The Chocolate Tree: [A Mayan Folktale]

by Linda Lowery, Richard Keep, Janice Lee Porter (Illustrator)

Ever wonder where chocolate came from? We have the Mayan king Kukulkán to thank. Kukulkán is more than a king―he is also a god. One day he brings his people an amazing a chocolate tree! But there is just one problem. Kukulkán’s brother, Night Jaguar, doesn’t want regular people to have chocolate. He thinks only gods should eat the tempting treat. Will Night Jaguar prevail? Or will the Mayans get to keep their chocolate tree?

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Ancient History, Folk Tales

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Lisa the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to the second grade classes as part of my all chocolate read aloud theme. This is a great myth/folklore tale from the Mayan culture. Chocolate was introduced to the world when the Spanish Conquistadors brought the beans from the cacao tree back from visits to the Mayan and Aztec people.

An interesting tale of how the Mayan king/god Kululkan (cool-cool-KAHN) defied the other gods and brought chocolate to the earth because of his great love for the Mayan people.

I loved having a different genre of chocolate book to read to the students. We've done a few fiction stories and a non-fiction book on chocolate growing/processing. A book of chocolate folklore was a real find!

In addition to the informative story the art work is pretty and really evokes a mood of gods, paradise and miraculous gifts.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely Mayan Folktale, telling a story of how chocolate came to be on the earth, as a gift to the Mayans from Kukulkan. The author admits this story and tale, and the story of Kukulkan, is told in different ways in different communites, from the Maya to the Aztecs to the Toltecs. This telling is just one version. Yet being set at Chichen Itza, this was the perfect version for reading to my daughter on the day after we visited Chichen Itza ourselves. Plus, how can you not like a story that is about chocolate!

[Milena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love stories that make a great job relating us to what we eat. This is a very nice story about the mythical origin of chocolatl and how sacred it is for the Mayan people. The illustrations are so beautiful and the ending is lovely but I really don't like stories where there is an evil character with animal name, because from my point of view it gives the animal bad reputation, etc. This is the case of the Jaguar in the Chocolate tree story.

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Mayan folktale about how a God gave the world chocolate! My whole family liked this one.

[Breanna Maughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the pictures are cool and show how the Mayans would draw.

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute story. I really enjoyed it. Love the chocolate.

[Sara G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ESL teaching resource.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book

[Adrianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful contemporary illustrations!

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this with my class as a text to help them create their own folktales. They were very engaged by the colourful pictures and they enjoyed the story. The jungle setting really captured their imagination, which helped their writing and it was also a nice way of introducing the Mayans as our term topic.

[Flor Vita · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia en general me gusto, pero siento que en las partes en las que el narrador trata de interactar con el lector rompe el flujo de la historia. En cuanto a las ilustraciones el diseño te introduce muy bien en el cuento.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was probably my favorite folktale this year, how we got seasons, storms, animals, etc are all okay, but I love the story of how we got chocolate 🤩

[Michelle Rudon]

I can't even read this book this site sucks as hell. I really need to read it for a test tomorrow.😈