Del Sol Books provides the best Spanish/English/Bilingual Children's Books/CDs/DVDs, featuring Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, and Suni Paz

A mysterious and captivating tale explaining the origins of lightning. Something unearthly happens when a boy enters a forbidden cave, and no curandero can change him back to what he was. Only the nahual, a shape-changing magic worker, holds out hope: “You are destined to show the world something new.” Twenty years later, the young man now known as "Uncle Snake" finds out what that glorious something is.

The story begins: “Long ago, before there was lightning, stormy nights stayed as black as pitch. Thunder crackled, rain clouds burst. And one fearless boy would run outside to play. Up and down hills, he ran as swiftly as wind.  Once while it stormed, he found villagers gathered before a cave. Strange lights flickered from the cave, and people heard hissing and rattling from within. ‘That cave has an awful power,’ warned the boy’s father. ‘Don’t go in, or you may never come out.’  But the warning only made the boy curious, and one day he decided to sneak inside. The air in the cavern smelled damp and stale. Eyes peered out from among the rocks. The boy heard rattling above and below. Suddenly...”

“A wonderful original folktale...filled with curanderos, snakes and fiesta dances.” – School Library Journal

“A captivating tale, the resolution of which will bedazzle even the most impatient readers.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Richly complex...illustrations, this pourquoi tale is spooky and dramatically compelling.” – Booklist

“Stunning glazed watercolor illustrations on textured, bordered paper. Visually arresting.” – Contra Costa Times

“Poetic and challenging text...Highly recommended.” – Sonoma Country Independent

Publishers Weekly : Gollub and Martinez (The Moon Was at a Fiesta; The Twenty-five Mixtec Cats) pair up for a third and less successful effort, carving a new tale from ancient Mexican folklore. Their story also has ties to Oaxaca, Mexico, where it was believed that a snake in the sky brings about heavy rains. Here, a boy ventures into a forbidden cave and comes out with a snake head atop his human body. A nahual (magic worker) suggests a remedy, that the boy dance at every fiesta and wear a mask for 20 years. He obeys, but when he finally removes his mask he turns into a snake with a human head lightning which from then on lights up stormy Oaxacan skies. The beguiling connection between undulating, quick-striking snakes and flashes of lightning is overshadowed by the unexpectedly punitive ending and some annoying loose ends. On the bright side, Martinez's delicate watercolors are as fresh and eye-opening as usual, and his eerie, primitivist characters intensify the tale's supernatural flavor. Ages 5-up.

School Library Journal : Kindergarten-Grade 3 -A wonderful original folktale "inspired by an ancient belief in Oaxaca, Mexico, that a snake in the sky brings about heavy rains." Many years ago, a curious boy entered a forbidden cave where he saw a group of children with human heads and snakes' bodies. After leaving the cave, the boy himself became a human body with a snake's head. Attempting to return the boy to a fully human state, a nahual (shape-changing magic worker) provided him with a mask to wear for 20 years. After 20 years had passed, the boy, now known as Uncle Snake, removed his mask and found himself to be a snake with a human head. He then leapt into the sky, where he lives today. Now every time there is a storm, Uncle Snake flashes across the sky in the form of lightning. This folktale, filled with curanderos (folk healers), snakes, and fiesta dances, sets a decidedly Mexican mood, reinforced by Oaxacan artist Martinez's glowing earth tones and eerie folk images. Dramatic black-and-white borders surround the watercolors painted on textured paper and the text. Pair this tale with another Gollub/Martinez hit, The Moon Was at a Fiesta (Tambourine, 1994), for a captivating Southern Mexican story time.

Booklist : Ages 6-10. After going into the forbidden cave, where he discovers snakes with human heads (who are actually children who have been enchanted and cannot leave the cave), a young boy's face becomes that of a snake. He is told that for 20 years he must wear a mask and dance each year at the village fiesta. Twenty years later, the boy, now known as "Uncle Snake," returns to the cave and is transformed into a snake with a human head whose zigzagging leap into the sky is the lightning that heralds life-giving rain. Although inspired by the ancient Mexican belief that a snake in the sky brings the rain and incorporating other pre-Hispanic folklore elements (as explained in the author's note), this is another original folktale from the pair that created The Twenty-five Mixtec Cats (1993) and The Moon Was at a Fiesta (1994). With an authentic ethnic flavor and richly complex watercolor illustrations, this pourquoi tale is spooky and dramatically compelling, but there are some unsatisfactory lapses in the logic and gaps in the story line. No explanation is given for why the boy is not immediately transformed into a snake with a human head and trapped within the cave like the other enchanted children. More unsettling to young listeners, the story fails to make clear the fate of these cave snakes after they timidly tell Uncle Snake, "You go firssst, . . . but don't forget about usss!" For larger collections needing Mexican materials.

Kirkus Reviews : A murky, captivating tale based on the culture of Oaxaca, Mexico, from the team behind The Moon Was at a Fiesta (1994). Martinez's delightfully comic illustrations place readers solidly in the enchanted world of a tale that explains the origin of lightning. A boy who has ventured into a forbidden cave from which strange lights flicker during storms discovers the fate of former curious children--they have turned into snakes with human heads. When this happens to the boy, no curandero can heal him, but a nahual, a shape-shifting magic worker, gives him a mask to wear and outlines a 20-year program of prayer and dance, the successful completion of which will enable the boy to ``show the world something new.'' The resolution of his troubles will bedazzle even impatient youngsters, weary of the story's many arbitrary shifts. (Picture book/folklore. 5+)