Just a Minute! A Trickster Tale and Counting Book
Yuyi Morales
Chronicle Books, 2003
ISBN: 0811837580

Plot Summary:
Señor Calavera comes to the door and tries to get Grandma Beetle to leave with him.  Grandma Beetle says “Just a minute!”.  First, she needs to sweep one, uno, house.  Then she needs to boil two, dos, pots of tea.  Every time Señor Calavera tries to persuade Grandma to leave, she has another chore to be done.  As she counts she adds chores to do which turn out to be preparations for her birthday. 

Critical Summary
This Mexican folklore tale will keep readers of Young and older ages interested.  This Mexican folklore features a strong female lead character that triumphs in the story.  Grandma Beetle gives Señor Calaveras such a good time he decides to come back for her next birthday party.

Just A Minute¡ is a great story to read aloud.  It has a rich Mexican culture alive in the pictures and bilingual words used throughout the story.  This is an example of a classic folktale in which good triumphs over evil.  Grandma Beetle tricks Señor Calaveras out of coming with him.  Older audiences may even understand that good cheats death in this story.

The setting takes place all in one day.  The day passes as Grandma Beetle adds on chores to buy herself time until her Grandchildren show up for her birthday party.  The counting book gives a predictable motif to the story.  The characters and settings are culturally appropriate and specific.  The author does a wonderful job of capturing the Mexican fiesta de cumpleaños. 

Yuyi Morales does a beautiful job with her colorful illustrations that took me visually to Mexico.  I loved following the little black el gato (cat) on each illustration.  The culture, language and representation are authentic.   ¡Yuyi Morales es mi autor y ilustrador favorito!
Awards and Recognitions:
A Pura Belpre Award winner
An ALA Notable Book
A Parent’s Choice Approved Winner
A Golden Kite Honor Book
A Notable Book for a Global Society
A Latino Book Award Winner
A Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award Winner

Praises for Just a Minute

“Joyful..The rich, lively artwork.. and spiritual storytelling auger a long, full life for this original folktale. (p.1)” BOOKLIST

“Visually striking book and funny to boot (p. 1)” PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

Connections:

Pull other Yuyi Morales Books:
Just in Case ISBN: 1596433299
Little Night ISBN: 1596430885
Viva Frida ISBN: 1596436034

Pull other English Picture Books with Spanish Words:
Fire! Fuego! Brave Bomberos ISBN: 1599904616 
Fiesta Babies! ISBN 1582463190
Mañana, Iguana ISBN 0823419800

For older students read another story about a character cheating death such as “How the Blacksmith Fooled Death” from Brazilian Folktales by Livia de Alemeida or the Brother’s Grimm folktale “Godfather Death”.  Students can compare how the different characters outsmarted death.  They can also write their own endings on how a character in one of the stories could outsmart death.

Younger students can draw number cards with English/Spanish numbers and a picture to represent the number as flash cards.

Students can listen to the audio story or listen to counting songs in Spanish.

Morales, Yuyi. Just a minute: a trickster tale and counting book. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2016

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