MAYANITO'S NEW FRIENDS / LOS NUEVOS AMIGOS DE MAYANITO

In this bilingual story a Mayan boy goes on a fantastical adventure—or is it a dream?

As Prince Mayanito looks down on the Western Hemisphere from a mountaintop, rain forms in the clouds below. Inside each raindrop is a child, and as the drops fall, the children—black, brown, white, indigenous, in a mix of attire—emerge holding instruments from different regions of the Americas and make a circle. When the Earth dries and the children become flowers, Mayanito goes down to the village to look for them. Thus starts this highly imaginative but equally confusing story that goes from perhaps a creation myth to perhaps a hero’s journey to perhaps an introduction to the animals of the Americas (except for a lion). After many animal encounters, Mayanito finally arrives in the village, where he plays music with the children and rides a Ferris wheel and even a roller coaster. Eventually, Mayanito returns home on a caterpillar-shaped train and is crowned king. As the improbabilities of the story pile on, Mayanito feels someone shaking him and opens his eyes to find he has been dreaming. Once readers realize this, they may be tempted to go back to the beginning and read the story with fresh eyes. Utomo’s brightly colored watercolor illustrations capture the fantastic story with realistic depictions of the children, jungle, and animals.

A good way to segue into a discussion on the haphazard nature of readers’ own dreams.