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    Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
    Unavailable
    Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
    Unavailable
    Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
    Ebook31 pages5 minutes

    Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

    By Carmen Agra Deedy and Michael Austin

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Thanks to award-winning author and storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy, you’ll never look at a cockroach the same way again.

    “Lively and funny…this telling has magic all its own.” ―Kirkus Reviews

    “Spirited.” ―Publishers Weekly

    “Masterful.” ―Booklist

    The beautiful Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha doesn’t know coffee beans about love and marriage, so when suitors come calling, what is she to do? Luckily, she has her Cuban family to help!

    While some of the Cucarachas offer Martina gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her some useful advice: spill coffee on his shoes to see how he handles anger. At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela’s suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love.

    After reading this award-winning retelling of the Cuban folktale, readers will never look at a cockroach the same way again. Also available in Spanish and in audio (read by the author), Carmen Agra Deedy delivers a delightfully inventive Cuban twist on the beloved Martina folktale, complete with a dash of café Cubano.

    Teacher’s Guide available!

    Pura Belpre Medal (Honor Book) – American Library Association

    Odyssey Award (Honor) – American Library Association

    p>Best Children’s Books of the Year – Bank Street College of Education
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPeachtree Publishers
    Release dateSep 1, 2019
    ISBN9781682631416
    Unavailable
    Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
    Author

    Carmen Agra Deedy

    Carmen Agra Deedy is a New York Times bestselling author and has been writing and traveling around the world telling stories for more than twenty years. Her books have received numerous awards and honors. She has performed in many prestigious venues, but children are her favorite audience. Born in Havana, Cuba, she came to the United States as a refugee and, like most immigrants, sees the world from multiple perspectives. She lives in Georgia.

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    Reviews for Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

    4.5/5

    37 ratings35 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This is an interesting book about a cockroach and its life. It is good for children so they learn that everyone has feelings, even animals like the mouse and the cockroach.
    • 4/5
      I picked this book because it has an interesting title. I don't see cockroaches as beautiful. This was a cute book. The cockroach and mouse found love in each other because of their Cuban grandmothers' test.
    • 4/5
      This story uses detailed illustrations with a not so well none folktale of Cuban culture. The folktale is enhanced by the artwork. The story is also repetative and uses the element of three that is often found in fairy tales and folk tales. It has a strong Cuban tone, and uses Spanish words throughout. The Spanish words are also written in English, which can be useful in the classroom for teaching dual language learners. I enjoyed this book and would like to own it for my collection because of the Cuban culture. My classroom has some students who could relate to the feelings, values, and language used in the book. This tale addresses a respect for elders that many Cuban/Hispanic/Latino families possess. The cockroach is also seen as a beautiful animal, which in this story it is. The real Cuban cockroach that is represented is a brilliant green color. It is not something that is dirty, or in dirty places like the cockroaches are that we see on shows like Billy the Exterminator. I think that this would help teach children that things are not always what you expect them to be, or what you think they are.
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully illustrated and humorous retelling of a Cuban folktale. A cockroach has many suitors asking for her hand in marriage. Using the advice from her grandmother to determine her suitors' true dispositions, the beautiful cockroach finds her mate. He turns the tables on her using the same advice given to him by his own grandmother.
    • 5/5
      How will Martina find a suitable husband? Abuelita has a plan to discover who is true-ly the best suitor for the pretty cockroach. Lush illustrations and choice language transport the reader to Cuba in this provocative fable, suitable for all ages.
    • 4/5
      Martina was a beautiful cockroach looking to get married. Many different suitors came to ask for her hand in marriage. Her grandmother told her the best way to judge your suitor’s character was to pour coffee on their feet to see how they will react. Again in this book the pictures tell us what the Spanish word in the text means without having to look it up, which is real helpful to children. The pictures add many details to the environment Martina lives in, so the reader can place themselves in the story. The colors are subdued and dark for the suitors that aren’t the right one for her and for the perfect suitor they are brighter and lively. There is a nice flow to the book in pictures and text. In the classroom: introduction to Spanish and folktales from around the world, Rhyming book
    • 4/5
      Fine example of a folktale. Kids enjoyed listening to me croon and sing the song lyrics. Humble is best is the message. I liked it.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book. A beautiful cockroach must find a husband and her Cuban grandmother advises her to use the coffee test on all her suiters. As the cockroach meets possible suitors she obeys her grandmother and is exposed to the potential husbands' true colors. She finds true love with a little brown mouse who also has a Cuban grandmother and knows about the coffee test. This could be used for a cultural heritage study or a folktale study.
    • 5/5
      This is a Cuban folktale. The folktale has been told for many years in Cuba. I would use this in the classroom to show students different folktales around of the world and to show them how Spanish can be in English writing. I think it shows a wonderful example of a folktale type plot. It starts with a problem and then the story ends greatly.
    • 5/5
      A Cuban folktale that teaches what true love is and sometimes what we’re looking for is right under our noses. Martina is ready to be married and her abuela gives her an important piece of advice to find a true mate. Loved this tale! It is beautifully illustrated with smooth, soft colors and told with the language mixed into the story.
    • 5/5
      Oh how I love this book, let me count the ways!

