Customer Reviews

Josefina's Boxed Set (The American Girls Collection)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Josefina (pronounced "ho-sa-FEE-nah") is a nine year old Hispanic girl growing up on a large rancho in New Mexico in 1824. The first story opens up with Josefina and her three older sisters finding comfort in daily chores while thinking about Mama, who had died a year before. Then, Abuelo (Grandfather) returns from a trip to Mexico City, bringing with him Tia (Aunt) Dolores. From then on, Tia Dolores is the catalyst for change. The educated, independent young aunt brings new beliefs about a woman's role and challenges the more tradional role that Mama had played in the family. Fortunately, Tia Dolores is a wise and gentle teacher who teaches Josefina that learning new things or doing things differently does not mean forgetting the old. Memories of Mama can be found in learning to read and write, repairing her embroidered altar cloth, celebrating Christmas, and in learning to care for the family and household. Josefina learns that her heart can embrace her cultural traditions while her spirit flies free on the wind of personal, family, and cultural changes.

New Mexico Hispanic traditions and the historical lifestyle are accurately portrayed through Josefina's daily routines. The focus on Josefina and her world makes the stories relevant and interesting to the readers. Readers learn about laundry, cooking and baking, food choices, gardens, trips to the river for water, friendships, family roles, manners and codes of conduct, and celebrations. Josefina's family faces tragedy in a flood, hard work to recover losses and maintain daily existance, the emotional conflict of change, and other choices appropriate to the world they live in. Additional historical information for each story is at the back of each book, making this a history lesson that goes down with a spoonful of sugar and much enjoyment.

Each book is only 4 chapters long, and if all you want out of it is a nice story, then this series will deliver it in a historical setting that is new to many readers. Because of the excellent research that was done, this series can be used for new students (children and adults) of Southwest history. However, those who want to look deeper will find that the themes of the stories work well with New Mexico history of the time. In 1821, the Santa Fe Trail opened up, bringing Americans to Santa Fe. They brought new goods, created a merchant class, and brought values that were more materialistic than either the Hispanic or Pueblo people had lived by. Josefina, like other members of the younger generation, would spend a lifetime learning about choices, change, and deciding what traditions to hang onto. The Hispanic culture did change, and the wealthy merchants adapted to an Americanized world while rural communities sought to continue to live by their cultural traditions. Either way, the world that Josefina and her sisters inherited would not hold for them the same roles, expectations, and choices that their grandmother had. It is a credit to the Hispanic people that they held onto so much because they did it against discrimination, and in the face of change. To this extent, Tia Dolores is the symbol of this coming change, and Mama is the traditions that they must choose to remember and honor. I reread this series occationally, and it still brings much to my life. Although the brevity of the books is deceptive, I would stick with the publishers recommended reading age of 8-12 (about second through sixth grades) because there is so much that can be learned and enjoyed in these books that a younger child may miss.

As a grown up, hispanic woman who grew up in New Mexico (whose grandmother's name was actually Josefina), I must say that these books are very factual and well written. Hispanic culture does not change much from generation to generation, and the depictions of the culturally rich traditions of a hispanic family from that area of the country are perfect. These books are a joy to read!

Like all the American Girls books, these about Josefina are full of great information. The authors are very good about making you feel as if you are apart of that time frame. The best part about the Josefina books is that they also come in a Spanish version. I think that is very important for young hispanic girls to be able to read something about their heritage in their own language.

I have been an American Girl fan since I was 6, and the Josefina books make me an even bigger fan. The stories are engaging and the characters very likeable. The Josefina series is a great way to introduce a child to the way Hispanic people in the early nineteenth century lived. I think that the 2-star rating from the reviewer from Japan was inappropriate, because as she mentioned, the books are written for younger girls, and so are not meant to be long, involved books that cater to more grown-up tastes. They are perfectly written for the targeted age group, and I think girls of that age group would love them.

These books are about a 9/10-year-old girl and her family in New Mexico. The story begains about a year after her mother's death. Their mother's sister moves into their rancho and helps them run the rancho and mend their hearts. Through the next two years, Josefina is able to get beyond her grief over her mother's passing, learn to love her aunt, and develop new interests (reading, weaving, a baby goat, healing, and piano-playing). The stories are sweet and demonstrate a close-knit and loving family. My least favorite story was the one in which Josefina decides that she wants to be a healer; it frightened my daughter (who is only 4 and therefore on the young side for these books). My favorite part of the story is how their faith plays a daily role in their lives and comforts them. The stories contain much factual information about the time-period and culture; each book has about 5 to 10 pages in the back devoted to a specific aspect of the culture. The author is very respectful of the culture, but also accurate. At several points, the children in the story do not speak because, in that culture, it would not have been appropriate for them to do so. These differences in culture were acknowledged, but not in a negative way. It is very clear that the children were well-loved by all of the adults in their family.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK IF YOU LIKE TO READ ABOUT GIRLS IN THE PIONEER DAYS. JOSEFINA IS A GIRL WHO LIVES IN NEW MEXICO WITH FOUR SISTERS AND HER PAPA. THEY STRUGGLE EVERY DAY BECAUSE JOSEFINA'S MOTHER DIED RECENTLY. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN INTEREST IN READING ABOUT GIRLS IN THE PIONEER DAYS. I THINK THAT "AMERICAN GIRL" BOOKS ARE GREAT BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've read all the Josefina books! They are great! If you have a daugter who is 6 and up and interested in different cultures Buy her Josefina books. They are a little over priced.

Over the past yearI have bought the following sets of books for my grandaughter: Josefina; Samantha; Molly; Kristen; Addy; and Felicity.
I have given them to her for her birthday and Christmas and occasionally just for a great grade. She loves them all. I have just ordered Kit and Kaya for her for Christmas.
They make her interested in how girls lived in another time plus she likes to try and do some of the things they did. I think they are wonderful.
Rosalie

I got the Josefina series for my 8 year old daughter to read. She LOVES reading but tends to read books that are just goofy, super easy reads. This is the first American Girl series that I've purchased and I will be purchasing others as well for my daughter. The books were very enjoyable, yet very informative at the same time. My daughter and I read the books before bed every night and sometimes we would find ourselves staying up way too late reading more than we intended to. The history in the books is very accurate and leads to some great discussions. The looking back section at the end of each book was great as well. After reading the whole Josefina series together, my daughter is now re-reading them all. It's great to see her want to read instead of watch TV. I really like this series because it's not the typical type of book that most 8-year-olds would read.

Josephina is a very nice series of books for girls over 8 yrs. of age.
It tells the story of a Mexican family in early America in a most enjoyable way! Highly recommend!