Flannel Friday BONUS! La hormiguita

Because I feel so terribly about how long it has been since I have contributed to Flannel Friday, tonight I am adding a bonus flannel.  This is one of the first flannels I ever made for myself; my skills have improved some over the years!  But even though the flannel pieces themselves aren't the prettiest, I wanted to get this story, "La hormiguita," out there to you all.  I came across this flannel while working at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.  I know it is based on a Mexican folktale, but I have never been able to track down the original story.  I have read every "Little Ant" folktale out there that I could find, but have never found this exact one.

In this story, la hormiguita (the little ant) slips on some ice and hurts her foot on her way to take a loaf of pan (bread) to her abuela (grandma).  Her friend the grillo (cricket) tells her she should demand justice from the escarcha (ice), who says it is actually the fault of the sol (sun), who blames it on the nube (cloud), etc. until the surprise twist at the end.  The script for the story as I like to tell is is available here.

I like this story because it is a cumulative tell that builds on and repeats key Spanish vocabulary.  This means that it is an easy story to tell to incorporate a Latino folktale and some Spanish words into your storytime, even if you don't speak Spanish.

Have fun, and if anyone knows of or finds the original source for this story, I would LOVE to know what it is!

La hormiguita from Katie Cunningham