The Little Matador's first Review

Booklist

The Little Matador

In the tradition of Ferdinand the Bull comes this attractive book, featuring Little Matador, a boy descended from a long line of bullfighters.  Each day he practices (with his father as the bull), but his heart is with his pencil and pad.  Animals stop and pose for the boy, annoying his parents to no end.  They decide it’s time for him to fight the bull.  A wonderful aerial view of the ring captures the boy’s aloneness, though on the next spread, when the bull charges, Little Matador is ready for him – with his paper and pencil.  His portrait of the bull makes the animal halt in its tracks.  The townsfolk want pictures, and eventually so does his father.  This is an impressive debut for Hector, whos art, with its unusual perspectives, both amuses and charms.  He’s slightly less successful with his story, which seems truncated in spots, but children will feel a real affinity for a boy who knows what he wants, parents notwithstanding, and faces fear to get it. 

-Ilene Cooper