The story I read was called Guanina. This is a Puerto Rican legend about a girl named Guanina who is the niece of the chief of the Taino people. She falls in love with Don Cristóbol de Sotomayor, a Spanish conquistador. Her tribe wants to kill him and Guanina tries to protect him.

This story was illustrated nicely and had an important message about not forcing your will or way onto another culture. It shows this through romance and love, and children would respond to this.

The principal strength of this collection is that it mingles traditional creation myths and ethnic folktales with stories that show the Spanish influence in the Caribbean and Mexico. The tales that come from Colombia and the areas encompassed by the Inca Empire are more traditional. An introduction gives background on the Taino, Zapotec, Muisca, and Inca civilizations. Each of the four sections, one for each group, begins with a one-page description of their histories. The type font is attractive, and the pages are open and easy to read. There are ample full-color illustrations of average quality for each story and a good map of Latin America that shows the areas each tribe inhabited. Excellent source notes and a good pronunciation guide round out the volume. ( )

An anthology of Myths and Legends from Latin America. The stories are retold with passion and respect for different beliefs throughout Latin America. The art work is detailed and works to pay tribute to the important parts of the stories. ( )

An assortment of creation myths, legends, folktales from Latin America, including from Zapotecs of Mexico, Incas of Peru, Taino of the Caribbean, and from both pre- and post-Columbian time frames.

This brings together twelve different tales of the Latin American culture. It is a great telling of all their different legends.