Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this bilingual book of poems and songs celebrates the Christmas season and reflects the Hispanic tradition. It definitely has a religious tone.
Families can read the poems together, and talk about the various Christmastime traditions celebrated in Hispanic cultures. How are these traditions the same, or different, from those you celebrate? How do people learn the traditions of their culture? How do they pass them on? How do they change when they meet with another culture? Where did your holiday traditions originate? Which ones do you like best?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Patricia Tauzer
MERRY NAVIDAD takes the reader on a rich journey into Hispanic Christmas celebrations that occur between December 16 and January 6. Both in Spanish and English, the text first introduces and explains the important events in chronological order, and then shares traditional Spanish Christmas carols that celebrate that event.
The lyrics of the carols have the simple truth of folk songs and are given added warmth by the artwork of Vivi Escriva. Kids will be drawn in by her sensitive, simple watercolors that people the pages with children, villagers, and various animals representative of Spain, Mexico, and South and Central America, as well as with the more traditional nativity scene visitors.
Highlighting the book are the villancicos and their translations, provided by Rosalma Zubizarreta. Here, "villancicos" refer to centuries-old Christmas songs that followed the Spanish as they settled around the world. They are playful as well as religious, and reflect their culture of origin (Spain) as it has blended into Latin America.
Explanations of the celebrations that lead into the villancicos are clear and thorough without being overwhelming, and they add a depth that makes this more than just a book of poems for kids. And, because the villancicos are technically songs rather than poems, musical notations are given for six of them at the end.
From The Book
Campana sobre campana
y sobre campanas una,
asomate a la ventana
veras al Niño en la cuna.
Bells upon bells have been ringing,
bells have been ringing all day long.
Come to the window and see
the newly born Child in his cradle.
Plot Summary:
Events of the Christmas season as celebrated in the Hispanic tradition are presented chronologically. Each is explained in both Spanish (on the left-hand page) and English (on the right-hand side), and then is followed with appropriate villancicos (carols), also in both Spanish and English.
Related Books:
Other Collaborations by Alma Flor Ada and Vivi Escriva:
After the Storm
Cómo Nació el Arco Iris
The Empty Piñata
¿Pavo por la Cena de Gracias? ¡No, Gracias!
¡Pío Peep!
Traditional Spanish Nursery Rhymes
Related Web Sites:
Author's Site
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