The story about the creation of “Maria no té por” (Mary is not afraid) is really funny. It all started with a call from Dani Miquel, the singer who rolls from town to town, making shows for children, and has become a mass phenomenon.

Francesc Gisbert was at home having a good day, ready to take a nap, when the phone rang. Dani always called him in the afternoon because he knows it is the only time that Francesc is at home. Dani said that he wanted to write a fear song for children. As Francesc had done many researches about Valencian traditional oral stories, Dani thought he would be perfect to help.

Francesc heard the proposal of Dani. He wanted to compose a song about The Espantacriatures and needed Francesc to give him some names.

He had read Magic for a People (Bullent Editions), another book written by Francesc, an informative guide of fantastic creatures, customs and popular magical beliefs from Valencia. And he thought that Francesc could help. The result was the song "Maria is not afraid", included in his last book-CD, Musiqueries II (Andana Edicions). The song worked very well. Children know it by heart.

And another day, Dani called Francesc again, also at the nap time. He said that he had another proposal. Francesc should write a book about The Espantacriatures and he would sing the song he did. And this is how the book and illustrated album “La Maria no té por” came to life (Gisbert, 2014).

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This book helped children around the Valencian Community to know about the traditional characters of the Valencian popular oral stories. I has been used at schools and also by the goverment to promote our traditional culture.