The Latina Book Club has been counting down all
this week with great books celebrating the dark and mysterious,
but today we
celebrate our loved ones who have passed away.
Happy Reading. And always, Read
Latino!
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| Arte Publico Press |
THE REMEMBERING DAY / EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS is a three-hanky book.
Be prepared to cry happy tears. This is
Pat Mora’s take on the origins of El Dia de los Muertos and why it is such an
important day and not just another excuse to paint sugar skulls on your face.
Endearing. Emotional. Enjoyable.
No matter what age you are or if you are Mexican, Puerto
Rican, American, European, Chinese, et al, we all have someone we have loved
and lost. Remember them. Recall a wonderful memory and celebrate that love which
lives forever in your heart.
Book Summary: Long, long, long ago, Bella and her grandmother Mamá Alma
admired their vegetable garden. They liked gardening together. They grew
sunflowers and lilies too, and chatted with lizards and hummingbirds. They
walked around the flowers and vegetables holding hands, something they had done
frequently since Bella was a baby. As her grandmother aged, Bella helped her to
walk. “Every year, I need your help more and more,” said Mamá Alma.
In this special bilingual
picture book for children, author Pat Mora creates an origin myth in which she
imagines how the Mexican custom of remembering deceased loved ones—El
día de los muertos or
the Day of the Dead—came to be. With tender illustrations by Robert Casilla
that depict Bella and Mamá Alma’s loving relationship, this book will encourage
children to honor loved ones, whether by writing stories and poems or creating
their own remembering place.
About the Author: Pat Mora is an award winning bilingual author
and poet. Best known for her children’s books, her newest is REMEMBERING DAY:
EL DIA DE LOS MUERTOS. Pat is a literacy advocate and founder of Children’s
Day, Book Day / El Dia de los Niňos which has been celebrated in April for the
past 20 years. Learn more about this amazing author at www.patmora.com.
READ LATINO!