Customer Reviews

Day of the Dead (On My Own Holidays)

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I read this book to my own kids (elementary age) & we all enjoyed it. I thought it did a good job of explaining the Day of the Dead from an Indian perspective. Being Mexican American myself (mixed of Indian & European descent like most Mexicans) I think it's important to explain the origins of this holiday & I thought this book did a good job. It is a celebration of those who are gone & we still love & remember as well as life; death & life as a cycle. To the Mexican Indians this celebration mimics the same cycle of the seasons as well. Life ending (crops harvested, leaves fallen) Autumn/Winter & then life renewal (leaves & flowers reappearing) Spring/Summer. The colors are symbolic of this to the Mexican Indians as exhibited in the book (Orange Marigolds representing death & orange is the color of fall - pumpkins, leaves etc... & green leaves representing life & green renewal of spring - leaves of trees, grass, etc...)

Linda Lowery's "The Day of the Dead," with illustrations by Barbara Knutson, is a helpful, colorful, informative book about how other cultures celebrate the fall/harvest season around the time of American Halloween. Rather than ghouls, goblins, and witches, the Hispanic cultures celebrate "El Dia de los Muertos" with joy, for it is a day on which the spirits of those deceased return to their homes and families.

The drawings in the book show happy people remembering their loved ones with the three-day holiday, October 31-November 2. The people bake special loaves of bread, create tamales with mole, and bring in thousands of sacred orange marigolds to honor the dead. There are special candies-- sugar coffins, chocolate skulls--there are bright paper banners and even skeletons made of wood or paper (calacas), each to celebrate something special about those who have gone on to the next world. Lost babies or angelitos are given special recognition.

The celebration of El Dia de los Muertos includes firecrackers, songs, parades, dancing, and story-telling of the dead being honored.

This book explains the joy of the ceremonies and contrasts the festive atmosphere with the traditional fright-night of American Halloween. It also traces the ancient traditions to Aztec times.

Written for young children, grades 1-4, the book is informative to all. The message, that life continues in a cycle, is seen in films such as "The Lion King" and should be understandable to school-age children. I highly recommend this multicultural book for parents and teachers to read with children.

Another book that is stronger and perhaps for older children on the subject of death and regeneration of joy if Pearl Buck's classic, "The Big Wave," about a boy who loses his entire family in a tsunami.

Although this book is recommended for young children and has an elementary feel to the illustrations, it places too much emphasis on death for elementary school children. I was particularly uncomfortable with the almost preachy way it tells us that we should be grateful to be alive. The book contains facts that may be better suited for older children, but it is written in simple language meant for young children.