59. Donna Flor: A Tale About A Giant Woman With A Great Big Heart, by Pat Mora

 

59. Donna Flor: A Tale About A Giant Woman With A Great Big Heart, by Pat Mora


Mora, P. (2005). Dona Flor: a tale about a giant woman with a great big heart.  NY: Alfred A. Knopf

Doña Flor is a giant lady who lives in a tiny village in the American Southwest. Popular with her neighbors, she lets the children use her flowers as trumpets and her leftover tortillas as rafts. Flor loves to read, too, and she can often be found reading aloud to the children. 

One day, all the villagers hear a terrifying noise: it sounds like a huge mountain lion bellowing just outside their village. Everyone is afraid, but not Flor. She wants to protect her beloved neighbors, so with the help of her animal friends, she sets off for the highest mesa to find the creature.  To her surprise it wasn’t a giant mountain lion, but a small puma kitten roaring through a log to make itself sound large.

This story is definitely a tall tale.  A giant woman that can pluck the stars, hug the wind and make tortillas that the villagers use as rafts. This is a good story to use when teaching about tall tales because it is a bit different than the traditional Paul Bunion stories. You could do a compare/contrast with this book and Paul Bunion.  I have two lesson plans links I am including.  The first is by a teacher Elizabeth Herrera.  The second is from the Día! Family Book Club site. 

 

https://www.patmora.com/images/dona-lesson-plan.pdf

http://dia.ala.org/sites/default/files/DiaCurriculum_4-8_Lesson7.pdf

 

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