by Yuyi Morales
It is the day of Grandma Beetle's birthday party. Señor Calavera is extremely excited to attend. As he sets out on his bicycle, he is suddenly reminded by Zelmiro the Ghost that he has forgotten something important...a gift of what Grandma loves most. He diligently searches for the perfect gift, choosing various treasures for each letter of the alphabet, but missing the mark until an accident leads him to discover what Grandma truly loves the most.
This is an interesting traditional tale with Day of the Dead implications, a Spanish alphabet book, and is a follow-up to Just a Minute. Calavera is Spanish for skull. Edible sugar skulls are used in celebration of this holiday and believed to welcome back those who have passed out of this life when the candy skulls are offered on the altar. This story is written in English with some Spanish vocabulary, mostly found as the names of the gifts that are chosen for Grandma. This book could be used to introduce Mexican holidays/culture/alphabet to children, as well as for a celebration with those who are already familiar with DÃa de los Muertos. Without prefacing the book with some background information, children will likely have questions after reading it, as I did. Some simple research will answer those questions and make the story more meaningful, as will reading Just a Minute, Yuyi Morales' first Señor Calavera book.
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Author, Yuyi Morales' website: http://www.yuyimorales.com/
Señor Calavera's invitation to the ALA Pura Belpre book award ceremony:
Who is Señor Calavera? http://www.srcalavera.com/jarana.html
Read the first book, Just a Minute:
