The Farolitos of Christmas [Hardcover]

Rudolfo Anaya (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

It's Christmas in San Juan, New Mexico, and young Luz worries that with her grandfather sick and her father in the hospital, wounded from the war, their usual Christmas celebration will not be. Then Luz decides to make her own little lanterns or farolitos to light the path for the oncoming celebration, and for her father, who returns home in time for the holiday. Full color.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. Richly colored full-page paintings show a lovingly individualized Chicano family that is part of a New Mexico community in the open landscape under the starlit winter sky. Anaya's upbeat story, first published in a magazine in 1987, focuses on Luz, a young girl whose father, wounded in World War II, hasn't come home yet. Her sick grandfather is not strong enough to cut the logs for the traditional luminarias (small bonfires), so Luz and her Indian friend Reina from a nearby pueblo find a way to make farolitos (lighted candles in paper bags weighted with sand) to light the way for the Christmas pilgrims. The Spanish words are a natural part of the narrative (they're explained in a glossary at the back), and if the plot's contrived (Dad returns home just in time), the image of the path of light is touching and beautiful. Hazel Rochman

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (January 1, 1900)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786800607
• ISBN-13: 978-0786800605
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,267,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rudolfo Anaya is professor emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico. He was one of the first winners of the Premio Quinto Sol National Chicano literary award. Winner of the PEN Center USA West Award for Fiction for his novel Alburquerque, he is best-loved for his classic bestseller Bless Me, Ultima. His other works include Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall, Jalamanta, Tortuga, Heart of Aztlan , and The Anaya Reader. He has also written numerous short stories, essays, and children's books, including The Farolitos of Christmas and Maya's Children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Farolitos of Christmas tells a tale of family love., April 7, 2000

By 

Judy Leavell (San Marcos, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Farolitos of Christmas (Hardcover)

The Farolitos of Christmas tells a warm story of a young girl's respect and love for her grandfather, who is too ill to keep his commitment to light fires at Christmas time. The story creates how the young girl thought of "farolitos" or "little lights" to be used to keep the promise in an acceptable way and also light the path for the carolers at Christmas time. A wonderful story that reflects the rich family traditions of the Mexican American culture. This book was one of the winners of the 1995 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, given to recognize books that authentically reflect the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Corrections ..., December 2, 2003

By 

Bill Mathews "SantaFeBill" (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Farolitos of Christmas (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful, warm book, and gives an insight into a culture that is different from what most in other parts of the U.S. have experienced. But the culture is not Mexican American, but the Hispanic culture of Northern New Mexico, which dates back to the late 16th Century. I can't, in a short review, list the distinctions, but they are deep and significant. For more information, see the other works by Rudolfo Anaya, Christmas in Old Santa Fe, by Pedro Ortega, and histories of the area such as Horgan's Great River. In short, New Mexico was at the end of a very long journey from Mexico, and the isolation produced its own rich and unique culture.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Farolitos of Christmas, November 5, 2007

By 

Gabriele U. Stauf "Oma's reading list" (Americus, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Farolitos of Christmas (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent way for children to learn about their own culture or the culture of others with whom they may be attending school. This is a meaningful story of giving the most valuable of all gifts: love and gestures of personal comitment toward those whom we love. There are numerous such stories for children, but this is from the cultural confluence of the Hispanic and Native American cultures and we need many more such stories.