What do you think?
Rate this book
A Gift of Gracias: The Legend of Altagracia
After their olive crop fails, Maria fears that her family will have to abandon their farm on the new island colony. Then, one night she dreams of a mysterious beautiful lady shrouded by trees with branches hung with hundreds of little suns. They are oranges like the ones Maria's parents once ate in their homeland, Valencia, Spain. That very day Maria and her family plant the seeds that soon yield a magnificent orange grove and save the farm. But who was the mysterious lady who appeared in her dream and will Maria ever find her again?
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2005
3 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Julia Alvarez
88 books4,062 followersJulia Alvarez left the Dominican Republic for the United States in 1960 at the age of ten. She is the author of six novels, three books of nonfiction, three collections of poetry, and eleven books for children and young adults. She has taught and mentored writers in schools and communities across America and, until her retirement in 2016, was a writer-in-residence at Middlebury College. Her work has garnered wide recognition, including a Latina Leader Award in Literature from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the Hispanic Heritage Award in Literature, the Woman of the Year by Latina magazine, and inclusion in the New York Public Library’s program “The Hand of the Poet: Original Manuscripts by 100 Masters, from John Donne to Julia Alvarez.” In the Time of the Butterflies, with over one million copies in print, was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts for its national Big Read program, and in 2013 President Obama awarded Alvarez the National Medal of Arts in recognition of her extraordinary storytelling.
Photo copyright by Brandon Cruz González
EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO
Photo copyright by Brandon Cruz González
EL VOCERO DE PUERTO RICO
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 20, 2019
Based upon legends of Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia (Our Lady of Thanks), the patron saint of the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez's A Gift of Gracias tells the story of young Maria, whose family are newly settled on the island. When the olive crops fail, and things look so bleak that her family may have to leave their farm, Maria dreams of a beautiful woman with "golden skin and a crown of stars," and is inspired to suggest that they begin planting oranges...
I enjoyed Alvarez's well-paced narrative, although I couldn't help feeling somewhat skeptical about the seemingly harmonious presence of Quisqueya, the old Indian who lives with Maria's Spanish settler-family. I'm certainly no expert on the history of Hispanolia, but I do recall from my college reading that the indigenous Taino population were either exterminated or reduced to slavery by the Spaniards, and that all those who could escape and hide, did so. This is a historical reality that Alvarez herself references, in her afterword to another of her picture books based on Dominican folklore, The Secret Footprints . I understand and respect her position that Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia belongs to Dominicans of every background (and to the wider world), but somehow the inclusion of the "happy" Quisqueya felt like a whitewashing of an unpleasant aspect of Dominican history.
That said, I was simply delighted to encounter Beatriz Vidal - illustrator of Verna Aardema's marvelous Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale - again, and found her luminous artwork here immensely appealing. Well worth a look, especially for those interested in the folklore of the Dominican Republic and her patron saint.
I enjoyed Alvarez's well-paced narrative, although I couldn't help feeling somewhat skeptical about the seemingly harmonious presence of Quisqueya, the old Indian who lives with Maria's Spanish settler-family. I'm certainly no expert on the history of Hispanolia, but I do recall from my college reading that the indigenous Taino population were either exterminated or reduced to slavery by the Spaniards, and that all those who could escape and hide, did so. This is a historical reality that Alvarez herself references, in her afterword to another of her picture books based on Dominican folklore, The Secret Footprints . I understand and respect her position that Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia belongs to Dominicans of every background (and to the wider world), but somehow the inclusion of the "happy" Quisqueya felt like a whitewashing of an unpleasant aspect of Dominican history.
That said, I was simply delighted to encounter Beatriz Vidal - illustrator of Verna Aardema's marvelous Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain: A Nandi Tale - again, and found her luminous artwork here immensely appealing. Well worth a look, especially for those interested in the folklore of the Dominican Republic and her patron saint.
July 29, 2016
Nice rendering of a legend from the Dominican Republic. It would go well with Tomie De Paola's The Lady of Guadalupe.
October 7, 2012
The new island colony is the Dominican Republic in the early 1500s and the mysterious lady becomes identified as Our Lady of Altagracia (Our Lady of Thanks). She comes to Maria in a dream during a most desperate time. Olives were a more successful crop in Spain where her parents are from and fail to thrive in this new colony. The family will likely lose their farm and have to move to the city. The sweet treat of the oranges her father brings from the port city follow Maria into her dreams where the old Indian Quisqueya instructs her to plant each seed with a word of thanks. She does so and the mysterious lady comes with the miraculous appearance of fully grown and producing orange trees. In an act of faith, so too, does Maria, her parents and Quisqueya plant the orange seeds during the waking. And like her dream, the trees grow and bloom and produce supernaturally. Father and Quisqueya have a crop to take to the city to sell while the rest threaten in their abundance to go to waste.
Father wants to bring home a gift for Maria and she asks for a portrait of some kind of Our Lady of Altagracia. He cannot find her in the city. It is Quisqueya who is able to capture her image by catching stars in a blanket during their journey home. It is Quisqueya who tells Maria that he knows Our Lady as well for she has been caring and gracious to his people as well. The Taino Indian Quisqueya’s name comes from the name of the island before it was renamed by the Spaniards when they colonized the island. Our Lady of Altagracia, though identified through a different religious lens, is a native of the island and eager to help those vulnerable and in need agriculturally. She hears Maria’s plight and responds to her humility. Maria, who is an intersection, born of Spanish parents but on the new island. And the story closes with her “head[ing] down the dark path, the stars of Our Lady’s robe light[ing] her way.” This is a fascinating origin story, and not only of the founding of the virgincita as the Domincan Republic has come to know her, but of a beginning for the new colony that is born of grace, of humility and cooperation with the native person, land, and spirituality—as opposed to other accounts on record.
