Whiskers, Tails, & Wings: Animal Folktales from Mexico by Judy Goldman (review)

Five animal-centric traditional tales from five different native peoples of Mexico— Seri, Tarahumara, Huichol, Triqui, and Tseltal—are presented in this intriguing anthology. The stories, mostly pourquoi tales, are nicely varied: a cricket defeats a puma in "When Señor Grillo Met Señor Puma"; a sea turtle helps the god of creation create the land in "Mosni's Search"; an opossum helps bring fire to the people (but loses his furry tail) in "Tlacuache's Tail." Goldman's retellings are vivid and well crafted, and readers-aloud and storytellers will easily be able to bring them to life. The nonfiction information about the various peoples represented is fascinating as well, if sometimes overly reverential ("Their [the Tseltal] language is called Bats'il k'op, or 'the original word,' and it sounds sweet and melodic. It's a language spoken from the heart"). VandenBroeck's illustrations (crafted using watercolor and acrylic paints on textured paper and then digitally manipulated) are attractive; the single, full-page illustrations that accompany each story are much more individualized and detailed than the smaller and blander spot art that accompanies the nonfiction text. Adult storytellers may find this the most useful, but the solid narrative voice of the tales will connect with audiences of a wide age-range and Goldman's extensive notes about the various peoples and regions of Mexico may intrigue older children as well. Each tale is followed by factual information about the people and region from which this tale hails, as well as separate glossaries for both the story and the informational text. A bibliography list of web resources, and thorough source notes for each tale are also included.