Alebrijes

I have the big wings of a butterfly, but my body is like a friendly dragon. My wings are sunny yellow and bright, bright pink. My tail is long with blue and green stripes, and I have big, happy eyes. I have the horns of a deer and the spots of a cat. I am a magical dream animal. We are all magical dream animals. We are the Alebrijes.

A very kind artist dreamed of me. His name was Pedro Linares. In the year 1936, he was resting and had a very special dream. He dreamed he was in a forest full of amazing creatures just like me. There were donkeys with butterfly wings and lions with eagle heads. We were all so colorful and happy. In his dream, we all chanted a silly-sounding word together, “Alebrijes. Alebrijes.” When Pedro woke up, he wanted everyone to see the wonderful things from his dream. He took paper and paste and began to build our fun shapes. Then, he used his brightest paints to make us colorful, just like he remembered.

Pedro and I live in a place called Mexico. Soon, other artists in a town called Oaxaca saw us and loved us so much. They started to carve us from wood, painting us with tiny dots and swirling lines. Now, we travel all over the world to make children and grown-ups smile. We remind everyone that dreams can be full of color and joy. What amazing things can you dream of tonight?