Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn t know coffee beans about love and marriage. That s where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increíble, some shocking advice.

You want me to do what? Martina gasps.

At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela s unorthodox suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love. Soon, only the gardener Pérez, a tiny brown mouse, is left. But what will happen when Martina offers him café cubano?

After reading this sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale, you ll never look at a cockroach the same way again....

In June of 2002, a very unusual ceremony begins in a far-flung village in western Kenya.
An American diplomat is surrounded by hundreds of Maasai people. A gift is about to be bestowed on the American men, women, and children, and he is there to accept it. The gift is as unsought and unexpected as it is extraordinary.

A mere nine months have passed since the September 11 attacks, and hearts are raw. Tears flow freely from American and Maasai as these legendary warriors offer their gift to a grieving people half a world away.

Word of the gift will travel news wires around the globe. Many will be profoundly touched, but for Americans, this selfless gesture will have deeper meaning still. For a heartsick nation, the gift of fourteen cows emerges from the choking dust and darkness as a soft light of hope_and friendship.

Master storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy hits all the right notes in this elegant story of generosity that crosses boundaries, nations, and cultures. An afterword by Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah_the Maasai warrior at the center of the story_provides additional information about his tribe and their generous actions. Thomas Gonzalez_s stunning paintings, which are saturated with rich hues of oranges and browns, and blues and greens, capture the modest nobility of the Maasai people and the distinctive landscape of the African plain.
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Carmen Agra Deedy's sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale will ensure that you'll never look at a cockroach the same way again. Each compact disc includes Carmen's storytelling performance and her narrations in English and Spanish, with teh sounds of musical instruments as page-turn prompts....

"Sunrise Elementary School had a big problem. Their new librarian, Miss Lotta Scales, was a real dragon." Miss Lotta is so consumed with her responsibility to the books that she is determined not to let any children near them. "She kept a fiery eye out to make sure no one removed any books from the shelves.... The very thought of sticky little fingers touching and clutching, pawing and clawing, smearing and tearing her precious books just made her hot under the collar."

Not even sweet Miss Lemon, the kindergarten teacher, could convince Miss Scales that "the library belongs to the children." Fortunately, Molly Brickmeyer wanders into the library and begins reading aloud ("Snuff the Magic Dragon," of course). The children cautiously gather around her, then Miss Lotta Scales's scales begin to fall, and the library dragon is quietly transformed into Miss Lotty, librarian and storyteller. However, she retains some of her dragon qualities. For, as Deedy says, "Every librarian has to be a little bit of a dragon - or else, WHO WOULD GUARD THE BOOKS?"...