LA LLORONA CAN'T SCARE ME / LA LLORONA NO ME ASUSTA

Banging on the windows, pounding on the doors, howling in the wind do nothing to frighten Damian—he just wants to get to bed.

However, nearly every fiend in Mexican folklore is out to give him the shivers. From duendes to the cucuy—with a couple of witch owls and other monsters in between—the entire supernatural hierarchy is at a loss as to why it can’t get a rise out of the fearless boy. “ ‘You can’t scare me, silly Donkey Lady,’ says Damian and walks back to bed. ‘Not even a little bit!’ ” La Llorona sniffles through her ever flowing tears, “Why aren’t you scared of us?” Gripping his “mighty luchador night light” in his fist, Damian triggers its blazing white light and sends everyone scurrying into the shadows. Satisfied that he’ll be left alone at last, Damian falls asleep. Garza’s forceful comic-book–style illustrations balance the repetitive bilingual storyline as 10 monsters and their buddies seek to wreak havoc over Damian’s bedtime routine with little variation in approach. Full-bleed color artwork populates all the recto pages, while the running refrain, “You can’t scare me….Not even a little bit / No me asusta….Ni un poquito,” concludes most text on verso and will likely have young audiences chiming in. The lack of backmatter and/or a monster glossary may limit the enjoyment for a wider audience.

Yelling, “You can’t scare me!” never gets old.