Burro's Tortillas
Written by Terri Fields, Illustrated by Sherry Rogers,
Page 1
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a little burro saw that the corn had grown very tall. And right away, he thought, TORTILLAS!
Page 2
He called his friends. "Whinee aw ah aw.
Mis amigos-vengan aquí." The bobcat, the coyote,
and the jackrabbit came immediately.
"Amigos, look at all this wonderful corn!" said the burro.
"Who will help me pick the corn so we can make tortillas?"
Page 3
"Yo no," said the bobcat. "I'm too cool a cat to pick corn."
"Yo no," said the coyote. "I'm taking a coyo tea break."
"Yo no," said the jackrabbit. "I've really got to hop along."
Page 4
"Then I will pick the corn myself,"
the little burro said to himself.
And he did...He picked so much white corn
that he could hardly carry it home on his back.
Page 5
When he got home, he gathered his friends again.
"Amigos," he said. "I have picked the corn. Who will help me remove the kernels?"
Page 6
"Yo no," said the bobcat. "Scratch me from that job."
"Yo no," said the coyote. "I'm doing trickier things."
"Yo no," said the jackrabbit. "I'm having a bad hare day."
"Then I will remove the kernels myself," said the burro.
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And he did...he took corn and removed all the kernels from the cobs.
Page 8
Then he gathered up all the kernels, boiled them with lime, rinsed them off, and set them aside to dry.
Page 9
The little burro looked at his hard work. He had done a lot, but there was still much to do before the corn became tortillas.
"Whinee aw ah aw," he called, "The corn is ready to be ground into flour. Who wants to use the grinding stone first?"
Page 10
"Yo no," said the bobcat. I'm too busy growling."
"Yo no," said the coyote. "I'm too busy howling."
"Yo no," said the jackrabbit. "I'm too busy being all ears."
The burro sighed, for he really was tired
but he was also stubborn.
"Fine, then I will grind
the corn myself."
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And he did...He stood over the
metate and used the pestle to
grind the corn.
Page 12
When he finished, he called,
"Amigos, the corn is ground. Who will help me make la masa? It is not as much work as grinding. And if you want, you can growl or howl or listen while you do it."
Page 13
"Yo no," yawned the bobcat."I'm catching a little cat nap."
"Yo no," yawned the coyote. "I'm already counting sheep."
"Yo no," yawned the jackrabbit.
"Hare now, gone to siesta."
The very tired burro wanted to take a nap too...
Page 14
...but he didn't. He made small little balls of dough.
This time, he didn't even call his friends
when it was time to put each ball onto
la tortillera to flatten it into a tortilla
shape. When he finished, the burro
looked down at the results of all
his work and smiled. His mouth
was watering. Very soon he could eat
tortillas muy deliciosas. But first
he had to get them onto
the griddle before the
dough dried out.
Page 15
He called for his friends. "Whinee aw ah aw. Amigos! Your naps are over, and we are at the last step. Who will help me cook the tortillas?" His friends gathered round.
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"Yo no," said the bobcat, "I'm too purr-fect to cook."
"Yo no," said the coyote. "It's not my territory."
"Yo no," said the jackrabbit, "Even the idea is hare raising!"
"Then I will cook them myself," said the little burro.
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And he did...
He put each flat circle on the
griddle, and turned it over and over until it was fully cooked. Soon he had a big basket filled with fresh tortillas. They looked wonderful, and they smelled even better.
Page 18
And when he turned around,
the little burro didn't have to call the bobcat,
the coyote, or the jackrabbit.
They were already standing right there.
Page 19
He looked at all of them. They only looked
at the basket of freshly made tortillas.
"Who will help me eat all these tortillas?" asked the burro.
"Yo," said the bobcat.
"I'm primed to pounce!"
"Yo," said the coyote.
"Their scent is super!"
"Yo," said the jackrabbit.
"Hare's looking at you, let's eat!"
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As the little burro reached for the tortillas to share with
his amigos, he paused, and he thought, and then he said:
"You did not help me pick the corn. You did not help me shell
the corn. You did not help me boil the corn with lime.
You did not help me grind the corn.You did not help me make
la masa. You did not help me make the tortillas...
and do you know what?
Thank you, but I do not think I
need any help to eat them!"
