La lechera: The Milkmaid

Abstract

This is a 24-page pamphlet 8 square. Its left-hand pages present each a sentence in Spanish and English. The right-hand pages present lively full-page colored illustrations. Piérola has fun with the story from the beginning. The milkmaid had to scold the cats, for example, who were drinking from her pails of milk before she could take the milk to the city to sell it. When the milkmaid's daydreams got to the calf, she imagined it jumping up and down. She started to jump up and down, too! (16). She jumped high, finally, and tripped. Why, by the way, was she wearing shoes that have pegs on their soles? All she had left were bruises on her knees and tears in her eyes (22). Apparently first published in Spanish in 2004. This bilingual edition then came out in the following year.