Mom and Me Reviews: Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

First Line: “Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha was a beautiful cockroach.”

Summary: Based oon an old Cuban folktale, Martina the cockroach decides she is ready to find a husband. Her abuela suggests she give each suitor “the coffee test” to determine how they might treat her when they are angry.

Ratings:

                Conor: Too long to hold his attention

Their Thoughts: “I didn’t get some of the jokes.” — Maggie. She also said she prefers human characters to animal characters, but that it didn’t affect whether she enjoyed the story or not.

My Thoughts: Reads like a good folktale. I enjoyed reading a folktale I hadn’t heard of before– I try to subject my kids to as many different cultures as possible, especially through literature. The story, as written, was pretty punny, which was a nice addition for the adults reading the story. My only complaint is the idea of “finding a suitor” as a topic. Obviously that idea is a little dated, but when viewed in the context of a folktale it is still enjoyable.

FYI: ¡También tenemos una copia de esta historia en español en la sucursal de Park City de nuestro consorcio!

Happy Reading our friends,

Mama Lala, Maggie, & Conor