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2004 Book Award Winner


Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book

Book Synopsis:

In this original trickster tale, the skeleton Señor Calavera arrives unexpectedly at Grandma Beetle’s door, requesting that she leave with him right away. “Just a minute,” Grandma Beetle tells him. She still has one house to sweep, two pots of tea to boil, three pounds of corn to make into tortillas – and that’s just the start! Using both Spanish and English words to tally the preparations, Grandma Beetle cleverly outwits the skeleton and celebrates her birthday with a table full of grandchildren, and one surprise guest.

En Espanol: Solo un Minuto: Un cuento embaucador

En este original cuento tramposo, el Señor Calavera llega sorpresivamente a la puerta de la abuela Beetle pidiendo que vaya con él enseguida. “Solo un minuto”, le dice la abuela Beetle. Ella todavía tiene una casa que barrer, dos ollas de té para hervir, tres libras de maíz para hacer tortillas – y eso es sólo el comienzo! Usando palabras en español y en Inglés para el recuento de los preparativos, la abuela Beetle inteligentemente se burla del esqueleto y celebra su cumpleaños con una mesa llena de nietos, y un invitado sorpresa.

Yuyi Morales was born in Xalapa, Mexico, where she spent the first twenty-five years of her life drawing everything from doodles to all her relatives’ portraits. In 1997 she created a weekly children’s radio program for KPOO of San Francisco. Drawing from the legends and myths of Latin America, the show ran for three years. At the same time she began writing and illustrating her own children’s stories. In 2000, she was awarded with the Don Freeman Memorial Grant-In-Aid for her work in illustration. Three years later, the first book she illustrated, Harvesting Hope: The Story of César Chávez by Kathleen Krull, appeared in print and won the Christopher Award, and the Jane Addams Award. Just a Minute: a Trickster Tale and Counting Book has won numerous awards in addition to the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award. Some of these awards include: the Pura Belpré Award and the Américas Book Award. Just a Minute is also a tribute to all of the women in her family who are hard-working and take great care of their homes and their children.

Recipient Website: www.yuyimorales.com