Niño Wrestles the World

As soon as you take a glimpse of the book cover, you know that Yuyi Morales is presenting you with a treat of pint-sized lucha. The colorful and mixed-media artwork and its wrestling match layout, capture the energy and enthusiasm of the characters and lucha libre itself. Written in English with a dash of Spanish words and onomatopoeias, readers are exposed to an action-packed picture book filled with elements of Mexican and other Spanish-speaking cultures. ¡Niño! ¡Niño! ¡Niño!” It is through this chant that we are introduced to Niño, a paleta eater, toy-loving, and acrobatic boy. Once Niño puts on his luchador mask, contenders such as La Momia de Guanajuato, La Llorona and Cabeza Olmeca, line up to challenge him. With his playful lucha style, Niño challenges his opponents with puzzles, dolls, marbles, popsicles and tickles, showing how Morales playfully incorporates childhood glee into this wonderful homage to lucha libre. At the end of the story we also meet Niño’s toddler sisters, who are mischievous and loud and drive Niño crazy! This is where Yuyi Morales uses the opportunity to capture and address siblings’ relationships, while showcasing the “best move” to defeat sibling rivalry. I could not deny that it crossed my mind that Niño Wrestles the World, plays as a homage and retelling of the legacy of Mexican lucha icon, El Santo. Like El Santo, once Niño puts on his luchador mask, he never takes it off. Like El Santo, in his movies, Niño challenges the mummy of Guanajuato, the llorona, and aliens. And you could say that when later in the book Niño joins his sisters and challenges new opponents, we are seeing a retelling of adventures where El Santo joins fellow luchadores Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras. Setting the wonderful El Santo references aside, in this picture book we have a fun and energetic story and lovable characters that will release the inner luchador or luchadora in kids and adults of all ages. Niño Wrestles the World is the 2014 Pura Belpré Illustrator Winner and was named a highly commended title by the 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award. It was also included in a series of list such as A Fuse #8 Production 100 Magnificent Children’s Books 2013, School Library Journal Top 10 Latino-themed Books of 2013, Fanfare (Horn Book’s list of the best books for young people published in 2013), Center for the Study Multicultural Children’s Literature Best Multicultural Books of 2013 and Latinas for Latino Lit Remarkable Latino Children’s Literature of 2013.

I purchased this book to read to my 2 year old nephew. The pages are matte which is great for night time reading, as there is little reflection. The illustrations are wonderful and he enjoys looking at them while I read aloud. What I love most about this book is its incorporation of Latino themes. This is a great book for children, my nephew just happens to be a mature 2 year old. This is one of his favorite reads before bed time.

The illustrations are adorably quirky and the story is too cool for words. Niño goes up against the top scary legends but just when he thinks he's taken down his biggest opponent, there's one more challenge that tests him--and requires Niño to come up with a whole other technique if he's to survive...

Niño is such a fun book. Yuyi Morales has created a story that captures my students. What young child can resist lucha libre and a kid running around in underwear and a mask? My students cheer and laugh too as Niño takes on all kinds of bad guys in his attempt to be the best wrestler in the world. There are so many smiles when we read this book. The art is vibrant and lively. The text is full of fantastic words like "Fwap! Slish! Bloop! Krunch!" and a smattering of Spanish too. I cannot express how much I love this book. It makes me smile every single time I read it. He has captured my heart and I think he has those of my students too.

The art is in a matte format. I love Ms. Yuyi Morales's work. I have some of her other books that have a shiny or glossy finish and I like that format so much more than this matte format. But, that's OK. The art is great, colorful and silly. The story is great. This is a rare find for my nephew whom is of mixed heritage. It is hard to find a good and fun children's book with a boy as a main character and especially a brown boy!

I bought this book for my nephew and he absolutely loves it! He reads it every day with his Grandfather (who is from Peru so his pronunciation of the Spanish words is on point)! Now, he has a little sister and she loves it, too! I also bought them the second book and they were so excited when they unwrapped it, they couldn't believe there was ANOTHER niño book! I recommend this for those who are of latino/a/x descent and those who are not - it's just a fun book about playing pretend (and avoiding bed time).

Third grade humor, for sure. My students will love it! I will enjoy sharing a bit of culture with them.

Now entering the ring…it’s Niño, luchador extraordinaire! Facing off against a host of monstrous foes, Niño has to use his wrestling skills to reign victorious. One after the other, he dispatches figures from Mexican folklore: the mummy of Guanajuato, Olmec Head, La Llorona, an alien, and El Chamuco. Just around the corner, though, is the toughest match of all: a fight against his little sisters, Las Hermanitas! Will Niño’s winning streak come to an end? Niño Wrestles the World is absolutely hilarious, and it’s a great way to teach little ones about the traditions behind lucha libre and Mexican culture. Vibrant illustrations add to the whizz-bang story and help make Morales’s book a real winner. This review originally appeared on ABookandaHug.com

The illustrations are beautiful. Absolutely a work of art. The story line is okay. It wasn’t a favourite for my son, but I loved it lol

Most rubbish book I have ever read... no story nothing to gain out of book. Should write better stories. It doesn’t have story at all.

Great book! Son loves it!!