The Three Golden Oranges

by Alma Flor Ada, Reg Cartwright (Illustrator)

Overview

Far on the other side of the mountains, next to an enchanted castle, grows a tree with three golden oranges. It is there that the three brothers -- Santiago, Tomás, and Matías -- must journey if they wish to find a wife.
Once they reach their destination, the brothers must carefully pick the oranges and bring them back to the old woman who lives in a cave on the cliffs overlooking the sea. But, "In order to find your wives, you will need to work together," the old woman has said. "Woe to you if you do not follow my advice!"
Each of the brothers wants something different. Santiago wants a wife who is beautiful. Tomás wants one who is both rich and beautiful. But Matías, the youngest brother, longs for a woman who is kind, joyful, and loving...someone he could love very much in return.
Will the brothers be able to avert misfortune by working together? Will they be strong enough to break the spell that a wicked sorcerer has placed on the castle?
Master storyteller Alma Flor Ada offers a poetic and magical retelling of a well-loved traditional story about Blancaflor, a mythical young woman who appears in various stories throughout the Hispanic world. Reg Cartwright's boldly colorful and exquisitely stylized art is a perfect accompaniment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481443074
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/21/2015
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	44 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alma Flor Ada, an authority on multicultural and bilingual education, is the recipient of the 2012 Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, and in 2014 she was honored by the Mexican government with the prestigious OHTLI Award. She is the author of numerous award-winning books for young readers, including Dancing Home with Gabriel Zubizarreta, My Name Is María Isabel, Under the Royal Palms (Pura Belpré Medal), Where the Flame Trees Bloom, and The Gold Coin (Christopher Award Medal). She lives in California, and you can visit her at AlmaFlorAda.com.

Editorial Reviews

Ada adds feminist panache to her retelling of the classic Spanish folktale. Mat as and his two older brothers wish to wed, but there is not a single unmarried girl in all their lush valley. The old woman who lives on the cliff by the sea has the answer: if they travel to a distant castle, pick three golden oranges and bring them to her, each brother will have the wife he desires. But they must work together or, she cautions, "Woe to you if you do not follow my advice." Mat as, the only one to comply, wins his destined bride, the kind Blancaflor, and she helps him to save both his brothers and her bewitched sisters. Ada's author's note cites no specific source for her retelling, but does contrast her Blancaflor tale with some of the more popular versions. As in her original fairy tale, The Malachite Palace, she adopts a straightforward, sometimes bland narrative voice ("When Mat as... saw that there was only one orange left, he felt very sad for his brothers"). But the artwork will sustain readers' interest. Cartwright's (The Band Over the Hill) vivid and varied vignettes and spot illustrations rendered in flat, round shapes and bold colors evoke folk art while displaying a sense of life and movement. The pictures here are as succulent as the oranges themselves. Ages 5-8. (May) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 1-5-In this well-known Spanish folktale, three brothers are instructed by their mother to find wives. An old woman advises them that they must work together and tells them to travel to a castle grove, pick three golden oranges, and together bring them back to her. The two older brothers, who are vain and shallow, disregard her advice and are put into the castle's prison, where they are rescued by Mat as, the compassionate youngest son who follows the woman's directions and gets the fruit. On the way home, the older brothers open their oranges and once again find themselves in the dungeon. When Mat as brings his fruit back to the old woman, she cuts it open and a dove flies out. Later, he removes a thorn from the bird's neck and it turns into a young woman named Blancaflor. They return to the castle and free her family from a spell. Mat as marries Blancaflor, but her sisters refuse to marry his brothers. Cartwright's flat, folk-art style characters wear traditional Spanish costumes. The yellows, greens, and oranges in the rounded patchwork countryside contrast with the black of the brothers' clothing and bright blue skies. Full-page illustrations alternate with smaller pictures to move the eye and relieve the long text. Ada keeps the story as simple as its many twists and turns allow, but this is still a complicated tale. An author's note discusses variations of the folktale and how oranges fit into Spain's history.-Sally Bates Goodroe, Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Ada (Under the Royal Palms, 1998, etc.) reworks the traditional story of Blancaflor, taking swipes at greed, vanity, and the practice of arranged marriages in the process. Some well-traveled types help make the points: older brothers full of themselves and not above treachery; the innocent, well-intentioned youngest brother; a wise older woman; and a young woman in dire circumstances, with the moral fiber to endure. Here the story revolves around three brothers wishing to wed, and how they seek the advice of an elderly woman and then ignore all her warnings. The two bad-of-heart brothers wind up in a castle jail, and then marriageless; Matías, the pure one, liberates a family under a sorcerer's spell, gains love and marriage, and fulfills his mother's wishes. Ada invests her lengthy retelling with a quiet musicality that softens the predictability of the narrative. Meanwhile, the Spanish countryside comes blazingly alive under the bold illustrations of Cartwright's stylized, utterly transporting artwork. (Picture book/folklore. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews