Title: Kimmel, Eric A. The Three Cabritos. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Company, c2007.
Summary: The 3 cabritos (young goats) lived with their mom on a ranch near the Rio Grande. They had a band and loved to play music. One day they heard about a fiesta just across the border in Mexico and wanted to go. Their mother, however, pleaded with them not to, because they'd have to cross the bridge over the Rio Grande, under which lived the terrible and fearsome Chupacabra, the goat-sucker! The 3 cabritos told her not to worry and set off. The first cabrito, Reynaldo, reached the bridge first. As he crossed, the Chupacabra jumped out! Reynaldo convinced the beast not to eat him, but to wait for his fatter brother Orlando. The Chupacabra demanded that Reynaldo play a tune on his fiddle first that he could dance to, and in they end he agreed to eat his brother instead. Along came Orlando, who had the same encounter with the monster. He told the beast that he was skinny and weak, but his older brother Augustin was coming next. First, the monster made him play a tune on his guitar and danced to it, and then agreed to eat Augustin instead. Finally, Augustin arrived, and the Chupacabra was ready to eat him. As a last request, Augustin asked to play his accordion one last time; the Chupacabra agreed. Augustin played so fast that the Chupacabra's dancing was frenzied. He began to turn red and smoke came out of his ears! Suddenly, he shrieked, collapsed and shriveled like a popped balloon, until only a husk remained. Augustin crushed it and crossed into Mexico to meet his brothers, and the Chupacabra was no more.
Summary: The 3 cabritos (young goats) lived with their mom on a ranch near the Rio Grande. They had a band and loved to play music. One day they heard about a fiesta just across the border in Mexico and wanted to go. Their mother, however, pleaded with them not to, because they'd have to cross the bridge over the Rio Grande, under which lived the terrible and fearsome Chupacabra, the goat-sucker! The 3 cabritos told her not to worry and set off. The first cabrito, Reynaldo, reached the bridge first. As he crossed, the Chupacabra jumped out! Reynaldo convinced the beast not to eat him, but to wait for his fatter brother Orlando. The Chupacabra demanded that Reynaldo play a tune on his fiddle first that he could dance to, and in they end he agreed to eat his brother instead. Along came Orlando, who had the same encounter with the monster. He told the beast that he was skinny and weak, but his older brother Augustin was coming next. First, the monster made him play a tune on his guitar and danced to it, and then agreed to eat Augustin instead. Finally, Augustin arrived, and the Chupacabra was ready to eat him. As a last request, Augustin asked to play his accordion one last time; the Chupacabra agreed. Augustin played so fast that the Chupacabra's dancing was frenzied. He began to turn red and smoke came out of his ears! Suddenly, he shrieked, collapsed and shriveled like a popped balloon, until only a husk remained. Augustin crushed it and crossed into Mexico to meet his brothers, and the Chupacabra was no more.
Cultural origins and how identified: This version is an adaptation of a Norwegian folktale ("The Three Billy Goats Gruff"), which is cited in the cataloging information in the book's colophon quoted here: "Folklore--Norway. Asbjornsen, Peter Christe, 1812-1885. Tre bukkene Bruse." Further sources include Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, De tre bukkene Bruse som skulle gå til seters og gjøre seg fete, Norske Folkeeventyr, translated by George Webbe Dasent in Popular Tales from the Norse, 2nd edition (London: George Routledge and Sons, n.d.), no. 37, pp. 275-276. http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0122e.html
Kimmel notes in the afterword: "The Three Cabritos is my own original retelling of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" with a Texas twist. Cabrito means "young goat" or "kid" in Spanish. Chupacabra is a legendary creature who attacks farm animals at night. Chupacabra was first reported in Puerto Rico. Subsequent sightings followed in Florida, Texas and Mexico."
Audience: This could work for children ages at least 6-9. I've read this story with good results to children up to 5th grade at a school "read-in" and I think it would also work for a family library storytime, since the original tale is so familiar.
Notes on adaptation for telling: I'd use varying voices for the 3 cabritos and their elderly nanny goat mom, as well as the menacing, huge Chupacabra. I'd definitely put emphasis on the word "Chupacabra!: to add a little fun frisson of fear to the tale. I might like to play a little Tex-Mex music before telling the story, and would invite audience participation as the goats cross the bridge and the Chupacabra madly dances.
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