The Story of the Not-So-Small Animal

Cultural origins: This is one of the many excellent stories from Tales Our Abuelita Told by Campoy and Ada. The particular region referenced in the beginning of the story is Basque country, which is located in the northern region of Spain. This location is important to convey as the animals flee to Idaho in the end. That is a powerful image, animals running across the Atlantic Ocean to flee swarms of bees, mosquitos and beetles. This tale also has a great many Spanish words deeply rooting it in this culture. The story is framed as a "true" story of how the mountains in Basque country were changed forever.

Intended audience: Early Middle School (11-13)

Why this audience?: This is a perfect tale to supplement a beginning Spanish class in 6th or 7th grade. There are plenty of standard animal vocabulary words plotted throughout the story to keep them engaged as well as a geography element by identifying Basque country on the map of Spain. They can also retell it or do a digital storytelling of a similar animal tale. While it's not essential for this story to be used in a language class it could also be told with an late elementary school crowd, it would be essential to take time explaining the language. Perhaps by asking the group, "Who knows what a Vaca blanca y negra is?"

Characters:  Don Borrego, the ram
                        Doña Cabra, the she-goat
                        Doña Caballo, the horse
                        Xixi, the shepherd
                        Patxi, the dog
                        Don Zorro, the fox
                        Doña Vaca Blanca y Negra, the cow

Scenes/Settings: The grazing hills of Basque country in the northern mountains of Spain

Synopsis: This is a story of the animals who graze on the mountains in Basque country. They greet each other every morning and speak of warmer weather. The last animal introduced is the formidable Doña Vaca Blanca y Negra. She almost steps on a beetle who declares war who is so offended on behalf of all tiny animals that she declares W-A-R! Don Zorro, the fox, goes to assess the situation in this war scenario and is chased away by a swarm of bees, beetles and mosquitoes. They chase all the animals across the ocean from Spain to the plains of Idaho where they are grazing today.

Story Climaxes/High Points: When the bees see Don Zorro scouting their whereabouts they begin to swarm and chase Don Zorro and the rest of the animals of the hillside. They run across an ocean to the other side of America they can't run far enough.

Special Chants/Phrases: 
Animal Greeting every time: "Good morning! Quite a brisk morning, eh?"
Animal Response every time: "A little cool, yes, but it'll get warmer."

Bibliographic Information:

Campoy, F. Isabel. (2006). The Story of the Not-So-Small Animal. In Tales Our Abuelitas Told Us (pp. 45-50). New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.