Jorge Lujan, illustrated by Manuel Monroy, translated by Elisa Amado
Rooster/Gallo.
Groundwood Books, 2004.

Rating: E*

Written in Spanish with corresponding English text, this is a welcome addition to bilingual picture book collections. The uncomplicated text is easily read in both languages, making it a good choice to introduce young readers in either language to the other language. Even non-Spanish speaking readers could read the Spanish text aloud.

Groundwood appealingly presents the entire package in both languages, including the flyleaf and title page verso. Prolific Mexican author/musician/architect Jorge Lujan presents a simple, yet poetically symbolic tale which depicts the rooster (gallo) opening its beak when the day is born; the day being surprised by the cloak of night, and the rooster eating the stars and clearing the sky to bring on another day. Monroy, also from Mexico, adds perfectly-suited illustrations in rich primary and earthy colours, with clean lines and uncluttered backgrounds.

Amado maintains the poetic quality of the language in her translations. Even the language of the flyleaf is lyrical: “Jorge Lujan dreamed this myth… Manuel Monroy dipped his pen in the ink of the night…”.

This soft tale would be a pleasant bedtime story, or the bright, clear illustrations make it suitable to be read to a group. I couldn’t pin the book to a particular grade because it could be used on so many levels, from storytime for grades P-2, to language and social studies in elementary, to studies of story (in language and art) and narrative in older grades.

Thematic Links: Spanish Language, Folklore of Day/Night

Denise Parrott
Vol. 10, number 2
December 2004

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Avarage, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.