Childrens Book Review of Roadrunner's Dance by Rudolfo Alfonso Anaya

by DerdriuMarriner

Surviving awkward stages can be considered part of life’s lessons. Clumsiness describes almost all young animals. One youngster ends up fast and graceful in “Roadrunner’s Dance.”

Folktales are stories that are shared by successive generations of a people’s storytellers

Folktales generally attempt to help their audiences to comprehend causes and effects and to cope with cultural geographies.

Folktales typically employ animals as vehicles of closure. Animal characters therefore get human-interpreted behaviors of helping or hindering well-being. For example, sharks and snakes have every chance of role-modeling undesirable conduct what with their predilections for biting into food and non-food sources. It is a snake whose misbehavior becomes problematic in many a tale from the Hispanic and native folklores in the United States of America’s southwest.

A rattlesnake therefore resorts to misconduct unbecoming an animal until a brave roadrunner becomes a quick study in “Roadrunner’s Dance.”

Desert landscape is symbolized by Desert Woman in folklore and mythology of ancient America.

White Sands National Monument, Tularosa Basin, south central New Mexico
White Sands National Monument, Tularosa Basin, south central New Mexico

 

A snake becomes a self-proclaimed king of the road. He does not seek to share power or resources. He enforces a “no-pass” policy in which village elders from all directions find their journey to cultivate fields and visit neighbors road-blocked by the snake’s claims. Travelers fortunately have wise Desert Woman on their side. The female sage hesitates to interfere in the lives of:

  • Animals;
  • People.

She nevertheless inserts a rattle on the snake’s tail-tip while the reptile sleeps under a rocky ledge. But the rattlesnake (Crotalinae subfamily of pit vipers) intimidates all would-be voyagers by not using the rattle -- as Desert Woman intends -- as a warning. The sound is almost as frightening as the bite.

 

Desert Woman fashioned rattlesnakes with a rattling tail tip as a warning to by-passers in Rudolfo Anaya's The Roadrunner's Dance.

Prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) are New World natives claiming most of New Mexico among their homelands.
Adult (probably female) prairie rattlesnake encircles young'un.
Adult (probably female) prairie rattlesnake encircles young'un.

 

Desert Woman asks the animals to make the rattlesnake behave. But the lizard, owl, and quail confess that all animals fear the rattlesnake. Desert Woman creates an animal by molding Sacred Mountain clay. Her creation exists thanks to additional inputs of:

  • Black tail feathers for balance, from the raven;
  • Branches for legs, from the deer;
  • Dark wing feathers for strength, from the eagle;
  • Long, thin reed for mouthparts, from the heron;
  • Shiny stones from the coyote, for eyes.

He nevertheless falls on his face after standing up briefly and tottering wildly backward and forward. The disappointed animals all flee. But the roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) keeps circle dances until dizziness and a pecked-upon tail do the rattlesnake in.

 

In Roadrunner's Dance, Desert Woman creates a roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) as a composite of attributes from coyote, deer, eagle, heron, and raven.

Desert Hot Springs, northwestern Riverside County, southwestern California
Desert Hot Springs, northwestern Riverside County, southwestern California

Conclusion

 

Rudolfo Alfonso Anaya (born October 30, 1937) acknowledges as creative inputs:

  • The Catholicism of his mother’s family of Puerto de Luna-based farmers;
  • The naturalism of his father’s family of nomadic herders on New Mexico’s llanos (eastern plains);
  • The traditionalism of cuentistas (storytellers) near the family home in Pastura;
  • The urbanism of family experiences in Barelas barrio and his matriculations at Albuquerque High School, Browning Business School, and University of New Mexico.

His contributions as author of Roadrunner’s Dance blend beautifully with those of:

  • David Díaz, as illustrator;
  • Hyperion Books for Children, as publisher.

Published in 2000, the folktale cooperates with formal and informal scrutiny by parents and teachers of:

  • Ages 4 – 8+;
  • Preschoolers to third-graders and onward.

 

Cuentista (storyteller) and Chicano literature pioneer Rudolfo Anaya's family home is sited in small, unincorporated community of Pastura in Quay County, area of plains (llano) formerly known as Great American Desert.

Caprock Escarpment defines the northern edge of Llano Estacado ("palisaded plain"), plains stretching from eastern New Mexico into northwestern Texas.
Quay County, east central New Mexico
Quay County, east central New Mexico

Acknowledgment

 

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

 

Image Credits

 

Desert landscape is symbolized by Desert Woman in folklore and mythology of ancient America.
White Sands National Monument, Tularosa Basin, south central New Mexico
Jennifer Willbur (Jwillbur), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dunes_as_White_Sands_NM.jpg

Desert Woman fashioned rattlesnakes with a rattling tail tip as a warning to by-passers in Rudolfo Anaya's The Roadrunner's Dance.
Prairie rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) are New World natives claiming most of New Mexico among their homelands.
Adult (probably female) prairie rattlesnake encircles young'un.: Jared Tarbell (jared), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/generated/3657914536/

In Roadrunner's Dance, Desert Woman creates a roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) as a composite of attributes from coyote, deer, eagle, heron, and raven.
Desert Hot Springs, northwestern Riverside County, southwestern California: tinyfroglet, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roadrunner_5.jpg

Cuentista (storyteller) and Chicano literature pioneer Rudolfo Anaya's family home is sited in small, unincorporated community of Pastura in Quay County, area of plains (llano) formerly known as Great American Desert.
Caprock Escarpment defines the northern edge of Llano Estacado ("palisaded plain"), plains stretching from eastern New Mexico into northwestern Texas.
Quay County, east central New Mexico: Leaflet, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Llano_Escarpment.jpg

 

Sources Consulted

 

Anaya, Rudolfo. 2000. Roadrunner's Dance. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

“Anaya, Rudolfo Alfonso.” Notable Biographies. Retrieved December 13, 2014.

  • Available at: http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-A-Bu-and-Obituaries/Anaya-Rudolfo-Alfonso.html

“David Diaz.” NCCIL.org: Experience > Artists. Abilene, TX: National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature. Retrieved December 13, 2014.

  • Available at: http://nccil.org/experience/artists/diazd/index.htm

“Rudolfo Anaya.” Children’s Literature: Meet Authors & Illustrators. Retrieved December 13, 2014.

  • Available at: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_anaya_rudolfo.html

“Rudolfo Anaya.” Cinco Puntos Press: Authors. El Paso, Texas. Retrieved December 13, 2014.

  • Available at: http://www.cincopuntos.com/authors_detail.sstg?id=39

 

the end which is also the beginning
the end which is also the beginning

Roadrunner's Dance by Rudolfo Anaya ~ illustrated by David Diaz ~ Available via Amazon

Because Rattlesnake has taken over the road and will not let any of the people or animals in the village use it, Desert Woman enlists the aid of the other animals to create a strange new creature with the necessary tools to overcome Rattlesnake.
Rudolfo Anaya stories

Me and my purrfectly purrfect Maine coon kittycat, Augusta "Gusty" Sunshine

Gusty and I thank you for reading this article and hope that our product selection interests you; Gusty Gus receives favorite treats from my commissions.
DerdriuMarriner, All Rights Reserved
DerdriuMarriner, All Rights Reserved
Updated: 11/12/2024, DerdriuMarriner
 
Thank you! Would you like to post a comment now?
6

Comments

Only logged-in users are allowed to comment. Login
DerdriuMarriner on 12/15/2014

paperfacets, "Roadrunner's Dance" appeals to all ages through captivating illustrations and narrative. Your nephew will assuredly love this story.

paperfacets on 12/13/2014

I am simply enchanted with this introduction to this lovely book. I have a nephew who I think would love to hear this story.

You might also like

Childrens Book Review of The Santero's Miracle: A Bilingual St...

America’s Spanish-speakers esteem Church carvings as father-to-son endeavors....

Childrens Book Review of The Night of Las Posadas Written and ...

Spanish-speaking cultures observe Christmas traditions. They re-enact Joseph ...


Disclosure: This page generates income for authors based on affiliate relationships with our partners, including Amazon, Google and others.
Loading ...
Error!