7. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, by Carmen Agra Deedy

 

7. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, by Carmen Agra Deedy

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Agra Deedy

Deedy, C.A. (2007). Martina the beautiful cockroach. Peachtree Publishers

This is a re-telling on a Cuban folk tale. In this story, we meet Martina, a beautiful cockroach. It was Martina’s time to begin looking for a husband.  Her family began giving her gifts.  Her grandmother gave her advice.  She told her granddaughter to spill coffee on her suitor's shoes.  How he reacts will tell her how they will react when they become angry.  She had a rooster suitor, a pig suitor, a lizard suitor, but they all became terribly angry when she spilled coffee on their shoes.  Her final suitor, a mouse named Perez, passed the coffee test.  She did not need to spill coffee on him, because he was going to spill coffee on her.

I would use this story the teach about folktales.  In the definition of a folktale, it is a traditional story passed down from generation to generation.  Martina’s grandmother passed down the advice to test her suitors to see their worth.  Folktales usually have a universal truth or lesson at the end.  If the protagonist does not follow the advice of the wise elder of the group, something bad will happen. In the story, Martina is given the advice to test her possible husbands to see their true character so she will not have to live a life of misery.

This book could also be used in science by studying cockroaches, and social studies by learning about Havana and the Cuban culture. The link below is to the teacher pages of the book itself.  It has 4 or 5 good activities that can be used when sharing this story with students.

https://martinathebeautifulcockroach.weebly.com/teacher-page.html

 

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