Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale

Martina can now be visited at her very own webspace! http://www.beautifulmartina.com

Written by Carmen Agra Deedy
Illustrated by Michael Austin
Peachtree Publishers; 2007

11-5/8 x 10 inches; 32 pages - full color throughout.
Available in both English and Spanish!

Martina the beautiful cockroach doesn’t know coffee beans about love and marriage. That’s where her Cuban family comes in. While some of the Cucarachas offer her gifts to make her more attractive, only Abuela, her grandmother, gives her something really useful: un consejo increíble, some shocking advice.

“You want me to do what?” Martina gasps.

At first, Martina is skeptical of her Abuela’s unorthodox suggestion, but when suitor after suitor fails the Coffee Test, she wonders if a little green cockroach can ever find true love. Soon, only the gardener Pérez, a tiny brown mouse, is left. But what will happen when Martina offers him café cubano?

After reading this sweet and witty retelling of the Cuban folktale, you’ll never look at a cockroach the same way again.