Doña Flor is a giant woman who lives in a puebla with lots of families. She loves her neighbors–she lets the children use her flowers for trumpets, and the families use her leftover tortillas for rafts. So when a huge puma is terrifying the village, of course Flor is the one to investigate. Featuring Spanish words and phrases throughout, as well as a glossary, Pat Mora’s story, along with Raúl Colón’s glorious artwork, makes this a treat for any reader, tall or small. Award-winning author Pat Mora’s previous book with Raúl Colón, Tomás and the Library Lady, received the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, an IRA Teacher’s Choice Award, a Skipping Stones Award, and was also named a Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List title and an Americas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature commended title. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
- ISBN: 9780375823374
- Author: Mora, Pat
- Published: 2005 , Knopf Books for Young Readers
- Themes: English-Spanish, Hispanic culture, Humor, Tall Tale
- Descriptors: Folklore and Fairy Tales, Latinx in US, Picture Book, Primary (ages 6-9), Pura Belpré, Southwest, United States
- No. of pages: 40
Although Doña Flor is a tall tale, I found that students are able to relate to the main character (a woman that is larger than life) and even learn lessons from this fantastical story. For instance, the fact that Doña Flor is able to speak different languages in order to communicate with both people and animals is one culturally relevant theme which resonates with bilingual learners; bilingual students are able to negotiate between different ways of speaking and they also understand the numerous benefits of learning more than one language, as demonstrated by Doña Flor. After reading this story, one important lesson that students come away with is the deceptive nature of appearance. In other words, you should not judge anyone based on the way they look because you are often proven to be wrong. Doña Flor illustrates that a person’s character is far more important than a person’s exterior.