This book is awesome and I think that adults and kids will love it. Like the the reviewer before me, this book would be enjoyed by English as a second language people - and, I'd add everyone!!

This story is FUNNY and well written.

This book is a must for any English as a Second Language teacher. My students have truly enjoyed reading and re-reading this tale. Mr. Hayes grabbed my students' interest with the a sprinkling of Spanish and Rebecca Leer catered to the culture with marvelous artwork....a must read

"Cuentos de Cuanto Hay" is a great collection of over sixty folktales collected by the young J. Manuel Espinosa in the early 1930s in the Spanish-speaking regions of northern New Mexico. Originally published in Spanish as "Spanish Folktales from New Mexico" (American Folklore Society, 1937), the tales are here translated for the first time by the well-known New Mexico storyteller Joe Hayes. The book is the first substantial collection of Spanish-language stories from New Mexico available in English. Arranged in a parallel-text format, the Spanish version and the translation are made readily accessible to the student learning Spanish (although it has no vocabulary list), yet the stories have not been "dumbed-down" for language-learning purposes and can be enjoyed by anyone. Espinosa has written a short historical introduction and Hayes includes some brief linguistic notes.

I did find one potential flaw with the book, though. Espinosa's original Spanish versions published in 1937 have been modernized by Hayes. By updating archaisms and standardizing the grammar and some vocabulary, the translator has sought to make the stories more widely accessible to English speakers learning Spanish. This is fine, but you should be aware of the changes. Personally, since I have an interest in Spanish linguistics and have been studying some of the New Mexico dialect, I found the changes a loss. But the original versions are available elsewhere and only you can decide which one you prefer. Even with the linguistic changes, the book deserves five stars and more.

Joe Hayes is an excellent storyteller. I have seen him entertain a group of children. It was amazing. His unique way to incorporate spanish and english in the same stories gives the children a feel that they are really there. They can exsperiance the culture and enjoy the story. Joe is a great storyteller and this tape is a great way to incoporate him into your classroom or at your house without haveing him thier. He allows the child to use thier imagination. It is great. I am 25, but I could not get the age to work. This is from a teacher point of view.

Joe brings a lot of native stoys with jokes and morals. All use interesting creatures from New Mexico.

Ten of Joe's favorite stories with delightful photographs of the master storyteller telling stories to a live audience of kids. In sidebars Joe gives his tips on the techniques for everybody-- kids, teachers and parents--to tell their own stories.

As a child I grew up hearing that if I stay out to late that "La Llorona" would get me and mistake for one of ther childern and take me away forever. This book tells of the story of a young girl that thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and that no man in her village was good enough for her, that was until a hansome caballero rode into the village and married her. He treat good for the first months of the marrige they had childern and then he left her for a younger woman, her beauty had faded over the years as a result of this, blined by her anger she grabed all her children and throught them into the river and killed them. Once she reliazed what she had done, she ran down the river trying to get them back and triped over a rock and hit her head and died. I enjoyed this story and found it intersting that is tale is very true.

This is a great book. Works ideally in a first or secondgrade class where the students are bi-lingual or learning a second language, such as English or spanish. It helps them learn the days of the week in both English and Spanish. Great tool for teaching. The kids love chaning the ending of the story with their own, or editing the words, but using the days of the week as a reference.

Pajaro Verde: The Green Bird is an enchanting bilingual English/Spanish fairy tale about many-eyed sisters and an enigmatic prince named Pajaro Verde. Illustrated with beautifully rendered and realistic color artwork of fabulous scenes and events, Pajaro Verde is an unforgettable picture book story for young readers and would be a welcome addition to any school or community library collection.

This is a very interesting version of Cinderella and I really like the fact that it is a truly bilingual book. Great for elementary school libraries.

This children's classic is beautifully written and illustratedin both English and Spanish, which makes it truly unique andextraordinary. Many books are translated into other languages from English but this book was written in both lanuages and reflects the culture of the southwestern United States and Mexico.

I am sharing this reading experience with my four year old granddaughter. I highly recommend you share it with a child that you love.

