The Day it Snowed Tortillas: Folktales told in English and Spanish by Joe Hayes

Kids of all ages are always asking Joe Hayes, "How can it snow tortillas?" Well, now they’ll know where to find the answer—at long last, Joe’s signature book The Day It Snowed Tortillas is appearing in this new bilingual edition. Bloomsbury Review listed the original English-only edition as one of their fifteen all-time favorite children’s books. Our bilingual edition has all the original stories as they have evolved in the last twenty years of Joe’s storytelling. It also has new illustrations by award-winning artist Antonio Castro. Storytellers have been telling these stories in the villages of New Mexico since the Spanish first came to the New World over four hundred years ago, but Joe always adds his own nuances for modern audiences. The tales are full of magic and fun. In the title story, for instance, a very clever woman saves her silly husband from a band of robbers. She makes the old man believe it snowed tortillas during the night! In another story, a young boy gladly gives up all of his wages for good advice. His parents think he is a fool, but the good advice leads to wealth and a royal marriage. The enchantment continues in story after story—a clever thief tricks a king for his kingdom and a prince finds his beloved in a house full of wicked step-sisters. And of course, we listen again to the ancient tale of the weeping woman, La Llorona, who still searches for her drowned children along the riverbanks.
Joe Hayes is one of America’s premier storytellers. He is especially recognized for his bilingual telling of stories from the Hispanic culture of northern New Mexico. Joe lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and travels extensively throughout the United States, visiting schools and storytelling festivals.

*taken from Amazon.com*

Book Specs:

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press; 1 edition (October 1, 2003)
Language: English, Spanish
ISBN-10: 0938317768
ISBN-13: 978-0938317760

What a fun fun book to read. This book contained funny and scary stories. Some that you knew were fake and others that taught a good lesson. I am a little confused as to the reading age: I wouldn't necessarily call this a YA novel, but I was assigned to read it as one, and after the class discussion will probably have more to add. For now, I would recommend this as a fun novel for all ages.