      1. The illustrations, by Michael Austin, are beautifully, vibrantly and lushly colored with fun details for readers to examine. The scene of Martina's room is a prime example with a spoon as a mirror, a postage stamp as a poster, and a spool of thread as a stool.

      2. The language is perfect for reading aloud with Deedy's phrases just tripping off the tongue - I cannot get enough of saying "Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha, Beautiful muchacha, Won't you be my wife?" I also love the interspersing of well-selected Spanish words that add to the Cuban flavor without obscuring the story for non-Spanish speakers.

      3. The puns! The glorious puns! Don Gallo, the rooster, is too cocky for Martina. Don Lagarto, the lizard, is too cold-blooded. Don Cerdo, the pig, is a ham. I love it!

      4. The big, gooey romantic story itself with some extra morals about being yourself and how actions are what really matter rather than looks. I know stories don't have to have a moral to be good, but I love this moral and I don't think it detracts from the story

      5. The fact that this adapts with very little effort from Deedy's language for storytelling.

      6. Martina and Abuela's sassy personalities.

      The one thing I don't love about this book - where's the story and/or cultural note?
    • 3/5
      The beautiful Martina learns a valuable lesson from her Abuelita-- that creating a frustrating situation for her would-be suitors allows her to see how they will handle their anger after the marriage. The illustrations, in acrylics, are charming and expressive. The only downside is the absence of an author's note giving more detail about the inspiration for the retelling, and a glossary to help with pronunciation of the Spanish words that are scattered throughout.
    • 3/5
      When Martina the beautiful cockroach - Martina Josephina Catalina Cucaracha to her family - reaches the mature age of 21 days, and is considered old enough to marry, her father has el perico (the parrot) spread the news. Soon the would-be bridegrooms are lining up, and Martina's female relatives are pressing lace shawls and seashell combs on her. Her formidable Cuban grandmother has other ideas though, and offers un consejo increíble (a shocking piece of advice): if Martina "accidentally" spills some strong coffee on each of her suitors' shoes, she will soon see what they are really like...This charming Cuban folktale reminded me of the Puerto Rican story of Perez and Martina, which also featured a love-match between a mouse named Perez and a cockroach named Martina, but the focus here is exclusively on the courtship stage, with the wedding serving as a happy ending. Deedy's engaging narrative, with its droll sense of humor, its wise appreciation for the realities of "human" nature, and its sprinkling of Spanish words, is well matched by Michael Austin's colorful acrylic artwork. Some of the two-page spreads seemed almost like stills from an animated fantasy film, creating an overall effect of enchantment and wonder. Highly recommended to all young folklore lovers, even those who aren't particularly fond of cockroaches...
    • 5/5
      Like some of my friends, I was somewhat reluctant to read this story, as I am actually quite phobic about cockroaches in particular. However, after having read the many glowing reviews, I decided to give it a try. And wow!! This is simply an amazing gem of a story, one of the best folklore adaptations I have had the pleasure to read. I cannot even say what I enjoyed more, the luminous, breathtaking illustrations, which not only depict Martina as very beautiful indeed, but also clearly show the character of her suitors (the proud, overbearing rooster, the slovenly pig, the cold-blooded, slithering lizard, and finally, Perez, the sweet and diminutive mouse, who looks just as cute and lovable as he is described and who loves Martina not for her physical appearance, but because she is sweet tempered and strong voiced), or the engaging and often subtly humorous narrative. I found myself smiling at the many humorous little touches Carmen Agra Deedy uses, such as the age of marriage for a cockroach being 21 days instead of 21 years, or the fact that Martina does not give her hand in marriage, but her leg.The idea of spilling coffee onto a potential suitor's shoes in order to discover how he might react if angered, is not only a wonderful narrative tool which strips the pretense from Martina's suitors and shows their true characters, her Abuela's advice is actually something to take to heart (before marriage, it is a very good idea to be aware of how your significant other will act and/or react, and it is especially important to know how he/she might react if angered). In Martina's case, the coffee test saves her from some very unsuitable (if not dangerous) matches. But when she meets Perez, the coffee ends up on the other foot (her own), as Perez also has a Cuban grandmother (at that, I laughed until tears came, so funny, so adorable, and I knew that the two were and are definitely meant for one another).From a multicultural point of view, I also appreciate the fact that Martina's suitors are not other cockroaches, but different kinds of