The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de Los Muertos: The Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans [Paperback]

Valerie Menard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

The Latino Holiday Book is the essential resource for everyone wanting to celebrate and honor the special traditions and celebrations of Hispanic-Americans. Author Valerie Menard takes us through the full year, covering new year's traditions, Día de los Reyes, Calle Ocho, Easter, Cinco de Mayo, the feast day of San Juan Bautista, the Cuban and Mexican celebrations of independence, National Puerto Rican Day, the feast of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre and Our Lady of the Divine Inspiration, Día de la Raza (the Latin American version of Columbus Day), Día de los Muertos, the feast day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Christmas. Weddings, birthdays, and quinceañeras are also explored in rich detail. For each celebration, Menard discusses their religious or social history, typical customs, special foods and activities, and gives recipes and instructions for making the authentic foods and crafts that particularly represent a day's traditions.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

America's fastest-growing minority shares a variety of heritages from New World lands where Spain once dominated. In The Latino Holiday Book, Valerie Menard outlines the full year's festivals, not merely Navidad, that have a distinctively Latino origin or a uniquely Latino way of observing the day. Menard's quite serious purpose is to educate, not to plan parties. She outlines histories of days of special celebration for people of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican heritage. Only a few recipes appear in sidebars, but Menard devotes several pages to instructions on properly praying the rosary. The book is a useful reference for anyone seeking background information on this increasingly influential culture rapidly becoming mainstream. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Since 1994 Valerie Menard has been an editor for Hispanic magazine, one of the oldest national Latino magazines, as well as its sister magazine, Moderna. Prior to that was the managing editor for five years of La Prensa, Austin's bilingual magazine. Her writing has also appeared in the Austin Chronicle, Vista, Latin Heat, Frontera, and Southern Exposure. END

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Treasure Chest Books (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569246467
• ISBN-13: 978-1569246467
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,601,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great resource book, July 13, 2000

By 

"frenchy78" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de Los Muertos: The Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans (Paperback)

Its really great you can learn about the different celebrations of the Latino culture. You'll also find some traditional recipes, and other little fact we might have never bothered to learn from our parents. Its a nice and easy read. Its a great book for us latinos who want to know more about our traditions and or those who are interested in our culture. Everyone Latino and NON alike should go out and get this book its a great reference guide into the Latino culture, celebrations, and traditions.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars mixed effort, June 10, 2002

By 

Stephen McHenry (Olney, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de Los Muertos: The Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans (Paperback)

There is a necessity for a book like this, although this book could have done a more even job of filling the need. A resource on some of the latino holiday/celebrations, slanted towards how they are celebrated in the U.S., this is can be a helpful resource.
The down side is not all the celbrations are covered that you would expect; practically nothing about how Carneval (Mardi Gras) is celebrated in Latin America itself, only a mention of the Miami, Florida festivity. And there is absolutely no mention of Semana Santa, the week before Easter. On the other hand, a good job of describing the difference between Cinco de Mayo and the real Mexican Independence day in September; as well as receipes and insights that give the book a light-hearted feel. If you are looking for information on a specific holiday, this good be a good resource or a complete blank: If you are looking to find out more about Lation culture, this will be helpful. This is not a travel resource to prepare so much for visiting Latin America during festivals, meant more for understanding the celebrations here in the States, how they are celebrated, why, and their origins.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource, April 11, 2004

By 

Susanna Duffy (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de Los Muertos: The Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans (Paperback)

I've been looking for descriptions of festivities from the Latin American world for a long time. And it's not easy ! Too often it's assumed that everyone knows whar Cinco de Mayo is all abour, but it's all mysterious and novel in my part of the world.

Thank you very much Valerie Menard for your excellent resource