Juan Bobo is a comic book series of folk stories from Puerto Rico, centered on the Juan Bobo children's character. For centuries, these folk stories have been passed from generation to generation amongst Puerto Rican schoolchildren, and the Juan Bobo comic books have been published in Puerto Rico, the United States and Spain, among other countries. For nearly two centuries a vast collection of books, songs, riddles and folktales have developed around the Juan Bobo character. Hundreds of children's books have been written about Juan Bobo in English and Spanish. There are at least 70 Juan Bobo stories.Juan Bobo and the Riddling Princess: A Puerto Rican Folktale. John Alden Mason and William Bernard McCarthy. (In, "Marvels & Tales." Vol. 19, No. 2. 2005) In 2002, the book Juan Bobo Goes to Work won the ALA Notable Books for Children Award2002 Notable Children's Books. American Library Service to Children, American Library Association. 2002. and the Belpré Medal for its illustrations.
Juan Bobo stories are also used as instructional models in public school districts and libraries throughout the United States,Scholastic Books, Juan Bobo series, Grades K-2 Retrieved 29-05-2013. and on PBS Television.Chicago PBS; WTTW TV; Juan Bobo and the Pig Retrieved 2013-05-29. The series was first published in the United States in 1921 by the Journal of American Folklore; the most recent series is in the American Legends and Folktales series published by Benchmark Publishers. When the comic books appeared for public mass sale in 1974, they were printed as standard 26-page hardcover children's comic books.Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale Retold. Retrieved 16 March 2014. Some publishers chose the 8x8 format as the book sales matured.Juan Bobo sends the Pig to Mass: Summary. Story Cove. Atlanta, GA. Retrieved 16 March 2014. They are designed for kindergarten and early grade children, aged four to eight.
The Juan Bobo character
Often a trickster, sometimes a fool, Juan Bobo depicts a boy with a special way of doing things: with a good heart but little common sense. Juan Bobo tries to do exactly as his mother tells him, yet things always seem to go wrong - until they end up spectacularly right, as though Juan Bobo had an otherworldly, God-given genius. Due to this errant genius, Juan Bobo is Puerto Rico's most beloved noodlehead.Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico. For example, sent off by his mother to find work, Juan Bobo causes one disaster after another and always manages to lose his payment. In a typical Juan Bobo story his mother asks him to clean up a pig, so that she will fetch a higher price in the town market. Instead, Juan Bobo dresses her for church in his mother's best Sunday clothes, complete with lipstick and high heels. The stories incorporate a pícaro young man who roams the Puerto Rican countryside, moving from job to job, and disaster to disaster. Though Juan and his tricks constitute the main story interest, the satirical comments on various trades and professions give a wealth of information on the social, political and religious fabric of Puerto Rico.Juan Bobo and the Riddling Princess. William Bernard McCarthy. Journal of Fairy Tale Studies; Vol. 19, 2005; Wayne State University. Digitalcommons.wayne.edu Retrieved 18 March 2014 Juan Bobo is Puerto Rico's Amelia Bedelia.Juan Bobo. Publishers Weekly. 25-04-1994.
First U.S. collection The first series of Juan Bobo stories published in the U.S. occurred in 1921. They appeared in the Journal of American Folklore under the title Porto Rican Folklore.William B. McCarthy, Wayne State University, Vol. 19, 2005. Retrieved August 2, 2014 The story collection consisted of 56 "Picaresque Tales" about Juan Bobo, and included such exotic titles as Juan Bobo Heats up his Grandmother, Juan Bobo Delivers a Letter to the Devil, Juan Bobo Throws his Brother Down a Well, and Juan Bobo Refuses to Marry the Princess. The first known publishing of the Juan Bobo stories in comic book format occurred in 1973; they were printed by the Walker and Company publishing house, authored by Bernice Chardiet and produced in hardcopy format.Kirkus Reviews, Nov. 1, 1973. Retrieved August 2, 2014.Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale Retold. 16 March 2014. Despite this open and wide-scale plagiarism, the Journal of American Folklore congratulated J. Alden Mason for authoring "the most abundant and important Spanish folk-tale material collected in Spanish America."
Target audiences Published both in hardcover and paperback, the Juan Bobo books are used as elementary school teaching books, for bilingual language programs,Language, Space and Power: A Critical Look at Bilingual Education, pp. 169–216; by Sabina Hadi-Tabassum; Multilingual Matters Ltd. Pub., 2006; Tonawanda, NY and in Spanish-language studies throughout the United States Juan Bobo lesson plans and literacy activities accompany many of the books.Scholastic Books Educational Materials, Juan Bobo Goes to Work The McGraw Hill company uses the books in a reading instruction series, which is used in public school districts throughout the United States.Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations; McGraw Hill pub.; 2006; New York, NY Reading Grade 8. Retrieved 29-05-2013. The Scholastic publishing company also offers Juan Bobo instruction modules to teachers around the US. August House publishers has a series of Juan Bobo teaching materials for national distribution,August House, Juan Bobo teaching series Retrieved 29-05-2013 and the Greenwood Publishing Group also developed Juan Bobo materials to promote child literacy in classrooms and libraries. The American Legends children's books included Juan Bobo in a series of four folkloric books. Juan Bobo books and stories are stocked, and actively promoted, in public libraries in New York,Upper Hudson Library System Retrieved 29-05-2013. North Carolina,Charlotte Mecklenburg Library; Charlotte, NC Retrieved 29-05-2013. Pennsylvania,Albright College Library Shelves; Reading, PA Retrieved 29-05-2013.Carnegie Library; Pittsburgh, PA Retrieved 29-05-2013. and in library systems throughout the United States.
