Xavier Garza

When Nikko flexes his imagination, his bed becomes a wresting ring and his masked luchadores come to life, uno tras otro, hasta hay diez. Their máscaras are gorgeously painted, and the Nikko's insipid commentary pales by comparison. While the simple, repetitive text does lend itself to learning to read English or Spanish, it's not dynamic enough for story time. Perform the more evocative Niño Wrestles the World instead, and book-talk this one for the hard-core aficionados a la lucha libre.

Santa Claus doesn't have the time to visit the homes of the Mexican kids along the border, so he hires his Mexican cousin to do the job. Am I the only one bothered by that?

Still, it's an entertaining book. And I highly recommend it (despite my rating for it). Xavier Garza is a brilliant writer and the art that accompanies the story is just as great. It's delightful, humorous, and gives a sneak peek of a culture that is usually the basis of misconceptions. Garza even gives insight on the show more inspiration for the tale. "Sí, Virginia, hay un Charro Claus. Y su nombre es Pancho Claus." show less

Short, scary stories with Latino sabor featuring La Llorona, lucha libre with the Devil, and even patron saint candles. These stories can serve as read-alouds at camps or in classes (Llorona 9-1-1 is a good one) but there are a couple stories with guns and graphic bloody scenes. Kids love to be scared to death by the gross and morbid, but choose wisely based on your audience.

This book was such a sweet read, the plot was very endearing and I think something very relatable to a boy at that age. I know when my brother was younger, he was obsessed with wrestling at that age…so not only was the book relatable but it contained a cute plot and the pictures were even cuter, the way they were drawn and painted. Very easy, and cute read.