When the Viceroy Came - Hardcover

Urrutia, Maria Cristina; Orozco, Rebeca; Burr, Claudia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0888993544 ISBN 13: 9780888993540

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 1999

In the late 1600s, the arrival in Mexico of a new viceroy was occasion for speculation, excitement, and celebration -- and considerable apprehension. As the representative of the King of Spain, the viceroy not only had supreme power over the colony, but also set the tone for much of the social life of colonial Mexico. Required reading in Mexican schools, When the Viceroy Came is a charming and vivid tale of the arrival of Viceroy Albuquerque in Mexico in 1702, an event that inspired a richly painted screen that in turn inspired the illustrations in the book. Individual details are taken from the screen's painting, and one of the Viceroy's real-life pages becomes a character in this story and a guide for the reader through the lively tableaux of pomp and ceremony. A companion volume to Broken Shields and What the Aztecs Told Me, When the Viceroy Came was imaginatively designed to make this rich historical material accessible to children, who will delight in the images of dancing, feasting, bullfighting, gossiping, and the breathtaking spectacle of the viceroy's carriage.

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From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-5-Using details from a painted screen that shows the arrival of Viceroy Alburquerque in Mexico City in 1702, a young page, Luis Guzman, fills readers in on court life in 18th-century New Spain. Fashions, manners, and entertainment are all shown and described in slightly stilted language, taken principally from El diario de sucesos notables-1665-1703 (The Diary of Notable Events) by Antonio de Robles. This slice of life is intriguing, and the inclusion of the entire screen at the end of the book, allowing children to search for the vignettes that appear earlier, heightens interest. However, given the detail and the less-than-perfect resolution of the reproductions, this unusual presentation is best used one-on-one or with small groups. Too slow moving and episodic to work well as a story, When the Viceroy Came serves as an interesting primary-source enhancement for units on New World history or art curricula.
Ann Welton, Terminal Park Elementary School, Auburn, WA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

With illustrations taken from an early eighteenth-century painted screen, "Allegory of New Spain," which depicts the coming of a new Spanish viceroy to Mexico in 1702, this little book focuses on that event and its public celebration. The pages are striking, with people and small scenes from the many-paneled painting isolated and silhouetted against a white background and framed by wide, red borders. The text draws principally on a period diary and is told from the point of view of a boy in the painting; however, his first-person narrative is disjointed and at times confusing. The social and political context as well as the event will be unfamiliar to most children, at least to those outside Mexico, where the book was first published. Still, libraries with a demand for materials on Mexican history will find this an unusual resource to supplement more traditional history books. Carolyn Phelan

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