OLOYOU

Billed a Yoruba myth by the publisher and presented in parallel English and Spanish renditions, this tale from a Cuban storyteller and priestess of the Santería religion explains the origin of comets and the stars. Made from a cloud, the first creature fashioned by God is playful Oloyou the Cat. Having fallen into the “depths of Nothing,” Oloyou meets and falls in love with fish-tailed Kandili, daughter of gruff Okún Aró, the infinite sea. So great is Okún Aró’s displeasure with the romance that he tosses both into the “infinite heights,” where Kandili’s sparkling dark hair spreads to fill the firmament and Oloyou becomes the comet that “leaps through the night sky.” Applying paint thinly to let the texture of the canvas come through, Sada fashions shadowy, stylized scenes featuring a fuzzy white cat, a dark-skinned mermaid and a sea god who is a blue-skinned giant on some pages and an eerie red mask on others. Cárdenas supplies no source note, but her simple, good-humored tale will appeal to young readers and listeners. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)