Book Review: El Niño que Era Muy Hombre
Author: Andreu Martin
Date: 1991
Publisher: Anaya
ISBN: 84-207-4495-6
Length: 78 pages
Illustrations: colorful cartoons by Francesc Rovira
Quote: “Había una vez un niño que quería ser pirata. Y había un pirata que no quería ser niño...el pirata y el niño eran la misma persona.”
In the 1670s our fictional hero, the orphan Roger Rawley, is bound out to Captain Malatormenta. Roger tried to prove himself a real man who was always tough and never cried. After surviving a shipwreck, Roger found himself sharing an island, apparerntly near South America, with a family of religious fanatics who even tried to make peace with the natives. In order to live with them, he has to give up his tough macho-man habits and “be a boy” again.
Many writers and readers would say that this is a story for older readers, and necessarily loses a great deal when cut down to picture-book length. The payoff is that, although El Niño Que Era Muy Hombre was published for children in Spain, it’s accessible to high school and college students learning Spanish as a second language.
In addition to the cartoons, this book also includes a tune to be hummed, whistled, or sung in two-part harmony.
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