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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 Literary Awards in November 2015. She launched her second children's book, The Legend of Roberto Of 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 an appreciation for bilingual and multicultural literature.
Reviewed by Hilary Hawkes for Readers' Favorite
The Legend of Roberto Cofresi: A Puerto Rican Hero by Janet Balletta and illustrated by Estella Mejia is a colorful story of the legend of Robert Cofresi. Brothers Jacob and Joseph love playing pirates and corsairs in their back garden – it all started when Dad told them the story of the corsair, Robert Cofresi. The book relays the legend as Dad tells it; what corsairs were, their job of fighting pirate ships, and splitting their treasure finds with the king. The boys learn that Cofresi was a brave and chivalrous people’s hero, but that he was also a wanted man, accused of keeping treasure to himself.
The Legend of Roberto Cofresi is written in a child-friendly manner, and the idea of a parent telling the story with the children’s questions intercepting here and there is brilliant. The author uses the boys’ questions to bring clarity and more understanding to the legend and the vocabulary used in the story. I love the way the book begins with Jacob and Joseph playing their imaginative game. This draws the reader into this story of history and legend easily, and is a great way to encourage further questions and exploration when sharing the book with a child or group of children.
The well-drawn illustrations are delightful and complement the story perfectly, making it alive and no doubt inspiring many imaginative games and ideas. A fun and informative tale that introduces children to the legend of Robert Cofresi with all its adventure, mysteriously hidden treasure and magic. At the same time it promotes some good values; kindness, bravery, thinking of others. A lovely bedtime story, and useful for teachers for classroom story times, or projects about legends or multicultural literature.
