Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Title: Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Retold by: Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrator: Michael Agra Deedy

Awards:

ALSC Notable Children's Books, 2008

Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year 2008

Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature Commended Title, 2008

Pura Belpre Award Honor Book, 2008 (Narrative)

Amelia Bloomer Project Nominee, 2008

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2008

International Latino Book Awards, Best Children’s Picture Book (English), 2008

Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, 2008

Odyssey Award Honor Book, 2009

Medium: Acrylic on Strathmore Series 500 Illustration board.

Genre: Folklore

Theme: Friendship and love.

Summary: Martina turned 21 and she was going to meet her suitors. Her grandmother had advice for her to see how the suitors can deal with her under pressure. As the suitors come by, Martina pours coffee on their shoes to judge their reactions, in order to find her perfect husband.

Literary Elements: Beautiful artistry in the book. It's very captivating because it is modern art and it is very imaginative so it's easier for me to picture events as when they unfolds. Protagonist was Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha. She was very beautiful cockroach. When she turned 21, she had many suitors that wanted her hand in marriage. Her grandmother gave her very good advice to spill coffee on her suitors feet to see how they would react. Some would say they would try to train her. One confessed he wanted to eat her instead of marrying her. She had no problem saying good bye to the suitors. She said the lizard was too coldblooded for her, rooster is too cocky for her, and the pig was too boorish for her. She nearly gave up until her grandmother told her "What about him?" Adorable little mouse was in a flower pot trimming the flowers. Martina thought he was adorable. So Martina met the mouse and talked to him. Both was shy at the meeting. Her grandmother told her to do the coffee test to spill it on his feet. She tried to resist it so she had coffee in her hands but he beat her to it. He spilled it on her first and smiled. She asked him how he knew about the test. He told her that he too have cuban grandmother. This story was captivating because of the way author repeated her words every time Martina met her suitors saying "Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha Beautiful muchara, won't you be my wife?" This always led her to spill the coffee on her suitors. Repetition helps children learn what happens next in the story. This story is very dramatic and have good climax because suitors was getting worse and worse then eventually she found the best one and married him in front of both grandmothers. Martina's character is strong and she knew what she wanted after spilling first drink on her first suitor. She knew what was right. She knew she wants a husband that can handle anything. The setting can happen anyplace anywhere so this book can be classic one day. Anthropomorphism happened in this story because animals acted like humans. They also interacts like human beings. This story is being told by 3rd person point of view but the author focused on Martina's feelings. The conflict is man vs man because Martina had to struggle with other mens before she found the one she wanted. The mood of whole thing is suspense and excitement because kids would want to know if Martina would meet the "one".

Evaluation: I enjoyed reading this because I was curious who would melt Martina's heart. Children would love this because of the repetition happening in the story which makes them aware of what might happen next. The art is beautiful so I could get lost in the story like children would. The grandmother had positive role model which means kids could look up to their elders and value their wisdom. This book have very quirky reflections of Cuban culture which would make students more interested in different kinds of cultures. I would recommend this to any parents because this is very neutral book which children can identify their own grandmother being caring grandmothers and there's many different animals which offers diversity in the book. You don't have to socialize with someone that looks like you.