Doña Flor: A Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart

Mora, Pat. Doña Flor: A Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.



Doña Flor tells the story of a giant woman who keeps watch over her town. She cares for her neighbors and is a friend to all. She can speak the languages of all the animals around her. One day none of her friends come to see her as they usually would and when she tries to discover why she finds that they are all frightened by the cries of a puma they have been hearing. Flor searches for the puma and struggles to find it. Finally, after asking her animal friends, she discovers where to look. She finds the puma roaring into a hollow log to make him sound more ferocious than he really was. He was a young puma who found the sound amusing. She took the puma home with her, introduced him to everyone, and the neighbors were no longer frightened because she had protected them.
This story earned the Pura Belpré award for illustration and was an honor book for narrative. Pat Mora shows how Flor connects her neighbors and the animals native to her area together and to the world that surrounds them. She aims to help everyone she knows however she can. Mora describes a world where everyone can live together and work together. She helps paint a lesson for children about acceptance.
Mora also incorporates some Spanish language into the story, providing the meaning directly within the text. While it may be more meaningful for the meaning of the words to be conveyed without the definition directly following, thus in a sense repeating the word, the format still provides a learning opportunity for readers.