Book sales Book sellers throughout the United States carry a broad selection of Juan Bobo books. These can be found at Barnes & Noble, Barnes & Noble; Juan Bobo book selection Retrieved 2013-05-29 Amazon Books,Amazon Books; Juan Bobo book selection Retrieved 29-05-2013. Abe Books,Abe Books; Juan Bobo selection Retrieved 29-05-2013. and Powell Books,Powell Books; Juan Bobo selection Retrieved 29-05-2013 Newspapers around the U.S. regularly run Juan Bobo stories.San Angelo Standard-Times; Juan Bobo's Pot: A Folktale from Puerto Rico; 30 July 2011 Retrieved 16-06-2013. The Juan Bobo stories are known in many countries, from the United States to Central and South America, the Caribbean, Spain and the Philippines. Juan Bobo books are sold in Great Britain.Book Depository; Slough, UK; Juan Bobo: Four Folk Tales Retrieved 29-05-2013. The National Library Board of Singapore has a listing of Juan Bobo books.National Board of Singapore; Juan Bobo Legends Retrieved 29-05-2013. In the Philippines, Juan Bobo stories go by the name "Lazy Juan".The House Between Earth and Sky: Harvesting New American Folktales. Joseph Daniel Sobol. p.136. Teacher Ideas Press. 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2014. The National Library Board of Singapore has a listing of Juan Bobo books.National Board of Singapore; Juan Bobo Legends Retrieved 2013-05-29.
Other media
On U.S. public television, the Juan Bobo stories are used by PBS stations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Chicago, and Iowa, and in the nationwide PBS Learning Media system.PBS Media, Juan Bobo and the Pig Retrieved 29-05-2013 Currently, Juan Bobo stories and radio dramas are regularly broadcast over radio stations in Puerto Rico. Juan Bobo CDs are also sold on the island and in the United States,Highpoint Library, Juan Bobo CDs Retrieved 29-05-2013.Juan Bobo’s Pot. Times-Herald Record. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 29-05-2013. as are Juan Bobo MP3 downloads.Juan Bobo MP3s, Amazon Retrieved 29-05-2013
In the theatrical arts, in New York City, Theatre Works USA developed and presented a Juan Bobo play, together with a children's study guide in 2008. The Teatro Círculo Theater Company mounted an Off-Broadway production of The Mischievous Juan Bobo in 2006. Also in 2006, the Open Eye Theater in Minneapolis performed The Adventures of Juan Bobo. This was followed in 2009 by the University Theater of Northeastern Illinois University presenting a Juan Bobo play titled Señora Tortuga.Señora Tortuga; Northeastern Illinois University; Fall 2009 Retrieved 29-05-2013. Children's theater companies enact the Juan Bobo stories, often in the form of puppet plays.Cactus Head Puppets; April 2013 Retrieved 29-05-2013.Time Out New York; April 2013; The Encounter of Juan Bobo and Pedro Animal Retrieved 29-05-2013. In New York City, a group of grade school children made a Juan Bobo animated film, and children's Juan Bobo play scripts are available.Creative Educational Systems; Juan Bobo play scripts Retrieved 29-05-2013 In Colombia, the Corporación Artística La Polilla theatre company mounted a production of Juan Bobo y el Secreto de la Princesa (Juan Bobo and the Riddling Princess) in 2013.Corporación Artística La Polilla; Juan Bobo y el Secreto de la Princesa; 2013
In 1962, the Puerto Rican librarian Pura Belpré published the first Juan Bobo novel in the United States: Juan Bobo and the Queen's Necklace: A Puerto Rican Folk Tale. Belpré, throughout her life, collected many other folktales from Puerto Rico, translated them into English and had them published as children's literature. Juan Bobo and the Queen's Necklace is still in print, and appears in book catalogues throughout the United States.Continuum Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, p. 74; K.S. Giniger, pub.; New York, NY; 2005 Retrieved 2013-05-29Abe Books, Juan Bobo and the Queen’s Necklace Retrieved 2013-05-29. Today, the Pura Belpré Award is given annually by the American Library Association, in recognition of a Latino or Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. In 2002 the Pura Belpré Award was given to Joe Cepeda for his illustration of Juan Bobo Goes to Work.
Publishers Juan Bobo children's books have been published in the U.S. and worldwide. Juan Bobo stories have been published by HarperCollins, Dutton Children's Books, Scholastic Books and many others, and reviewed by Kirkus Reviews,Kirkus Reviews; Juan Bobo; by Carmen T.Bernier-Grand; June 15, 1994 Retrieved 29-05-2013. Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Following is a partial list of Juan Bobo book series publishers.