animals; Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale thus also both presents and promotes intercultural and interracial relationships and marriage. There is never a sense of Martina's animal suitors being culturally or ethnically unsuitable, they are unsuitable due to their undesirable character traits (pride, anger, sloth, laziness etc.). And in the end, Martina's love interest and potential bridegroom is a mouse, not a cockroach. In fact, throughout the course of the story, not one cockroach suitor appears, which I think is an interesting and thought-provoking touch, as it counters the idea of having to marry within one's own narrow cultural and ethnic sphere. I would recommend this wonderful folktale to anyone who enjoys the former. And honestly, even if you do not like insects, this is a story which is in no way creepy or uncomfortable. Martina and her Abuela are both beautiful and lovable, and Perez the mouse is simply adorable, of course (the only animals that I personally find potentially frightening are the choleric, blustering rooster and the creepy, snake-like lizard). Thus, even if you do not find cockroaches and other bugs appealing, you will most likely still adore this wonderful folktale.
    • 3/5
      This tale would be appropriate for K-2nd grades. This Cuban folk-tale is about Martina the cockroach who is the most beautiful cockroach and needs to find a suitor for her. Her grandmother puts lots of pressure to find the right man and had advice on how to find the right one. Pouring hot coffee of the foot of a possible suitor will show Martina how the man would talk if he was angry. Lots of suitors came to Martina's porch but none of them passed the test. When Martin was going to give up the a tiny field mouse named Perez comes. Martina tried to do the test on Perez but he beat her to it by pouring coffee on her foot. Martina was so delighted that he did this and they feel in love. In the last picture of the book Martina grandmother and Perez's grandmother cheer there tea. Little did Martian and Perez know that their grandmothers set them up. Teacher could use this book to teach:-To show students that people who don't look the same can be friends. - Have students write about an important lesson an elder has taught them.
    • 4/5
      I love this version of the classic Cuban folktale. In Deedy's book, Martina tests her many suitors by dumping coffee on the feet of each. By their responses, she judges the character of each prospect."Martina nervously splattered coffee onto the rooster's spotless shoes. 'Oh my!' she said with mock dismay. 'I'm all feelers today!' "Ki-ki-ri-kiiii!' The rooster was furious. 'Clumsy cockroach! I will teach you better manners when you are my wife.' ..... 'A most humble offer, senor,' she said cooly, 'but I cannot accept. You are much too cocky for me.' "The illustrations are beautiful and lifelike, with feathers, scales, plants and pants shown in great detail. A particularly nice touch are the background features that put the creatures' size into perspective. Martina uses a spoon for a mirror and has a postage stamp on the wall as artwork. Several stacked packages of gum with a jeweled comb handrail serve as her staircase. The dust jacket credits the author, the illustrator, and with a bit of whimsy- "The Real Martina," a description and photograph of the "real" Cuban Cockroach.
    • 4/5
      This book is a good tale of a cockroach that is looking for a mate. The end expresses that you do not always have to end up with someone like you.
    • 4/5
      Summary: A beautiful cockroach is ready to marry and she is lining up the suitors when her grandmother comes in with a preposterous, yet helpful idea: she is to drop coffee on all the suitors shoes to see how they will react when they are angry, if they do not lash out, they will last, if they do, they are not worth the time. in the end Martina found her match, but it was after a long line of mean men.Genre: this story is a folktale because originally this story was orally told to people and was not written down and it was told from generation to generation. Now it is written and has a history of being told in cuba. Theme: The theme of the story is that you should not allow yourself to truly trust a person until you have seen every side there is to see. Also, you cannot tell a book by its cover.Media: Acrylic
    • 5/5
      Charming story about a cockroach who learns a trick to evaluate her suitors from her Cuban grandmother, Abuela.
    • 5/5
      Genre: FolktaleReview: This is a great example of a folktale because it is written in a simple and repetitive manner, and it teaches good morals and life lessons. Martina has reached the age where she needs to be looking for a husband, 3 times different suitors come and the same thing happens. Finally her Grandmother points out the humble mouse that is kind and patient. This book teaches children that it is best to have a calm temper when dealing with other people. Setting: Since this book is a folktale there is no specific time period because it has been passed down through the ages. The location of this book is very vivid, the author does and excellent job of explaining where Martina's home is. However, the location is best seen through the illustrations that are given, the pictures are perfect for showing that she lives in a street lamp with her family in Old Havana. Media: Acrylic
