Daniela's Day of the Dead

Cloverleaf Books ™ - Fall and Winter Holidays

by Lisa Bullard, Lisa Bullard

Daniela is preparing for the Day of the Dead―the first one since her grandpa died. She makes an ofrenda with Grandpa's favorite things and toy skeletons. Her family has a party to remember Grandpa.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Holiday

24 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Lisa Bullard is the award-winning author of more than sixty books for children, including the middle grade mystery Turn Left at the Cow. She is also the author of the how-to guide Get Started in Writing for Children. Her books for younger readers include picture books and nonfiction titles such as Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street and You Can Write a Story: A Story-Writing Recipe for Kids. Her books have won several honors, including a Children’s Choice Award, two Teacher’s Choice Awards, a Science Books & Films’ Best Books listing, a National Parenting Publications Children's Resources Silver Award, and a Storytelling World Awards Honor Title. For over fifteen years, Lisa has taught writing classes for adults and young people at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and in a variety of other settings. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Publishing Institute.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Edwards]

i really fell in love with the Disney movie "Coco" and that is the first time i really felt i got what the point of "Day of the Dead" i never had taken the time to get to understanding it more ... so this helped even more ... sounds like a great memorable time to remember and continue to love their family. these illustrations are just wonderful. so happy and vibrant.

[Holly]

This is a good book to explain Day of the Dead to American kids. The main character's grandparents immigrated to the USA from Mexico so the book describes the Mexican-American celebration of the holiday.

[Lashaunda Brown]

Daniela’s Day of the Dead
Overview: Daniela is a young child anxious to celebrate Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday. Her grandpa has recently died and she is excited to celebrate his memory.

W.4.2a Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

Focus: Captions

Step-by-step:
1. Introduce the text by reading p.1: Daniela says she is excited for Day of the Dead and there is a caption which tells the reader countries where Day of the Dead is celebrated, and what it is called in Spanish.
2. Read p.3, the caption: Ask the students how the caption helps them understand Day of the Dead-This caption tells when and for how long Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and the US.
3. Read p.9, the caption: Have students discuss the importance of the caption on this page (it explains the history of the Aztecs in their celebration of the dead).
4. Read p.19 and its caption. This page discussed eating tamales as a celebration food. Remind students that captions are used to give additional details on a particular topic.
5. Go back and read p.7: This page has no caption. Read the text and have students decide what kind of information could be inserted to better understand the concept of Day of the Dead.
6. Challenge students to create an informational piece of writing in which they can insert a caption as a means of communicating additional details for the reader.

Expected Outcomes:
Students should be able to incorporate a useful caption into their own writing. They should understand captions as giving additional elaboration versus merely restating what was already written

[Haley Sterritt]

This book is another one in Lisa's Bullard's set. It is similar to "Chelsea's Chinese New Year" in the way it is organized and that it is told from a child's perspective. This particular book is told by Daniela as she celebrates the Spanish holiday, Day of the Dead. The holiday is a time of honoring the deceased in a positive way instead of the typical sad mourning. Daniela discusses how Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico and the US as well as Central and South America. The facts on each page give information about the history of the tradition. For example, it originated between the Aztecs and Christians and together the Day of the Dead was made. This book could be used in history to teach about different holidays. Children would be exposed to different culture's ways of dealing with death and could practice making their own alters. Illustrations in this book were quite bright and happy, which helped emphasize that although the topic is death, this holiday is meant to be upbeat in remembering those we have lost.

[Barbara]

In four short chapters, the author provides introductory information about Day of the Dead, a holiday with which many youngsters may not be as familiar as they will with Christmas and Hanukkah. The story is told through the voice of Daniela who describes how her family brought the tradition to their home in the United States from their homes in Mexico. She describes filling an altar in honor of her grandfather, shopping for skeletons and candy, and honoring the dead by visiting their graves. Back matter includes a glossary, website suggestions, and directions for making a skeleton from macaroni. The illustrations are filled with bright colors and smiling faces, all enabling young readers to regard the holiday in a positive light.

[Michelle Kim]

This narrative is about a girl, Daniela, celebrating day of the dead with her family. The author talks about traditional foods and things they buy at the market. Also she talks about some of the traditional foods and what Day of the Dead is about. I can use this in the classroom to introduce certain customs from Mexico. The students will be able to learn why people from Mexico celebrate this. This will help the students broaden their perspectives. It would be a far stretch but I could compare this slightly to Halloween. The author does a good job introducing the events that go on. Also the different reasons for altars and going to the graves. The illustrator creates colorful fun pictures so the students can stay engaged.

[Shannon]

I kind of love these Cloverleaf books about different holidays. Moira has checked out Marco's Cinco de Mayo multiple times. In this case I really appreciated that it helped us have a conversation about the Day of the Dead and how it is celebrated differently in different places, as all the Cloverleaf books are set in the US.

[Chelsea]

This book is helpful in particular for students from Mexico and some parts of Central and South America. It provides a subject that these students are possibly familiar with and would be able to talk about in their native language. The teacher could then provide the English support needed.