Two Pesos for Catalina

"Two pesos for Catalina. Two pesos for Catalina to spend," sang Catalina. A lady gave them to her for finding a bracelet, so it was the first money she had. Catalina lived in a little village in Old Mexico. She walked with her mother and father to the market at Taxco, the nearest town, and gave her father the pesos to hold until she found what wanted to buy. Flowers? No, they might die. Tortillas, ice cream? No, rather something she could keep. She found a chair just her size, then saw some clay toys, but they might break. Suddenly she knew what she wanted –shoes! Beautiful shoes. Her mother seldom wore shoes, she had never worn shoes and her friends in the village had never worn shoes. In the market place there was a woman making shoes out of rubber ties with leather straps through the soles, but Catalina cried and said that was not what she wanted. She wanted shiny black shoes with straps that buttoned. Her father helped her find just what she wanted and she even had a few centavos left for candy. She looked at her new shoes and polished them all the way home. She gave her friends the candies and that night sang softly – "Two pesos for beautiful shiny black shoes."

--Publisher's summary