Holiday Favorites & A GIVEAWAY!

With Christmas right around the corner, I thought I would highlight a few books that celebrate the season. There are so many bilingual holiday books for kids out there that it was hard to narrow it down, so I just picked the first few that either the LBBC carries or has been given to review, or some from our family library.

We have already described our Libro del Mes, The Night of Las Posadas, and along the same lines, I found on my family's bookshelf, The Legend of the Poinsettia, also by Tomie dePaola. It is the retelling of the Mexican legend surrounding its native flower. In dePaola's version, a young girl named Lucida is upset over the fact that she has nothing to offer the baby Jesus during her town's Christmas procession. Her mother has taken ill and she and her siblings have been left in the care of a family friend. Too embarassed to enter the church empty handed, Lucida is encouraged by una viejita to give whatever she can. The only thing Lucida can find are the weeds along side the road, which she picks before entering the church to make her offering. The resulting milagro surrounding her simple gift ends the story on a meaningful note. A lovely story for children ages 2 to 6. You can purchase your copy here.

For younger children, Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! Let's Celebrate Christmas by Virginia Kroll is a simple bilingual counting book....

"I say cinco and you say five.

Let's light los faroles

before our guests arrive."

It centers around the posada tradition and takes the reader from the preparations to the end of the posada celebration. You can find the book for sale here.

And lastly, are any of you familiar with the story of the gingerbread man? Baked by a little old lady, the gingerbread man escapes and runs away to be chased by people and animals repeatedly shouting, "you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!" Annoying little bugger. I was always glad when he got caught and gobbled up by the fox in the end.

Anyhoo, there is a Hispanic version out called Runaway Radish/El Rábano que Escapó by Janice Levy. With full text in both English and Spanish, this version centers around the Night of the Radishes, an annual festival held in Oaxaca a few night before Christmas. In it there is a huge contest that features figures carved from radishes. Most of the sculptures represent scenes from the nativity or of the history and culture of Oaxacans. A pretty neat concept, I have to say! So naturally, Runaway Radish is about (surprise!) a radish that escapes his master sculptor and creates havoc throughout the town as he tries to get away, shouting,

"Gentes y lugares voy a visitar.

Aléjate de mí, ¡no me vas a tallar!"

And because we have not had a giveaway this month yet, AND as our way at the LBBC of saying "¡Feliz Navidad!" we are offering not one, but two lucky winners a copy of this book. All you have to do is leave a comment by this coming Sunday night, and I will announce the winners on Monday.

Good luck and Feliz Navidad to you all!