Joe Hayes's classic tale about the dangers of a rich man's pride is now available in a bilingual edition. El cuento clásico de Joe Hayes sobre los peligros del orgullo de un hombre rico ahora está disponible en una edición bilingüe. In this lovely New Mexico folktale, a rich man tries to prove his wealth to his poor neighbors by using a new spoon for every bite. In the process, he's served a pretty dish of comeuppance. En este encantador folklore de Nuevo México, un hombre rico trata de demostrar su riqueza a sus vecinos pobres usando una cuchara nueva para cada bocado. En el proceso, ha servido un bonito plato de merecido. Grade 1-4–A rich man is asked to be the godparent to the son of a couple. When he agrees, the couple invites him over for dinner--but only after they have saved their money to buy a third spoon in order to entertain their guest. The man is amused that these people are so poor that they didn't even have three spoons, but his amusement turns to envy when his hosts tell him that they have a friend who uses a different new spoon for every bite he eats. Determined to keep up with this competition, he wastes his entire fortune buying spoons, sending the used ones to the poor couple. Left destitute, the distraught man goes to see the couple, demanding to know how their story could be true. The answer is surprising--and clever. The Spanish translation is every bit as good as the English original (Orchard, 1996), thus making this critically acclaimed story available to an entirely new audience. Leer's acrylic illustrations make use of subdued desert colors while emphasizing facial expressions with humor and expertise. The version is perfect for collections that don't have the one in English or that need the tale in bilingual form. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. "The landscapes and lore of the desert are captured in this traditional Hispanic fable... Hayes includes an author's note about his sources, while Leer successfully combines the colors of the southwest with the caricatured figures who piquantly inhabit the tale. An entertaining marriage of pictures and words." -- Kirkus Reviews "The exaggerated facial expressions flatter the hyperbolic story line while also helping to clarify for children the moral choices found in this deftly told tale." -- Publishers Weekly "The attractive paintings do a nice job of re-creating the Old Southwest, featuring desert colors and flora, fauna, and architecture of the region. The art also helps kids visualize just how a tortilla becomes an eating utensil." -- Booklist "Leer's realistic paintings, rendered in pastels, display a southern Arizona desertscape. The faces of the three main characters are especially vivid in their display of emotion." -- School Library Journal Joe Hayes is one of America's premier storytellers. He grew up in a small town in southern Arizona where he started learning Spanish from his classmates. As Hayes got older, he began reading the work of folklorists and anthropologists and gathering the old stories from the Southwest region. His books have received the Arizona Young Readers Award, two Land of Enchantment Children's Book Awards, the Texas Bluebonnet award, and the National Storytelling Network Talking Leaves Award. He lives in New Mexico. Rebecca Leer has been a freelance illustrator for many years. Her illustrations and paintings have been awarded by organizations such as the New York Society of Illustrators, LA Society of Illustrators, Oil Painters of America, The Salmagundi Club, Hudson Valley Artists Association, American Artists Professional League, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club and Allied Artists of American, including four Best in Show. You can see more of her work at rebeccaleer.com.