The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America: A TOON Graphic

The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America has three traditional stories in a graphic format. Although I had not heard these stories before, two of them – “The Dragon Slayer” and “Tup and the Ants” – remind me of fairy tales from other cultures. The best part of the title story is that the character of the dragon slayer is a girl. That surprised me! Instead of the usual hero requesting the princess’ hand in marriage, in this version the heroine demands as her reward to marry the prince. Of course, they do live happily ever after because she is a very good queen.

My mom doesn’t read comics to us, but she read these stories to my little brother because they are so good. He really likes copying the cartoon drawings from the last story, “Tup and the Ants.” Tup is the youngest of three brothers, but he is smart. He gets ants to help him do hard tasks like clearing and planting a field, so he becomes the best son-in-law.

The cover shows all the characters marching together, like they are all friends. This is a great book for kids of any age, whether they can read or not, because the stories and the drawings are terrific!