Overview
Once upon a time no creatures on Earth died. But they had baby after baby, and before long the world grew crowded. Death decided to solve the problem by challenging everyone to a skip-rope contest — as an immortal, Death won every time, and one by one everyone succumbed to her dare. Soon, every living being knew Death. This intriguing fable is based on Francisco Toledo's series of engravings of Death, a dominant figure in Mexican culture. Toledo, the heir to the great generation of Mexican artists that included Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, has imaginatively explored this integral part of life, and his entrancing images are matched by poetic text from his wife Natalia.
Synopsis
Once upon a time no creatures on Earth died. But they had baby after baby, and before long the world grew crowded. Death decided to solve the problem by challenging everyone to a skip-rope contest — as an immortal, Death won every time, and one by one everyone succumbed to her dare. Soon, every living being knew Death. This intriguing fable is based on Francisco Toledo's series of engravings of Death, a dominant figure in Mexican culture. Toledo, the heir to the great generation of Mexican artists that included Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, has imaginatively explored this integral part of life, and his entrancing images are matched by poetic text from his wife Natalia.
Gisela Norat - Criticas
Gr 4-6Peoples of Mexico embrace death as a natural part of life. This cultural element does not translate into English as easily as the original Zapotec on which the Spanish version in this picture book is based. Portrayed in a myriad of sinister skeletons in somber earth tones, Death is out to rid the Earth of its inhabitants. The savvy protagonist devices a jump-rope contest knowing that no opponent will be able to keep up. Man is the first to lose the dare, and Death, confident of its strategy, puts on its shoes to take on a series of animals. The grasshopper is the only one to outwit Death by pretending to jump rope while actually sitting on it instead. In a rage, Death takes off without the shoes. That s why, to this day, Death arrives silently (with a light foot) and why grasshoppers jump. A note to contextualize the topic culturally for non-Mexican readers could avoid associating the tale with Halloween. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Editorials
Criticas
Gr 4-6Peoples of Mexico embrace death as a natural part of life. This cultural element does not translate into English as easily as the original Zapotec on which the Spanish version in this picture book is based. Portrayed in a myriad of sinister skeletons in somber earth tones, Death is out to rid the Earth of its inhabitants. The savvy protagonist devices a jump-rope contest knowing that no opponent will be able to keep up. Man is the first to lose the dare, and Death, confident of its strategy, puts on its shoes to take on a series of animals. The grasshopper is the only one to outwit Death by pretending to jump rope while actually sitting on it instead. In a rage, Death takes off without the shoes. That’s why, to this day, Death arrives silently (with a light foot) and why grasshoppers jump. A note to contextualize the topic culturally for non-Mexican readers could avoid associating the tale with Halloween. Highly recommended for all libraries.
—Gisela Norat
School Library Journal
Gr 1-4- The elder Toledo is a contemporary Mexican artist from the Zapotec tradition, and his daughter has fashioned a fable from a series of his drawings. In a far-off time when both people and animals lived on and on, Death decrees that the Earth is becoming too full and determines to do something about it. She invites people and animals to jump rope with her, and those who exhaust themselves die while she keeps on skipping. The plan works for a while, beginning with a little man whose shoes Death appropriates for herself after he expires. Many animals skip rope and die, until Grasshopper gets the better of Death. This pourquoi tale explains why Grasshoppers jump so much and why Death is so light-footed. The text includes little jump-rope rhymes that Death recites to his victims. Amado deserves credit for not trying to translate the Spanish literally, but to create an English text that works on its own. While Toledo is a fine artist who works in multiple mediums, his work would be much more at home in a gallery than it is in a children's book. The illustrations are absolutely too frightening for most youngsters. This book would be most appropriate for collections of Mexican fine art.-Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ
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