by Alex Dorros , Arthur Dorros , Susan Guevara
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Targeting the futility of one-upmanship, this original folktale is the first collaboration between Arthur Dorros, author of Abuela (1991) and others, and his son Alex. The main characters are brawny Hercules and brainy Socrates, who argue over which man contributes most to their Mexican village. Their dispute reaches a fever pitch as they both participate in the building of a bridge. Socrates thinks his architectural plans make him "¡número uno!" while Hercules believes that his lugging of tools and materials is the key. A young boy suggests a competition of sorts, sending the rivals away so the villagers can decide who is more greatly missed; upon their return, the wise boy prompts both men to see the absurdity of their squabbling. The text's short bursts of dialogue, all in Spanish and readily understood through context, will make this fun to read aloud. The same dialogue also appears in the pictures, where it works less well (the words prove difficult to see), but Guevara's bright, folk-art–style paintings are otherwise excellent, vividly expressing the humor of the stubborn rivals' antics. Nolan, Abby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
.A bilingual picture book that will be #1 this spring!From a talented team, this hilarious tale of competition run amok is told with a sprinkling of Spanish and a heaping spoonful of charm. Which is better, brains or brawn? In a small village, Hercules is known for his great strength and Socrates for his keen intelligence. Whenever the villagers have a problem, they go to one or the other for help. Each man believes that he is the most important person in town. And the two fight about it constantly. Who, their neighbors wonder, will resolve the question that instigates all this bickering? The villagers realize they must settle the argument once and for all by finding out who is “número uno.” They devise a clever test, and Hercules and Socrates, each sure he will win, go along with it. The answer is a surprise for everyone“I came up with the idea for Número Uno in sixth grade when the class was asked to write fables. I thought that these two characters, one with outstanding intelligence and one with exceptional brawn, would together create an entertaining story. It could also carry a valuable lesson, as fables do. The story was originally set in China, but to me it is universal. We later decided to change to a Spanish-speaking setting, which I am more familiar with. “I grew up bilingual, speaking English and Spanish, and have visited many Latin American countries, including going to school there for a short while. I’m now sixteen years old and am enjoying living in Seattle. I spend much of my free time going to the nearby mountains (like Hercules and Socrates do in the book), in my case to snowboard. I also create my own stories through taking photographs, a few of which have now been published. I stay busy with playing baseball and going to high school. “As we wrote the book, the story stayed essentially as I originally had it, though we went through seemingly endless numbers of revisions and ended up changing details in the process. Writing a book with your dad is definitely not the easiest of tasks. At some points we reminded ourselves of the bickering characters in the story. Ultimately we were able to work together to create what I hope is a book you’ll enjoy.”—Alex Dorros on the creation of Número Uno with his father Arthur Dorros
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