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Viva Zapata!
by Emilie Smith and Margarita Kenefio Tejada and
illustrated by Stefan Czernecki
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This charming, humorous tale with its striking black and white
illustrations stands on its own merits, but an afterword provides
contextual information that enlarges the story considerably. The young
protagonist, Emiliano, whom we meet as the tale begins, is in fact Emiliano Zapata, who will grow up to be a fighter for the rights of the poor and the leader of the Mexican Revolution.
This
book begins on the morning of Emiliano's seventh birthday when his
family's old mare, Lucita, gives birth to her last foal. “‘He's black
like a shadow,' said Emiliano. ‘I'll call him Sombra.'” Under
Emiliano's care, Sombra “grew strong and feisty,” and before long the
pair was galloping deep into the countryside, through “tumbledown”
villages where the silent children never waved to them.
When he
asked his mother why the children seemed so unhappy, his mother replied
that it was because they hadn't enough to eat. Then why don't the
farmers grow more corn, Emiliano asks his mother. “‘Because they don't
have enough land. That's just the way the world is,' she answered. ‘But
why is that the way the world is?' Emiliano thought.”
The night
before Emiliano's tenth birthday, a gang of banditos, led by Bad Carlos
– deliciously evil-looking with several days' growth of spiky black
stubble sprouting from his chin – steals all of the horses except the
old mare Lucita. Emiliano saddles her up and rides into the foothills.
Beneath Popocatepetl volcano, around a campfire, “the Banditos snored in heaps,” and the stolen horses, including Sombra, whinnied their welcome.
Bad
Carlos tells Emiliano, “little hombre,” that he can have his horse back
if he can make the banditos laugh. None of the tricks that Emiliano and
Sombra perform produce anything approximating a laugh. When Emiliano
asks why they are so mean, Bad Carlos tells him that it's because they
never got enough tortillas to eat when they were little. Emiliano
promises the bandits that when he grows up, “No one will go hungry. And
no one will need to become a bandito.” No banditos! The banditos
laughed so hard that they didn't notice Emiliano spiriting away all the
stolen horses. “High above, the moon smiled, lighting the way. She
knew. For Emiliano Zapata, this was only the beginning.”
-- The Globe and Mail by Susan Perren, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009
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