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Janet was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Colombian and Puerto Rican parents. She was raised Catholic, grew up in Queens, and moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1993. She graduated from Barry University with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and American College of Education with master's degree in Educational Leadership. Janet worked as an Administrative Assistant and K-2 ESOL Teacher for Palm Beach County Schools from 1993 to 2006. She currently lives and works as a bilingual second-grade teacher in Port St. Lucie, FL. Janet was inspired to write her first children's book, The Legend of the Colombian Mermaid by her two daughters who also love mermaids. She recently won the Mariposa Award from the International Latino Book Awards for The Legend of the Colombian Mermaid translated into Spanish as La Leyenda de la Sirena Colombiana. It was also nominated for the Christian Literacy Awards in November 2015. She will launch her second children's book, The Legend of Roberto Cofresi - A Puerto Rican Hero, a pirate story in Fall 2015. Janet is passionate about literacy and hopes her books will inspire children to develop a passion for bilingual and multicultural literature.
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
Every legend is a story with a lesson to share. A mermaid kidnaps children swimming in a Colombian river on Good Friday, a day of religious observance, and many, fasting, easily fall victim to the mermaid who only wants children to play with her in her underwater kingdom. You see, this mermaid was once a child in this village, a child who went swimming on Good Friday, diving off the cliffs into the river and instantly turning into a mermaid. Over the years, more children disappeared. La Sirena was the name given to the mermaid because her call attracted children and gold-laden ships to their doom. As well as children, whom the mermaid turns into mermaids, La Sirena has a passion for gold.
In The Legend of the Colombian Mermaid, ten-year-old Judith plays with her five-year-old brother Tomas near the Guatapuri River, and other children from their village of Valledupar play with them. Judith, being the oldest, is reminded every day to watch over her younger brother. She does, until the day before Good Friday, when she looks away briefly and then Tomas is suddenly missing. Frantic to find her missing brother before Good Friday, she learns from the wildlife that live at the water’s edge that the mermaid might consider trading Tomas for gold, since the mermaid loves gold more than she loves children.
The author Janet Balletta heard this legend as a child from her mother, Judith A. Cardenas Reyes. Of the many stories her mother told, this was her favorite. A delightful story, very colorfully illustrated, it teaches a lesson to young people: listen carefully to what parents instruct and always be careful around the water. Lovely story, told in the fashion of a classic Grimm’s fairy tale.