    • 5/5
      Martina the beautiful cockroach has finally made it to her twenty first day and now it is time for her to pick the right husband. Not quite sure how to get started, her family supplies her with materials that may help. Her Cuban abuela comes with the best advice, the “Coffee Test.”This was a great delightful story for me to read, I fell in love with the reactions and all the wonderful surprises. This story was full of humorous romance and silly manors. Also I enjoyed the Cuban feel and Spanish dialect.This is great for in the classroom when introducing a different culture and language. Student can learn the basic Spanish words while also being able to bring a new interest into the home setting.
    • 5/5
      Martina is a beautiful cockroach, who has just come of age and is looking for a suitable husband. Everyone provides her with gifts to aid her in choosing a husband, but her grandmother gives her a piece of advice instead of a gift. The Grandmother states that Martina should spill coffee on her suitor’s shoes, so that she will make him angry and then she would know how he would treat her in their marriage. This folktale reflects the Cuban cultural belief that elders should be listened to and respected as wise members of society. Martina does not want to listen to her Grandmother but relinquishes, when her Grandmother insists. Martina does as her Grandmother asks and spills coffee on her first suitor, a rooster. When Martina sees his reaction, that is a not very pleasant one, she denies him her hand in marriage. After this first reaction she continues to use her wise Grandmothers advice and weed out the good and bad suitors. The story also echoes the fear that a woman will marry an abusive man, which when dealing with a patriarchal society, can be a scary thought. In a library this and other books that show Grandparents as being wise and knowledgeable could be used during a story time to show a respect for elders that is common in Hispanic culture. It could also be used in a story time that centers on healthy relationships between people and the value of a spouse.
    • 3/5
      The tale of a cockroach who is searching for a husband using her grandmother's advice. Each suitor fails Martina's test. (the rooster was rude and bossy, the swine was a filthy pig). Children will be introduced to Spanish words. Facial expressions on bugs/animals are hilarious! Teaches children wonderful lesson of kindness. Perfect for both group/individual.
    • 4/5
      In this fantasy fiction book Martina is a beautiful cockroach with many suitors, her abuela (grandmother) tells her to use the coffee test. The coffee test is where you spill coffee on your suitors shoes and then you know how he'll handle anger. Martina tries this on many suitors and they all fail. Finally she tries it on a mouse, and he passes winning Marina over as his bride.
    • 5/5
      This folktale is about a cockroach who tests her future husbands by poring coffee on them to see how they react when they are mad. In the end, Martina, the cockroach finds a perfect match for herself--a mouse!
    • 4/5
      Martina is looking for a husband and takes advice from her grandmother on how to check a man's temper out. It's an old Cuban folktale and the illustrations are nice. For some reason this story always makes me really happy.
    • 5/5
      Beautifully illustrated with color and detail of the characters. The illustrations really steal the story. It is a cute but also wise tale.
    • 2/5
      One of my favorite children's Cuban folktales. Martina is a very beautiful cockroach who doesn't know much about life and marriage. Thats where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the cockroaches offer Martina gifts to make her beautiful, only her grandmother offers her something really useful, her advise. At first Martina is not sure about her grandmothers suggestion. But when suitor after suitor falls the marriage test. She wonders if she will ever find her knight and shinning armor. Soon only a tiny brown mouse is left. But what will happen when she offers him Cuban Coffee? Retelling the folktale just gets better and better.
    • 5/5
      This is a clever and beautiful Cuban folktale. It is very well written and illustrated. I appreciated the authenticity of the objects in the illustrations. The beautiful Martina is searching for a suitor whom is worthy of her love. Her old-fashioned grandmother will make sure that Martina does not end up with someone whom does not appreciate her. The suitors that come to vie for her hand are hilarious. They are the epitome of the macho men who expect a woman to cook and clean for them. Every suitor fails the test Martina gives, until the very end- when she meets the one who is meant for her- and he just happens to have an abuelita just like Martina!
    • 4/5
      Really fun book based on a cuban folktale. This cockroach uses her grandmother's advice as she tried to select a husband. The reaction of the different suitors to her dropped coffee is wonderful. Would be great to read and discuss with kids.