El Chupacabras

April 16, 2018
Rubin (Dragons Love Tacos) and McCreery team up to tell the bilingual, comical "true" story of the dreaded el chupacabras. Finding one of their fat and happy goats flat as a pancake and an apparent victim of "the goat sucker," Hector and his daughter Carla enlist the help of a roadside flower lady offering a magic dust: "It will protect your hermosas cabras. Try it." Overzealous Hector sprinkles too much magic dust and transforms his goats into giants that threaten to destroy the whole town. Quick-thinking Carla, however, knows just who can help. Enter El Chupacabras: the creature of legend who isn't quite so monstrous and is, in truth, a tiny gentleman willing to save the day. Rubin's tale of rampaging goats and genteel monsters who favor chocolate with churros is skillfully told in alternating English and Spanish: "La leyenda decía que el chupacabras was a terrifying beast./ The legend said that the goat sucker era una bestia aterradora." McCreery's vibrantly detailed illustrations, from sneezing goats to a bicycle-riding el chupacabras, inject wonderfully outrageous physical humor into Rubin's rip-roaring retelling. Ages 4â8.