Third grade (maybe second?). This is a really great story about how the sun decided to sleep for days and the lizard and other animals searched for it. It is a legend about why the ancient indigenous people of Mexico would have huge colorful and loud celebrations every year and also why lizards sunbathe. In this day and age there are many Hispanic American children who know little to nothing about their ancient heritage. Legends of the Latin indigenous people are not told here in this country and I find it is very important to pass these stories on to these new generations. Stories like this one allow glimpses into the ancient cultures that help shape what Latin American cultures are like today.

A Central American folktale told in both English and Spanish on facing pages, The Lizard and the Sun tells the story of how the sun went missing and a lizard discovered it. Because much of the story takes place sans-sun, many of the pages are in a cool, dark illustration style. When the sun returns in the final pages, bright and bold colors fill the page and bring the end to a satisfying celebration along with a brief explanation of the impact of the lizard on his own kind.

Alma Flor Ada makes this story accessible for a young audience using simple language and a few opportunities for building vocabulary. However, while the people in the unnamed Central American community continue to have markets and grow food during the sun's absence, a contradictory statement later suggests without the sun, the community will be unable to grow food. Having an explanation ready ("the sun had only been gone for a short time by then," for example) would be useful when reading to a curious crowd.

Loved this bilingual book and art style. I read it to my cat. He’s not a very good listener but I enjoyed this simple folktale for the both of us.

OSU 5225 AU 2013
Topic: Resource List
I love reading folktales from other cultures. This was a very fun story to read. In this Mexican folktale, the sun mysteriously disappears and the tale follows a lizard's journey to finding it. This would be a great story for children of all ages to read and experience literature in a way that they are unfamiliar with. I loved the illustrations and thought they blended very well with the story. The amount of detail and technique used to captivate the ancient culture was done beautifully. My favorite part about this book was that it was written in both English and Spanish. I think this would be a great resource to use in a classroom with Spanish-speaking students that are learning to speak English.

A story i had not read, and also a bilingual format.