The Remembering Day = El dia de los muertos

Mora, Pat

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Arte Publico Press

Annotation: While walking in the garden they have tended together since Bella was a baby, Mama Alma asks that after she is gone, her family remember her on one special day each year. Includes facts about el dia de los muertos.

Genre: [Foreign languages]

Reviews: 2

Catalog Number: #140149

Format: Perma-Bound from Publisher's Hardcover

Common Core/STEAM: Common Core

Publisher: Arte Publico Press

Edition Date: 2015 Release Date: 10/31/15

Illustrator: Casilla, Robert,

Pages: 1 volume (unpaged)

ISBN: Publisher: 1-558-85805-9 Perma-Bound: 0-605-50028-2

ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-1-558-85805-3 Perma-Bound: 978-0-605-50028-0

Dewey: E

LCCN: 2014037793

Dimensions: 28 cm.

Subject Heading:
Grandmothers. Fiction.
Gardens. Fiction.
All Souls' Day. Fiction.
Holidays. Mexico. Fiction.
Spanish language materials. Bilingual.
Abuelas. Novela. slem.
Jardines. Novela. slem.
Dia de los muertos. Novela. slem.
Siestas. Mexico. Novela. slem.
Materiales lectura en idioma espanol. Bilingue. slem.

Language: Spanish

Bilingual: Yes

Reviews:

ALA Booklist

There is no shortage of books about el Dia de los Muertos, but Mora brings the concept to a deeply personal level in this bilingual story that imagines the holiday's origins. Set long ago in a small village in Mexico, the story shows how Bella and her grandmother share a bond that transcends time. Together, they work in the fields, grow flowers, weave cloth, and play hide-and-seek. But, mostly, they talk. The gentle tone of their conversation is mirrored in the stillness of the illustrations. As Bella and Mamá Alma recall their life together, there is a hint of sadness and a premonition about what's to come. On their last day together, Mamá Alma tells Bella to teach people about remembering others. Of course, Bella does so, starting a tradition of dedicating a day to remembering loved ones no longer present. Casilla's gentle, earth-toned paintings bring Bella's world to life with remarkable realism.

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ALA Booklist

Word Count: 1,190

Reading Level: 4.0

Interest Level: K-3

Accelerated Reader: reading level: 4.0 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 177323 / grade: Lower Grades

Lexile: AD700L

Guided Reading Level: L

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.Sitting on their favorite rock, they remembered how Mamá Alma carried Bella to show her the sun and everything that grew in its powerful rays: trees, cacti, corn and flowers. The oldest and wisest woman in the village, she taught her granddaughter to sing, tell stories and weave. Mamá Alma is pleased that Bella has become the best healer in the village, the one everyone comes to for help with a sick bird or a stomach ache. Mamá Alma tells her granddaughter to remember their happy times together and to plan an annual "remembering day," a special time to think about her when she is gone.In this special bilingual picture book for children, acclaimed 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.

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