Grandpa Luis loves to have his grandchildren, Alejandra, Daniel, and Benjamin, visit him in his hometown of Chimayo, New Mexico, and is happy to make a fresh batch of homemade tortillas whenever the children want them. One morning, Grandpa Luis leaves a tortilla on the griddle too long, almost burning it. Grandma puts the crunchy tortilla aside for Grandpa's lunch quesadilla, but not before the children discover something very unusual about the tortilla. Benjamin has seen the perfect shape of a bear, but Daniel swears he saw a dolphin. When Alejandra goes for a second look, all three of them watch as the body of the bear changes into a dolphin and then into a coyote right before their eyes. Word spreads quickly and soon the neighborhood children are clamoring to see animals appear in the magic tortilla. Through a child's lens, this lighthearted bilingual tale presents the contemporary phenomenon of sacred and mundane objects appearing on everyday items like doors, walls, toast or, in this case, a tortilla.

 

This book was recognised in the Young Readers category by the New Mexico Book Award.

There are 32 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by University of New Mexico Press .

Demetria Martinez is a journalist, novelist, poet, activist, lecturer, and columnist. She is the author of Mother Tongue , winner of the Western States Book Award for Fiction, and Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana , which won the 2006 International Latino Book Award for best biography. This is her first children's book. |Rosalee Montoya-Read is a freelance writer, poet, and author. Her numerous works of poetry and short stories have been published both in English and Spanish. This is her first children's book.