These Mexican American version of the well known Twelve Days of Christmas song by Pat Mora and illustrated by Mangaly Morales is a great book for young children, grades prekindergarten-3rd grade. This brightly colored book follows the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas while including Mexican traditions mixed with those of American culture. The main character receives a new gift each day from her secret amiga, or friend. This book does a great job at mixing the Mexican and American cultures and customs.
We chose this book for various reasons. The first thing we noticed was at the back of the book both the author, Pat Mora and the illustrator Magaly Morales leave a note for the reader. Pat Mora talks about how she is a Latina that was born in the United States so she grew up celebrating Mexican holidays and singing American Christmas songs such as The Twelve Days of Christmas. She also discusses how much fun it was for her to create a book that mixes both culture and discusses some of the Mexican food dishes more in depth. Magaly Morales discusses how much fun she had illustrating the books and using "a fiesta of color, light, shadow, and detail to celebrate this most joyous of holidays." From both notes, the reader gains a sense of authenticity and true passion that both individuals share for not only what they do, but for these cultures and traditions as well. This book also contains Spanish language throughout the whole text. What we especially liked about this particular text was that in the illustrations on every page Morales has included pronunciation guides for both the numbers and the gift being received. This makes it easily accessible as the child or teacher is reading through the book rather than flipping to the back to make sure the word is pronounced correctly. There is also a glossary and pronunciation guide at the back of the book to assist the child or teacher with defining and pronouncing the Spanish words further. Yet another thing the author included that makes this book authentic is a blurb that states that, "In Spanish, the ending -itos or -itas connotes both diminutive and a tone of affection often used when speaking to children." This helps the reader more fully understand the language used throughout the book and why it is used the way it is.
This book can be used in the classroom in many different ways depending on the grade level it is being used with. With young children before reading, a teacher could have them guess from the cover what the book might be about (since the cover alone begins to mix the Mexican and American cultures) as well as talking about whether the children know what a pinata is or not. During reading, the teacher can stop and have the children repeat the Spanish words using the pronunciation guides. This will help the children get a feel of what the Spanish language sounds like and help them internalize the words being used. After reading, the teacher can provide the supplies to make class pinatas and help the children make them while discussing the use of pinatas in Latino/Mexican culture.
Click this link to see how to make pinatas with your class!
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