Martina the Beautiful Cockroach A Cuban Folktale

by Deedy, Carmen Agra; Austin, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781561453993
• ISBN10: 1561453994
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-04
• Publisher: Peachtree

Summary

Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn't know coffee beans about love and marriage. That's where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increíble, some shocking advice. At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela's unorthodox suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love. Soon, only the gardener Pérez, a tiny brown mouse, is left. But what will happen when Martina offers him café cubano?Carmen Agra Deedy's sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale will ensure that you'll never look at a cockroach the same way again. Each compact disc is 37 minutes long and unabridged, and includes Carmen's storytelling performance and her narrations in English and Spanish, with the sounds of musical instruments as page-turn prompts.

Author Biography

CARMEN AGRA DEEDY is an award-winning storyteller and the author of numerous bestselling books for children. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, she emigrated from her homeland during the Cuban Revolution, a move that has profoundly affected her life and her work. Her parents, strong proponents of human rights, decided to leave after four tumultuous years in the midst of a revolutionary environment. They took Carmen and her sister and found sanctuary in the United States under the JFK Cuban Refugee Act of 1963. They settled in Decatur, Georgia, where they coped with the separation from loved ones still in Cuba and slowly acclimated to cultural differences. The Agra family ultimately succeeded in starting over and rebuilding their lives. While Deedy's storytelling reflects these themes of separation and deprivation, she is better known for her razor-sharp wit and light, entertaining style. Also essential to Deedy's experience are her strong sense of perseverance and her dual heritage, drawn from growing up steeped in the riches of both Latin American and Southern culture.As a professional storyteller for many years Deedy has shared her stories with hundreds of thousands of children and adults at festivals, schools, conferences, theaters, and museums across the nation and across the ocean. She has performed at the Beyond the Border International Storytelling Festival at Donat's Castle in Wales; the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC; the Disney Institute in Orlando, FL; the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN; at the New Victory Theater on Broadway; and at the 2001, 2002 (where Deedy gave the Friday night keynote), and 2003 National Book Festivals in Washington, D.C. Her stories have also aired on National Public Radio's ôWeekend All Things Considered.ö One of Deedy's most beloved titles, THE LIBRARY DRAGON, recently observed its tenth anniversary by taking to the stage. The screenplay was written by Deedy and has been performed in English and Spanish for both general and school audiences. Her most recent book, THE YELLOW STAR: THE LEGEND OF KING CHRISTIAN X OF DENMARK, is the winner of numerous awards including the 2002 Texas Bluebonnet Master List; 2001 Bologna Ragazzi Award; 2001 International Reading Association Notable Book for A Global Society; 2001 Jane Addams Peace Association Honor Book Award; and 2000 Parent's Choice Gold Award. Her earlier books are: AGATHA'S FEATHER BED: NOT JUST ANOTHER WILD GOOSE STORY; TREEMAN; THE LIBRARY DRAGON; THE LAST DANCE; and THE SECRET OF OLD ZEB. A CD/audiotape collection of her stories, GROWING UP CUBAN IN DECATUR, GEORGIA, was a 1996 Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner and was named Best AudiobookùStorytelling by Publishers Weekly in 1995.