El pájaro verde / The Green Bird

Review
By Booklist

With lush romantic paintings that are both realistic and magical, this bilingual retelling of a New Mexican folktale combines many mythical themes of enchantment and transformation. The protagonist Mirabel is a brave, beautiful young woman who, despite her jeering sisters, marries a bird, saves him from evil and helps him become the prince he really is. Before the happy ending, however, the story cunningly twists and turns...A final note fills in the connections with the oral tradition from medieval Spain to New Mexico. Heroes and monsters, horror and romance: a great read-aloud.