Jan M. Mike

This is our fifth Legends of the World book and we have loved every one of them!! This volume finds us in Puerto Rico, spending time with Juan Bobo, a young shepherd and we learn almost immediately that Juan Bobo is a fool, a simpleton, a dunce...bobo means fool in Spanish after all, we are told. As we join the story, a creature has been trampling the kings wheat fields at night and the king has decided that it must be guarded each night by a different man, unfortunately each in turn falls show more asleep and none discover what is trampling the wheat. It comes to Juan Bobo's turn and he figures he can do no worse than the others...they all fell asleep. He takes his bread and honey for dinner and makes such a mess of it that he's covered in ant bites shortly after he lays down to sleep. These bites keep him up, despite his strong desire to sleep and it is in this way that he manages to find and catch the animal that has been trampling the kings wheat.

The horse of seven colors offers to leave the field if Juan Bobo will let him go and will also give him 7 hairs from his rainbow coat if he'll let him go...Bobo agrees. As the horse flies off he tells Juan that each hair will grant him one wish. Upon returning home and telling the story to his siblings they mock him for letting the horse go, the king would have paid handsomely and they'd all be rich, but no Juan is such a bobo that he messes it all up for them. They then leave to the palace to see if they can make the princess laugh for a reward.

Despite this treatment by his siblings, Juan sets out to see how his siblings are fairing with the princess...along the way he inadvertently makes all but one of his wishes...with mixed and humorous results...and in the end, Juan turns out to be the best bobo possible...and happy too! It's a fun story with a moral to it that I think is well done in this Puerto Rican legend. Highly enjoyable reading for all ages!

What I like about this series is that the language is simple and straightforward, even if the point is a bit sometimes ambiguous...and the illustrations are a riot of color, giving the story a rich and vibrant feel! We enjoyed this tale and I would recommend this book without hesitation!

Overall, I think this series is a great basic introduction to a wide array of stories from many cultures the world over...a jumping off point also for kids to research more into the culture and mythology, legend and/or folklore of any given place. I'd recommend this for introducing young children to mythology and folklore. The age range cited is 9-12 which is probably the range of kids who would most appreciate and benefit from the story and additional information provided...but even younger kids (say 5-8) will love the stories and vivid, colorful illustrations...the stores aren't so complex or long that they will lose interest in them. I would definitely buy this for my permanent collection and hope to read more from this series soon! I give it a solid A...kids of all ages can enjoy this tale! show less

Enjoyable as Always! , January 30, 2007


At this point, the Legends of the World Series is rather like an old friend...we can almost always count on our experience being pleasant, informative and fun...and that is the case with The Gift of the Nile: An Ancient Egyptian Legend. This time out we are introduced to Mutenwia a girl given to the Pharaoh by her father, as a gift. Though she is plain, she is honest and kind and soon becomes the Pharaoh's closest friend and advisor. Over time, she show more becomes terribly homesick and tells the Pharaoh of this. He is deeply hurt that he misses her old life more than she has missed him while he is away...he also begins to find it hard to be happy and enjoy life without Mutenwia as part of it and asks his Magician for counsel. The legend goes on and ultimately Pharaoh confesses to her that she is his truest friend and confidant and he cannot bear for her to leave, as a compromise, he gives her the freedom wants and grants her a home near the palace so that they might forever be close to one another.

Overall, the Gift of the Nile: An Ancient Egyptian Legend reminds me very much of Muti's Necklace (with minor variations). While I enjoyed Muti's strong character, this version is, I think closer to the traditional version. The illustrations are about par for the course for this series and far less lush and vivid than in Muti's Necklace, but still quite nice, though the lack of mouths throughout was somewhat distressing and eyes were either depicted as slits or fish (a little strange)...I'm not sure what the author/illustrator hoped to convey with these visuals. I give it four stars, it's a lovely story and the illustrations match the text quite well, but it's not as engaging as some of the others in this series have been. One final note, each book in this series comes with a one page summary of the legend, including other names it's been called and a bit about the history how the story developed and what its significance is, so you don't just get the story...you get the context as well! This is something that I really enjoy in this series and it's one of the reasons that I recommend it. show less

Juan Bobo is a silly man, but when he sets a magical horse free he receives seven wishes. We follow along as he uses his wishes and ends up a happy man.

A retelling of a Cora Indian legend about Iguana who takes fire away from people and Opossum who gets it back. An interesting version of the trickster steals fire folklore motif.