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Big Moon Tortilla

Name: Big Moon Tortilla
Author: Joy Cowley
ISBN: 9781590780374

by Joy Cowley, Dyanne Strongbow

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Overview

Marta Enos is having a bad day. It begins when the wind blows her homework out the window and the dogs chew it to pieces. Her grandmother consoles her with a tortilla as "big and pale as a rising full moon," along with ancient words of advice. This charming story, set on a Papago reservation in southern Arizona near the Mexican border, offers Native American wisdom that helps children--and adults as well--put their problems in perspective.

Joy Cowley, the award-winning author of Mrs. Wishy-Washy, has written more than three hundred books, including The Rusty, Trusty Tractor; The Video Shop Sparrow; and Mrs. Goodstory. She lives with her husband in New Zealand.

Dyanne Strongbow has won national awards for her beautiful watercolor paintings. She lives with her husband in New Mexico.

Synopsis

Marta Enos has been working hard on her homework and is hungry for a taste of Grandmother's big moon tortillas, "the best in the world". But as she rushes out to the cookhouse, disasters happen. Her homework blows out the window and is ruined by dogs. She drops her glasses and breaks them. Grandmother comforts her broken-hearted granddaughter with the wisdom of an old healing song: "When we have problem, we must choose what we shall be". Marta chooses to fly high and laugh at her problems, like the eagle. Set in a contemporary Tohono O'odham (Papago) village, Joy Cowley's gentle story contains a valuable message for everyone. Dyanne Strongbow's vibrant paintings capture the rugged beauty of the American southwestern desert.

Children's Literature

Disaster strikes when Marta's homework papers fly out the window, are chewed up by a dog and then her eyeglasses break. Grandmother soothes Marta with a healing story. "See yourself as a tree, a mountain lion, or an eagle to get a new perspective on your problem." As Marta eats the fresh tortilla, she knows she will be an eagle and laugh at the small problems down below. Good advice for us all. The setting is a contemporary Tohono O'odham (Papago) village in Arizona. Serve this story with warm tortillas and a hint of salsa.

About the Author, Joy Cowley

Joy Cowley has written more than 650 books for children. She lives in New Zealand with her husband. When she's not writing, Joy likes to spend time cooking, spinning wool and knitting, painting, playing the piano, making wooden bowls and platters, and any activity to do with the sea.

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Editorials

Children's Literature

Marta Enos is distracted by her Grandmother's cooking tortillas when disaster strikes. Her homework takes flight and her glasses are broken during the ensuing recovery attempt. Brokenhearted, Marta is comforted by Grandmother, the words of a wise healing song and a warm tortilla. Joy Cowley's beautifully illustrated story contains a lovely message about viewing and resolving those disasters that blow through everyone's life. 1998, Boyds Mills Press. Ages 4 to 8. Reviewer: Julie Eick Granchelli

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

Children's Literature - Uma Krishnaswami

Disaster strikes when Marta Enos and her feet scurry away from homework and toward Grandmother's fresh and fragrant tortillas. But Grandmother consoles Marta, saying, "Hush! Hush! If you cry so much you'll put out the fire." The old lady's metaphors of comfort draw upon the desert and its plants and animals, and pretty soon Marta Enos and her feet begin to dance again. Marta Enos doesn't actually resolve her problem quite on her own, but she's a spirited little protagonist anyway. In Strongbow's watercolors the muted tones of the desert take on the luster of the big moon itself.

School Library Journal

Set on a Papago reservation in Arizona, young Marta's story unfolds across a watercolor desert landscape and in the warm, brown arms of her grandmother. The child's problems seem simple: her homework has blown away and her glasses have broken. Her grandmother teaches her how to face these small disasters with a sense of possibility and choice. (Gr 2-5) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.