Urrea 1

ECE 261 - 3001

Short Form (All Genres)

Your Name: Carol-Rose Urrea

Title: Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale Author: Carmen Agra Deedy

Illustrator: Michael Allen Austin Publisher/Year: 2007

Genre: Folklore

Summarize the content of the book –

A. For Fiction Form Genres—Explain the characters, the setting, theme and plot of the
book.

• A female cockroach named Martina has reached the age of when a cockroach is
supposed to look for a husband. Martina’s abuela gives her advice on how to find the
right suitor (the proud, overbearing rooster, the slovenly pig, the cold-blooded,
creepy lizard, and Perez, the sweet and diminutive mouse); this story portrays a
fantasized version of an old Cuban tradition of the coffee spill test in the search for
finding a proper mate which at first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela's suggestion,
but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green
cockroach can ever find true love. I found there to be more than one theme in this
story, that being, kindness, respect, forgiveness, and differences, however, the main
one would be, picking a partner or friend based on the way they treat you all the time
not just the good times.

Explain how the book appeals to children, their interests, developmental levels, fun
illustrations etc. Give specific examples from the book:

• Martina the Beautiful Cockroach is a humorous narrative and the characters, although
they are cockroaches, they are beautiful and loveable. The illustrations are vibrant
and lushly colored with details that would catch a young readers eye. Some examples
of the humor in the story are the age of a cockroach to get married is being 21 days
old instead of 21 years, or the fact that Martina does not give her hand in marriage,
but her leg.
 Urrea 2
ECE 261 - 3001
Rate the book 1 2 3

Explain your rating.

• I rate Martina the Beautiful Cockroach a 3 because it amusing, yet heartwarming and
intrudes children to another new culture in creative, cute way.