El Chupacabras

 

Title: El Chupacabras

Author: Adam Rubin (Author); Crash McCreery (Illustrator)
 
Publisher: Dial Books
 
Format: Book
 
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
 
Grade Level: PreK through 3rd Grade
 
Category: Texas Bluebonnet Award

Carla lives happily on a goat farm with her father, Hector. But when one of her father's beloved goats disappears, only to show up flattened as a pancake, chaos ensues. Only one creature could have done such a thing . . . the goatsucker El Chupacabra! How are Carla and Hector going to protect the goat herd, especially when things aren't always what they seem. 
    When I was looking up Bluebonnet Award books, I was immediately drawn to El Chupacabras. I've always loved cryptids, and the depiction of El Chupacabra as a diminutive gentleman in Rubin's book is funny and fresh. Every sentence is told in half English, half Spanish, followed by a repetead sentence the other way around. What a great way to introduce language-learners to English or Spanish!

Plot. El Chupacabras is full of twists and turns. When Hector tries to use magic to protect his goats from El Chupacabra, he ends up making them huge! When they wreck havoc on the town, Carla turns to the El Chupacabra and his goatsucking abilities for help. In a delightful reversal of roles, El Chupacabra, at first assumed to be the antagonist of the tale, turns out to be the hero! It's unexpected and a great way to introduce kids to the idea that just because something is different doesn't mean it's bad.
 
Illustrations. McCreery's illustrations are lively and cinematic. It's easy to imagine the characters moving around a TV screen; especially when some of his panels show the same characters in different parts of the page to convey movement. The illustrations are also used for outrageously funny physical humor; I couldn't not laugh when I saw McCreery's depiction of a flattened pancake-goat. 

Characters. The characters of the story are not incredibly complex and remain mostly unchanged throughout the story, save for their change of heart about El Chupacabra. However, the unique characteristics Rubin gives them, such as Carla's love of bicycles and El Chupacabra's gentlemanly demeanor and preference for churros dipped in hot chocolate, makes them fun to read about.

References:

Rubin, A. (2018). El Chupacabras (C. McCreery, Illus.). Dial Books for Young Readers.


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