Adventures of Connie and Diego

Tired of being teased because they were born with multicolored skin, Connie and Diego leave the Land of Plenty. They journey through a forest and meet a big brown bear. "You can't live with us," growls the bear. Then they reach the ocean and beg the mother whale to take them into her family. "Impossible," she says. A swooping eagle loves their beautiful colors and invites them to fly home with her. But alas, they cannot fly. Finally, the tired children stumble through a scary jungle where a wise tiger helps them understand that their home is with human beings.

Maria Garcia was born in Kennedy, Texas, in 1944. She has worked in Oakland for the Comité de México y Aztlán (COMEXAZ), an educational research service which gathered news about Chicanos and Mexicanos in California and the Southwest.

Malaquias Montoya was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1938. As a child he followed the fruit harvest in California’s San Joaquin Valley, and learned to draw on the paper trays which were used to hold the grapes while they were drying. “Not having anything to play with,” he says, “we used the creativity we were all born with.”
 

Themes: Folklore and Fables, Creating Change

•    Texas Blue Bonnet Master List

"A contemporary legend about Mexican American twins born to farmworkers in the 'Land of Plenty' and how they discover that color isn't as important as character, and if they feel good about themselves, others will accept them, too. Montoya's illustrations are bright clean hues outlined in black, magical and bold as an Aztec tapestry." —Los Angeles Times

"… the ideas and concepts are strong. Lively and thought-provoking illustrations show us that color is indeed something to be proud of." —The Horn Book Magazine

" To escape teasing for being different, Connie and Diego try to find a new home among their animal friends. In the end they return home with an understanding that, although multiracial, they belong."  —Booklist

"A delightful bilingual/multicultural book at a time which sees the need for such books as a growing concern… both serious and humorous in its portrayal of the diversity of life." —The Journal of Negro Education