UCU AND ITZO
By
The chief value of this book is its side-by-side rendering of text in English, and Spanish. The story concerns Ah Ucu, a Mayan Mexican boy of Yucatan who reluctantly defies his community's fear of ""The Little People"" (the underground creatures who control the growth of the crops) to feed his hungry pet mouse, Itzo, some corn during a poor season. The story has a simple, legend-like quality, but the art work is most unfortunate -- the natives! skin tone alternates between sick green and blistering red. Itzo is drawn as a mouse straight out of Disney's Cinderella. However the fact of the bi-lingual text may well be the deciding factor.