Marta C.Valdez-Menchaca; Grover J. Whitehurst. ?Accelerating Language Development through Picture Book Reading: a Systematic Extension to Mexican Day Care. Developmental Psychology, 28.6(1992):1106 Hayes, Joe. Estrellita de Oro Little Gold Star. Illus. El Paso Texas: Cinco Puntos Press, 2000

A Cultural Wonder Gold Star is a picture book that takes the classic tale of Cinderella and adds the Mexican heritage to it. Arcìa is the young heroin of the story. She begs her father to marry her neighbor, Margarita because Margarita is so nice to her. Finally the father agrees and marries her. Margarita turns out to be a bad person who only cares for her two daughters. Arcìa?s father buys all the girls a sheep so that they can raise and take care of them so that later they can shear and sell them. Each girl takes her sheep to bathe at a river where they meet a hawk. Arcìa is nice to the hawk and receives a gold star on her head but the other two sisters are mean to the hawk. One gets a donkey ear while the other gets a greenhorn. When it is time for the ball the sisters cover their obscenities and go. Since Arcìa doesn?t have any shoes or nice clothes, she goes and watches from a window. As in most Cinderella tales, the Prince goes on a hunt, but this prince goes on a hunt for the girl with the golden star. Arcìa marries the prince, and they live happily ever after. Joe Hayes retells the classic story of Cinderella with a Mexican her flair. On the last page of the book Hayes tells us that Cinderella was very popular in the mountain communities of New Mexico. This version, he says, retains most of the traditional details. This includes the golden star on the forehead. Hayes says that the symbolic reward of the golden star on the forehead appears almost in every episode, but the star is more central in his tale. Also in most traditional versions, a fish takes the wool, the sheep is slaughtered and his intestines are stolen. Hayes says that these details where a bit too gruesome for a picture book. The blessed virgin (the fairy godmother) who usually guides the girl does not appear in Hayes?s story. He says that he based his story on a plot form that doesn?t require her intervention. This book combines the Mexican culture and a classic fairy tale. The wonderful illustrations add life to the story. Mother and daughter painted the story illustrations. Gloria Osuna Perez did the first three pages because she was sick with ovarian cancer. Her daughter, Lucia Angela Perez, did the last twelve illustrations in honor of her mother. The oil painted illustrations show a part of Mexican culture. Being panted by the Perezs they put their heritage and soul into the illustrations. Any child will enjoy these wonderful drawings. I enjoyed this rendition of Cinderella. Arcìa didn?t need a godmother-like character to help her. She did it with her own will and personality. The book deals more with the human spirit and the power it has. Arcìa is kind hearted and doesn?t think about herself. Even when Margarita doesn?t give her new shoes or nice gowns, Arcìa doesn?t complain or show any remorse. Her kind heart is what gets the golden star put upon her forehead. This book can be used to help young children learn. By using Spanish or any other language in reading a child can learn and interact more with the picture book . The book is written in both Spanish and English, which helps readers easily learn a new language. Foreign languages are being taught in elementary schools and they are required to get into most colleges. If a child is taught young, he will have a better grasp on the language when he is older. This picture book would be a good way for a child to be introduced to another culture and language. I enjoyed reading this book. Seeing Cinderella written from Mexican heritage is educational as well as enjoyable. The illustrations are as wonderful as the story.

This is a punctuation lesson in the form a mystery book. I wish I had read it in grade school or high school. After reading it, I found remembering the proper way to punctuate much easier. It is not as well written as an Agatha Christie mystery, but I cannot think of a more entertaining way to learn.

Joe Devine teaches grammar and punctuation through stories. As a skydiver with 1,206 jumps, I love the story of the parachute where the canopy was replaced in the container with popcorn (she landed safely in a haystack).

Anyway, writers will enjoy Joe's financial experience in publishing and this will give you an idea as to his writing.

Human Costs of Literary Creation Finally Revealed

Everybody knows the price of a book, but how many know the cost? For the first time ever the human costs of writing have been measured in dollars and cents. The heartaches, the sacrifices, the psychic bruises-they're all there. Herewith the human costs of the 2,042 first printing of Commas Are Our Friends by Joe Devine:

1. The agony of creation, the anguish of being a sensitive artist in a harsh and cruel world $4,415.99 2. The sting of anonymity, the pain of not being lionized by total strangers $1,831.35 3. The aching injustice of not receiving a large advance from greedy, money﷓mad publishers $3,965.08 4. The annoyance of having people insist that the book be published before they pay for it $2,942.74 5. The hurt and humiliation of not making even one pre﷓publication bestseller list $2,627.50 6. The shock of being snubbed by the Pulitzer Prize Committee $3,500.00 7. The misery of receiving a balanced, perceptive and completely honest review $4,726.13 8. Fresh, creative, original ideas $3.41

Total: $24,012.20

There you have it. Figures don't lie. The human costs come to $11.76 per book, but Commas Are Our Friends retails for $11.95. That leaves a profit of $.19 a copy, thus honoring Dr. Johnson's dictum: "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money".

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this fun book. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.