The Day of the Dead on Sesame Street!

by Random House, Barry Goldberg (illustrator)

Celebrate El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, with Sesame Street's Rosita! This board book with sturdy pages and colorful illustrations shares the special meaning behind the Mexican celebration.

Rosita tells Elmo and Abby all about the Mexican celebration called El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead in English. It's a special time to remember loved ones who are no longer here. Rosita shows her friends the ofrenda she has made, with pictures of her relatives and plates of their favorite foods. This board book is a great way to teach the youngest children about this very special holiday.

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, aims to help kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder through its many unique domestic and international initiatives. These projects cover a wide array of topics for families around the world. Sesame Street is the most trusted name in early learning.

26 pages, Board Book

Published August 13, 2024

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This board book introduces young readers to the Mexican holiday the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos).

Elmo and Abby visit their friend Rosita’s home and learn about the Day of the Dead as she explains her family’s ofrenda (home altar with photographs, food, and flowers).

I didn't think the content was presented very well. First, the phonetic pronunciations are not presented when a Spanish word is first introduced but instead after it has been used several times. Second, when Elmo and Abby visit, Rosita show them her family's ofrenda without explaining it. Then focuses in on the photograph of her grandmother, followed by other items on the table before explaining that this is part of the celebration of the Mexican holiday the Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos). It would have make more sense to immediately start with the explaination that Rosita and her family are celebrating the Day of the Dead and then start describing individual items used in the celebration.

Other (Dia De Los Muertos) picture books on this topic include The Day of the Dead / El día de los muertos, Día de los Muertos, Clatter Bash!: A Day of the Dead Celebration, and Day of the Dead.

[A Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elmo and Abby visit Rosita at her home where they learn about her ofrenda and Día de los Muertos. Unlike the Sesame Street show which sometimes includes humans, this book only features muppet monsters. Elmo does talk about himself in the third person in this book, which I always hate, but thankfully only once in the story; I know this is a distinctive trait of his, but if Cookie Monster can learn to enjoy eating more than just cookies, why can't Elmo learn to refer to himself in the first person, too? I like how inclusive Sesame Street tries to be but I am obviously not an Elmo fan. My youngest child, on the other hand, is very into Elmo right now so we borrowed this book from our local library. Aside from the aforementioned issues, the book is just okay in my opinion. I don't hate Rosita's explanation of Día de los Meurtos traditions, but this is definitely not my favorite board book on the subject. I would recommend "It's Time for Día de los Muertos" by Lilibeth Jimenez instead.

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Rosita, for being part of the Sesame Street family and introducing all of us to Dia de los Muertos! This book describes several different traditions and provides phonetic pronunciations of some words. It's a little bit lengthy, so some attention span is ideal.