Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Doña Flor by Pat Mora, ill. Raul Colón

As it turns out, this is the second time we’ve done a Pat Mora/Raul Colón collaboration. With this book, though, we delve into a moment in children’s book publishing history when multi-ethnic tall tales were the name of the game. It’s been a while since we’ve done a legitimate honest-to-goodness folktale on this podcast. They were once the lifeblood of children’s libraries, and these days they are rare gems. This book came out during a rise of legitimately tall “tall tales” in picture books. I’m talking everything from Big Jabe to Swamp Angel (both of which we need to get to). We discuss the fact that this 2005 publication came out when books still italicized their Spanish language text. We also discuss the fact that this book can’t decide whether or not the potential antagonist of the piece is a puma or a mountain lion.

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Show Notes:

I mention that if you go on Pat Mora’s website you can find this video of her talking about educator responses to this book:

I also mention Bing’s Cherries by Livia Blackburne, illustrated by Julia Kuo, which is this year’s tall person tall tale. You really really should read it!

I feel like this is Danny and the Dinosaur territory because “we can ride you to school” is a similar theme.

And THIS reminds me a lot of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Mind you, what’s she putting in those tortillas to make them float like this?

Yes. I kept having this song going through my head as we read this.

Kate specializes in sassy suns in books. This one? She’s been suffering so much illness this year that she identifies deeply with “abused sun”.

Question of the Day: What does a giant woman use as a nail file? A mountain? A tree?

Interested in Mem Fox’s recipes on her website? Read on here!

Kate Recommends: How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix

Betsy Recommends: Zmzms Sweets

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate