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

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 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.

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.

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

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

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