The Dead Family Diaz
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A fresh, funny take on the Day of the Dead that's packed with kid appeal!
Every skeleton in the Land of the Dead is excited to celebrate el Día de los Muertos with the Living. But not Angelito. His big sister has told him all about their horrifying bulgy eyes and squishy skin. So when Angelito is separated from his family in the Land of the Living, he's petrified—until he makes a new friend who is just as terrified of THEM as Angelito is. Then his new buddy turns out to be (gulp!) a living boy! Angelito runs as fast as his bony feet can carry him. Fortunately the traditions of the Day of the Dead reunite the two boys, just in time for some holiday fun.
Full of wild, Tim Burton-esque art, this clever tale is sure to become un libro favorito for the Day of the Dead, Halloween season, and beyond.
“A colorful story about facing fears and accepting differences . . . lush and vibrantly hued . . . The ending satisfies, and the story as a whole addresses many issues pertinent to primary- grade children.”—School Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bernatene (The Princess and the Pig) revels in the bright colors and general hullabaloo of the Mexican Day of the Dead festival, while Bracegirdle (the Joy of Spooking trilogy) doesn't focus on the festival so much as use it as a setting for a humorous moral tale about differences. Angelito travels with his skeleton family up to the Land of the Living on the day of the festival (they take an elevator), and he's nervous about meeting actual members of the Living. "Did I tell you how the Living have big red tongues and bulging eyes?" his sister teases. He meets Pablo, a boy whose skeleton mask fools Angelito into thinking that he's one of the Dead. The two boys have fun until, in a double-take, they realize the truth: "Hey, you're as cold as a Popsicle!" Pablo says. "And you've got bulging eyes!" Angelito cries. Then he bolts, to reconcile with Pablo later, of course. The lesson about acceptance is a bit flat-footed; it's Bernatene's eerie artwork that really probes the nature of strangeness. Ages 5 8.
Customer Reviews
Great book for kids!
This is a great book kids, my 7 y/o & 6 y/o enjoyed reading it to each other. They are even using it for a school project to help explain El Dia De Los Muertos to their classmates on Storybook Day (Halloween at school)!
I highly recommend this book to anyone searching to explain the meaning of this fabulously holiday with small children 😉!