses the family pig in his mother's finest clothes. Most of the tales are less well known to U.S. audiences, such as "The Crocodile Man," the Colombian story of a man who transforms himself into a crocodile to be with the woman he loves. Told in simple language and in abbreviated form, these selections are easy for beginning storytellers to learn. Experienced tellers will find them useful when time restraints preclude the telling of longer tales. Average-quality, full-page sketches, reproduced in shades of charcoal, introduce each of the stories, and smaller designs, which appear to be scratchboard, follow each selection. Source notes in English are appended.
Denise E. Agosto, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

DeSpain has spent decades exploring Latin American and collecting its stories. These tales are full of compassionate souls, humor, explanations of nature and geography -- and always, fine story-telling. Lamo-Jimenez's Spanish translation reverberates with the rich, vibrant quality for which Latin tales are known.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ August House (December 28, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0874835526
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0874835526
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 10 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 730L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.46 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,392,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,005 in Children's Folk Tale & Myth Anthologies
- #1,416 in Children's Reptile & Amphibian Books (Books)
- #5,584 in Folklore & Mythology Studies

Customer Reviews:
4.6 20 ratings

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Pleasant DeSpain

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Pleasant DeSpain has an unusual but true name and an unusual but true profession. He travels the world collecting, writing and retelling traditional tales. Born in Colorado in 1943, he wrote his first original story at age eight. It was published as The Mystery Artist in 1996. Pleasant taught speech-literature-drama for six years in three universities, and wrote-produced-hosted an award-winning TV show called Pleasant Journeys on KING TV, Seattle. Now, the author of 18 award-winning, multicultural story collections and picture books, published by August House Publishers, has a home in Troy, NY. A man of age, Pleasant continues to travel the world having amazing adventures!

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

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Cheryl Sharpe

Great book in print, not so much on Kindle

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have the print version of this excellent book, and was happy to see that a Kindle version was available. That way I could always have the book with me. Unfortunately, there are many typos in the Kindle version, some of which are so subtle that you have to have read the print version to know that it's wrong in the Kindle edition. Aside from that, though, the stories themselves are wonderful to read, and can help with learning basic Spanish if that's one of your goals.

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RockyAnastasio

Bought this to read stories to our baby girl!

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2010

Verified Purchase

We purchased this book because we wanted to give our daughter a chance to hear stories and folktales past generations grew up with. As with most folktales, many of the stories are similar tales told from other cultures, however with a Latin spin to them. This is a great book to read, especially since the stories are in English and Spanish. I only wish there was at least one more folktale from Puerto Rico, but that isn't a knock against this book. If you're looking for a bilingual book to read to your child, this would be a great addition.

One person found this helpful

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Emily Stoper

Relearn Spanish with enjoyment

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2007

Verified Purchase

I read these stories when seeking a painless way to brush up my Spanish, after quickly getting totally bored with online "Spanish for tourists" programs. The stories turned out to be a varied and delightful peek into Latin American culture. If you already know some Spanish, I recommend reading the Spanish version first, then going back and reading the English to see what you missed. Read them out loud to practice speaking.

One person found this helpful

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Nati

Fun for Spanish language learners

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

My husband and I are studying Spanish and found this book to be "just right" for continued learning. The folk tales are interesting cultural experiences, and the reading in Spanish is not too difficult. If we do not know the word, we can look at the English version. It's a perfect book for us but also great for young children. We have read the stories to our grandchildren in English, or they have read them to us.

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2015

Verified Purchase

Nice set of stories. As learner of the Spanish language it's good to have the English translation right there. Difficulty is good for advanced beginner to intermediate learner.

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

Bought to enrich my art curriculum, some of the stories are not great for elementary kids. A couple are useful.

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

t service. Blessings.

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2015

I really enjoyed the story's they are short and sweet! Very good and even though it was for school I enjoyed the book!

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Top reviews from other countries

James Morris

Great tool for learners

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

A great tool for Spanish learners. Intermediate level vocabulary and grammar allows you to follow the story while leaning new words. Can't give 5 stars simply because of the numerous spelling errors in the Spanish stories; ommiting letters and characters changing names mid story should not reach the published version.

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