Reviews: (by author)

Mora, Pat. Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. Illus. Raul Colón. New York : Knopf, 2005. $15.95

Meet Doña Flor, a larger-than-life heroine in the tradition of Paul Bunyan and Slue-Foot Sue. In this captivating and beautifully illustrated tale, Doña Flor defends her little village against the threat of a giant puma. As the tale begins, everything is tranquil in her pueblo. Doña Flor makes tortillas for the whole town every day. They're so big that people can use the extras for roofing or rafting. But suddenly her friends both human and animal grow fearful and reluctant to venture outside. They all hear the sound of a giant mountain lion circling their village in search of a meal. Doña Flor sets out to find the cat, but day after day her search is fruitless and her neighbors stay hidden in their houses. Finally, she calls upon her animal friends to find out where the cat could be lurking. Following their advice, she creeps quietly up to the tallest mesa and there she spies a little puma roaring into a huge hollow log. The log acts like a megaphone and the little cat's roar echoes hugely up and down the valley, terrifying all who hear it and amusing him to no end. Once the mystery has been explained, the villagers breathe a collective sigh of relief and Doña Flor takes a well-deserved rest in a bed made of soft, puffy clouds.

This is a beautiful book in every sense. The story has a gentle, timeless rhythm that will bear re-reading over and over again. The narrative is sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases that add to the musical quality of the text. Raul Colón's astonishing illustrations combine watercolor washes, etching and colored and litho pencils to create singularly mesmerizing images of Doña Flor and her magical world.

- Mark Janssen, March 2006

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