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(2)
4-6
Love Sugar Magic series.
Eleven-year-old Leonora Logroño doesn't get to help in her family's bakery. Leo snoops and discovers all her female family members are brujas, or witches. Impatient Leo doesn't want to wait four years for her initiation, so she experiments on her own, with comical results. First-novelist Meriano creates a believable family whose members sprinkle love, affection, and natural domestic gripes as naturally as they mix Spanish and English.
Reviewer: Betty Carter
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
March, 2018
(3)
4-6
Illustrated by
Lesley Vamos.
Mexican American fashion-obsessed Peacock "Pea" Pearl and Anglo gardening whiz Louise "Lou Lou" Bombay are best friends solving a mystery in their tight-knit, multicultural neighborhood. Spanish words and phrases and Día de los Muertos traditions are respectfully woven into the story. Vamos's loose gray-scale illustrations capture key moments as the girls' supportive friendship anchors the mystery until the satisfying ending. Glos.
(4)
K-3
Cloverleaf Books: Fall and Winter Holidays series.
Illustrated by
Holli Conger.
Children narrate contrived stories introducing the customs involved in these four cultural holidays. Sidebars with dry text provide more straightforward information and facts about each celebration. The pictures (from various illustrators) are cheesy but cheerful. Each book includes an appealing holiday-specific activity, such as a turkey cookie recipe and instructions for making a Kwanzaa drum. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Fall and Winter Holidays titles: Daniela's Day of the Dead, Grace's Thanksgiving, and Hailey's Halloween, and Kevin's Kwanzaa.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8234-2214-2$16.95
(4)
PS
Translated by Teresa Mlawer.
A family honors its ancestors on el Día de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead. The sing-songy rhyming text (which is more effective in the Spanish translation) lists activities associated with the holiday: food preparation, dancing, candle lighting, and remembering. Barner's colorful mixed-media illustrations are livelier than his text. An author's note (in English) provides additional information.
48 pp.
| Enslow/Elementary
| March, 2005
|
LibraryISBN 0-7660-1780-X$23.93
(4)
K-3
Finding Out about Holidays series.
This bland introduction to the Day of the Dead in Mexico discusses modern-day traditions and gives historical context. Plenty of lively photos convey the colorful festivities, and a craft project is included. Spanish words are sprinkled throughout, but no pronunciation is provided. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.
32 pp.
| Peachtree
| September, 2004
|
TradeISBN 1-56145-322-6$15.95
(4)
K-3
Jaunty skeletons dance across double-page spreads in a colorful collage of cut-paper flowers and outdoor scenery. The Day of the Dead is not mournful, and Keep shows the well-dressed skeletons eating, playing, and making music. While slight, the rhyming words that appear across the bottom of the page echo the Spanish/English onomatopoeic sounds of the day. An afterword describes the Mexican holiday.
32 pp.
| Cinco
| September, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-938317-67-9$$14.95
(4)
K-3
Translated by John William Byrd.
A poem about the Day of the Dead (in both Spanish and in awkwardly translated English) is followed by some information about this Mexican holiday, directions for building an altar, and two holiday-related recipes. The festive illustrations, depicting dancing skeletons, enhance the design of this rather slight offering.
32 pp.
| Farrar
| October, 2001
|
TradeISBN 0-374-31720-8$$16.00
(3)
K-3
When Beto's family celebrates the Day of the Dead, he can't think of anything to put on the altar for his late grandmother. Then in a dream his grandmother reminds him what is most important to her--Beto! The story includes many colorful details and Spanish words that draw the reader into the setting, and the vibrantly toned, busy illustrations are full of movement.
32 pp.
| Rising
| October, 1998
|
TradeISBN 0-87358-688-3$$15.95
(4)
1-3
Illustrated by
Robert Chapman.
Rosita learns to deal with her grief over her beloved abuelita's death by making a gift for her grandmother on the Day of the Dead. Three-dimensional illustrations made of cast paper--with added-on objects made of wood, string, fabric, and beads--have eye-catching details; details in the somewhat trite story strengthen the characterization and setting. The Spanish text in this bilingual book is well translated.
Reviewer:
10 reviews
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