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 is Puerto Rico's Amelia Bedelia. 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. 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. The origin and authorship of the stories presented a sociological lesson. The editors acknowledged that the stories absorbed many versions of African and European folk tales, and that the first draft of all 56 stories had been written by Puerto Rican school children. However, none of these children were named or credited in the story collection. 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, and in Spanish-language studies throughout the United States Juan Bobo lesson plans and literacy activities accompany many of the books. The McGraw Hill company uses the books in a reading instruction series, which is used in public school districts throughout the United States. 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, 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, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and in library systems throughout the United States. Book sales Book sellers throughout the United States carry a broad selection of Juan Bobo