Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale
By Carmen Agra Deedy and Michael Austin
This book is a Pura Belpre Honor book.
Martina the beautiful cockroach is ready to have suitors and choose one to marry. All of her relatives give her special things to help her in this quest, except her Cuban grandmother, who tells her to spill coffee on each suitor’s shoes to find out what they are really like. At first Martina is hesitant to follow her grandmother’s advice, but after the first suitor, the Rooster, shows his true colors when his feet get soaked with coffee, she decides it is good advice after all.
The Rooster, the Pig, and the Lizard all turn out to be hideous matches for Martina. She begins to think that there will be no one left to marry when she sees the small Mouse. She falls in love with him at first sight, but finally agrees to try the coffee trick because her grandmother expects it. She finds her true match when the Mouse beats her to the trick and spills his coffee on her shoes. He also has a Cuban grandmother who wants him to marry the best match for him.
This little story hit home with me when I read it because my husband had a Cuban grandmother when he and I were going together. She was just like the grandmother in the story, and we ended up taking much of her advice, since we couldn’t escape it anyway. Now that she has passed on to the next life, his half Cuban mother has taken up the duty to keep the family in line.
Deedy, C. A., & Austin, M. (2007). Martina the beautiful cockroach. Atlanta: Peachtree.
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