Congratulations to Duncan Tonatiuh at having his FUNNY BONES: POSADA AND HIS DAY OF THE DEAD CALAVERAS selected as one of the 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books for 2015 by the New York Times, and to my friend Margarita Engle for a fine review of her middle-grade memoir, ENCHANTED AIR, in the same paper.
A fun and inventive idea for Book Fiesta!
Norma Diaz and her fellow first grade teachers at Ramirez Elementary in Edinburg, TX used Book Fiesta! Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day/Celebremos El día de los niños/El día de los libros as the theme for a hallway contest. After the book was read aloud to the students, they were asked to create a diorama of a place where they enjoy reading. They were then displayed in the hall for all to see. Great idea!
El día de los muertos, All Souls Day
This is the first year that The Remembering Day/El día de los muertos is available to families and those who work with children. I hope this origin myth is a helpful way to create the tradition of remembering and honoring the family and friends who are no longer with us.
Cultural humor can at times be hard to understand. El día de los muertos which can include the Mexican humor of laughing at death has produced and produces a rich array of folk art including a special Day of the Dead bread. Many books have been written about the tradition of visiting graveyards in traditional parts of Mexico and about humorous skull art.
I am again grateful to Texas librarian Sandra Rosales and her colleagues who created this tribute, in Spanish an altar, in honor of my parents.
Family Remembrances at the Lan Su Chinese Garden
Last summer, my husband and I visited Portland. I was going to have the pleasure of speaking to educators which I always enjoy. We had been to beautiful Portland a number of times, and because I love gardens, we had visited the Japanese Tea Garden. This year we discovered the Lan Su Chinese Garden and was I pleasantly surprised when we entered a room that had a family remembrance.
As I say in the author note of my new book, The Remembering Day/El día de los muertos, many cultures have the tradition of honoring their departed.
Get ready for Halloween with a poem from Pat
Listen to Pat read “Halloween” along with “Leaf Soup” from Confetti: Poems for Children.