Pedro came from a family of artists who created papier-mâché sculptures. With newspaper, cardboard and glue, they made piñatas, masks and mojigangas, giant puppets used in parades and festivals in Mexico. As a boy, he helped his family by collecting newspapers in the neighborhood. When he got older, he began making the large figures himself. The family had to make new ones every year because all the mojigangas were burned after the events!
One day, Pedro became very sick. He had a high fever, slept a lot and had very scary nightmares. In his dreams, the giant puppets came to life and chased him. But suddenly, fierce animals with long, sharp teeth and claws came to his defense and ate up all the monsters! The animals called themselves alebrijes. When he was well, he began to recreate the beasts from his dream using paper and glue; he painted his creations with bright colors and intricate patterns. Soon, people came from all over to buy Pedro’s monster eaters.
Loosely based on the life of artist Pedro Linares, this bilingual picture book for young readers pairs the fascinating origin story of one of Mexico’s most well-known folk arts with striking illustrations of the magical creatures. This is a perfect choice for parents and teachers interested in sharing the world of art with their kids.
Winner, 2024 Salinas de Alba Award for Latino Children’s Literature
Mención de honor, 2024 Premio Campoy-Ada de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (en la categoría de no ficción infantil, Latino-Céntrica)
“Kids will relate to Pedro’s story, seeing themselves as contributors to their family’s day-to-day life, struggling with nightmares and using creativity and art to solve a conflict. Unalt strikes a great balance, making parts of the story truly terrifying and showing how the otherworldly alebrijes sprang from the boy’s imagination. Pedro and his family have brown skin. VERDICT: An engaging and bright treatment of a Mexican sculptor that will inspire burgeoning artists, purchase this bilingual book for elementary collections.”—School Library Journal
“Purchase this book for your library for a variety of reasons—the subject matter, dual language presentation and the beautiful illustrations. Students will be curious to explore more about the artist and the medium after such a wonderful introduction.”—South Sound Book Review Council
XEQUINA MARÍA BERBÉR is the author of Santora, the Good Daughter (Xipactli, 2001), The Mermaid Girl (Bedazzled Ink, 2013) and a collection of short stories, The Only Female Cross Dresser in Memphis (Bedazzled Ink, 2021), and she co-edited Dispatches from Lesbian America (Bedazzled Ink, 2017). She has master’s degrees in library and information science and women’s spirituality. A traditional Mexican healer, she lives in Oakland, California.
C. Rod. Unalt has illustrated numerous children’s books, including ¡A bailar! / Let’s Dance! (Piñata Books, 2017), educational textbooks and publications such as Spider Magazine. An assistant professor and program director of a BFA Illustration program in New Jersey, she earned her MFA in Illustration at the University of Hartford.
