The First Tortilla: A Bilingual Story

by Rudolfo Anaya

Book Overview

Jade is a young girl who lives in a village next to a towering volcano. On its peak lives a Mountain Spirit who makes his presence known by rumbling the earth, filling the sky with smoke, and pouring... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826342140
• ISBN13: 9780826342140
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.3" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 7 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 4

Customer Reviews

An ingenious retelling of a traditional Mexican folktale

The First Tortilla is a bilingual English/Spanish picturebook about a small Mexican village on the brink of starvation due to lack of rainfall. A young girl named Jade received a message from a blue hummingbird, telling her to bring a gift to the mountain spirit. Jade embarks on a journey to the top of the volcano, braving burning lava; the mountain spirit is pleased with her gift, and allows the ants in a nearby cave to share their corn with her. Jade uses the dry corn and water to make dough, and cooks it to create the very first tortilla. An ingenious retelling of a traditional Mexican folktale, vibrantly illustrated by prize-winning cultural activist Amy Cordova.