Aventura en la cueva de la Catarata (Adventure in the Waterfall Cave) is an adventure story for children published by Editorial Gente Nueva in 1971, featuring the spectacular Pyrenees mountain range along the border between Spain and France. The book introduces young Cuban readers to European geography and mountaineering adventures, describing inaccessible peaks, majestic glaciers reaching hectares in extension, hidden torrents, unsuspected rock masses, and buttresses that slowly decrease into slopes of deceptive smoothness.
Cover designer José González Rodríguez creates a dynamic, energetic composition that captures the excitement and danger of mountain climbing. Against a deep navy blue sky, colorful mountaineers ascend a steep incline using ropes and climbing equipment. The climbers are rendered as bold, simplified shapes in vibrant orange, green, yellow, and blue, their reaching hands and bodies suggesting collective effort and determination. The abstract, modernist style uses overlapping color fields to create depth and movement, with the title "AVENTURAS" (Adventures) prominently displayed in large cream-colored letters across the top.
The design reflects the influence of 1960s-70s international children's book illustration, with its bold color blocking, dynamic composition, and celebration of physical adventure and exploration. The abstract treatment of the human figures and landscape creates a sense of universal adventure rather than depicting specific individuals, making the story accessible to all young readers regardless of background.
Interior illustrator Patricia García Valdés provides additional artwork throughout the book, while the text describes the mountain landscape in evocative detail: "From an eagle's view, from a modern airplane, the snowy peaks gently undulate, losing their harshness... At the heart of the Maladetta massif, in the center, lies Aneto peak (3,404 meters)... And beneath the snow, the rock, the green? What lies there? Compact mass, caves, stalactites, stalagmites, underground waters that flow here and there in known or imagined caverns... Mystery, finally..."
Published by Instituto Cubano del Libro's Editorial Gente Nueva in Vedado, Havana, this book represents the revolutionary government's commitment to exposing Cuban children to world geography, adventure literature, and the values of courage, teamwork, and exploration—qualities that paralleled the pioneering spirit promoted in revolutionary education.