Review Detail

ChupaCarter was such a cute book!

I have never read a story where the Chupacabra was a full fledge character – this was great way to introduce the folklore to children in a not-so-scary way. I’ve not read it with my children yet, as I wanted to read it myself first, but I cannot wait to do so. I feel it would be a fun story for children of any age, including adults.

ChupaCarter would be a fun way to introduce your children to the Latino culture/folklore. There is a mix of Spanish and English words that readers can use context clues to understand the meanings (so the words don’t pose a problem or distract from the story), in addition to the Chupacabra myth and Latino foods.

I could not but help read this in the voice of George Lopez. The dialogue is very him and has buckets of his signature humor.

ChupaCarter isn’t all humor though. Lopez and Calejo touch on some rather poignant topics. Animal rights, bullying, single parenting, and most definitely racism.. just to name a few. The way these things are written into the story make it easy for children to connect with, regardless of their situation. There were points in the story where I’d turn to my husband as just say “wow, that was kind of sad,” I’m glad the book wasn’t all humor and that children have the opportunity to learn something profound when they pick up this fantastic read.

The illustrations are really fun! I enjoyed how they tied into the story and how much they actually added to the story. I’ve also found that chapter books with illustrations throughout actually hold my 9-year old’s attention better – bonus!!

While the Chupacabra aspects of the story aren’t scary, these other mythical creatures called dips seemed to be very frightening. They are described as vampire dogs that love to prey on Chupacabras and that can only be defeated by an act of kindness, so naturally I looked them up. Pretty scary stuff. Honestly though, the principal was most definitely the scariest thing in the story. He was this large, hulk sized man who was/is a trophy hunter. Not only that, but he essentially takes what he wants, regardless of the consequences.

The ending, while not necessarily leaving you on a cliff, it does dangle a little bit of ‘what next’ bait. Without spoilers.. I’m curious to see if the dips catch up to Carter, if Jorge reunites with his mother, and what about the principal.. he just gets away with that stuff?


You can read my original review here: bookswithachance.com