Karen Morgan (Booklist, December 1, 1996 (Vol. 93, No. 7))
In a picture-book format, this collection of 14 stories, some new, others familiar, provides readers with a sampling of traditional legends and folktales from Latin America, an area defined as beginning at the Rio Grande and extending to Tierra del Fuego. A majority of the stories are from Venezuela, Mexico, and Chile; half come from native people, and the remainder from later settlers and their descendants. Subjects of the stories range from haunted ships and witches to romance and humorous trickery. Full-page color illustrations by Luis Garay depict strong, dignified characters, but the pictures do not always seem consistent with the text: in a Chilean Indian legend, for example, people who have not yet discovered fire are pictured wearing sophisticated headgear and clothing. Sources are briefly cited and often refer to oral informants, but because the tales are so rich in detail and so culturally or regionally distinctive, more specific notes would have been welcomed. Category: Middle Readers. 1996, Douglas & McIntyre/Groundwood, $18.95. Gr. 5-8.