Beatriz Vidal’s work with gouache is vibrant and warm. Like Julia Alvarez’s story, the dramatic flourishes are left to the events in the story themselves, not in overwrought prose or illustration. Alvarez is a marvelous teller of lore and Vidal’s illustrations have a feel of the folk loric as well. Alvarez shares more about the story in a section at the end shockingly titled “About the Story.” She talks about the different versions of the story, of the virgencita, of Quesqueya’s name, and provides some pronunciations. As she does in The Secret Footprints (Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), Alvarez shares her personal connection to this story of Maria and the gift of gracias. A Gift of Gracias inspires not only a desire to learn more about the culture of the Dominican Republic, but for the reader to find a personal connection to their own cultural lore.
recommendations: for ages 4-8 (and up). and maybe have some oranges on hand…
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/20...
Father wants to bring home a gift for Maria and she asks for a portrait of some kind of Our Lady of Altagracia. He cannot find her in the city. It is Quisqueya who is able to capture her image by catching stars in a blanket during their journey home. It is Quisqueya who tells Maria that he knows Our Lady as well for she has been caring and gracious to his people as well. The Taino Indian Quisqueya’s name comes from the name of the island before it was renamed by the Spaniards when they colonized the island. Our Lady of Altagracia, though identified through a different religious lens, is a native of the island and eager to help those vulnerable and in need agriculturally. She hears Maria’s plight and responds to her humility. Maria, who is an intersection, born of Spanish parents but on the new island. And the story closes with her “head[ing] down the dark path, the stars of Our Lady’s robe light[ing] her way.” This is a fascinating origin story, and not only of the founding of the virgincita as the Domincan Republic has come to know her, but of a beginning for the new colony that is born of grace, of humility and cooperation with the native person, land, and spirituality—as opposed to other accounts on record.
Beatriz Vidal’s work with gouache is vibrant and warm. Like Julia Alvarez’s story, the dramatic flourishes are left to the events in the story themselves, not in overwrought prose or illustration. Alvarez is a marvelous teller of lore and Vidal’s illustrations have a feel of the folk loric as well. Alvarez shares more about the story in a section at the end shockingly titled “About the Story.” She talks about the different versions of the story, of the virgencita, of Quesqueya’s name, and provides some pronunciations. As she does in The Secret Footprints (Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), Alvarez shares her personal connection to this story of Maria and the gift of gracias. A Gift of Gracias inspires not only a desire to learn more about the culture of the Dominican Republic, but for the reader to find a personal connection to their own cultural lore.
recommendations: for ages 4-8 (and up). and maybe have some oranges on hand…
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/20...
February 7, 2017
If you have read a book aloud twenty-nine times, I think you have the right to call it a read book. And that's what I did last week with this book.
We visited the Dominican Republic. We chose our books to Dominican music including Chichi Peralta and Ramon Orlando. We smelled a just-peeled orange ("like tickling in your nose"). We looked at necklaces and candles of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We talked about legends. But most of all, we read this beautiful old story from the Dominican Republic, as waited with Maria for her father to come home and dreamed with Maria as she learned about planting oranges and saying gracias and rejoiced with Maria as the old friend of her father's unrolled a blanket with an image of Our Lady made from falling stars.
It was a beautiful week.
We visited the Dominican Republic. We chose our books to Dominican music including Chichi Peralta and Ramon Orlando. We smelled a just-peeled orange ("like tickling in your nose"). We looked at necklaces and candles of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We talked about legends. But most of all, we read this beautiful old story from the Dominican Republic, as waited with Maria for her father to come home and dreamed with Maria as she learned about planting oranges and saying gracias and rejoiced with Maria as the old friend of her father's unrolled a blanket with an image of Our Lady made from falling stars.
It was a beautiful week.
March 21, 2008
Alvarez explains in an informative postscript that the story is based on childhood stories that she was told about The Lady of Altagracia who is the patron saint of her country, the Dominican Republic. The book introduces us to young Maria who dreams of the Lady of Altagracia and learns of a way to save her family farm. Inspired by the mysterious native farm worker, Quisqueya, her family prospers. The back of the book says that Vidal “used a magnifying glass and small brushes in gouache to bring the legend of Altagracia to life.”
April 22, 2010
Marias family is suffering from a bad harvest and because of it they would be forced to leave the farm. Maria has a dream one night that reveals to her that the best thing to do is harvest oranges. The story is in both spanish and English and tells about the culture of Spain.
August 26, 2007
An adorable kids book. The pictures are beautiful and the story is precioso.
January 14, 2008
Interesting folk tale.
January 28, 2008
This is a wonderful picture book for children that introduces them to the patron saint of the Dominican Republic and has magical tone that will enchant young readers.
June 9, 2008
Story of a Dominican girl whose dreams of Our Lady of Altagracia save the family farm. Beautiful drawings and well-written story.
Want to read
July 9, 2013tuebl epub version
March 14, 2014
This story is set in the Dominican Republic and includes aspects of culture when it was colonized. I enjoyed reading it and think that students will be able to relate to the little girl.
September 2, 2015
too old for us right now
November 23, 2016
Can this woman do everything? Just a lovely story to pass along to a new generation.
May 25, 2019
Fascinating
A wondrous view of family, tradition, and folklore. A must read for the young and young at heart. I found the story touching. It spoke to my younger self.
A wondrous view of family, tradition, and folklore. A must read for the young and young at heart. I found the story touching. It spoke to my younger self.
December 27, 2024
A cozy read with beautiful illustrations that tells the legend of the Virgin of Altagracia. I liked learning about this popular folktale of the Dominican Republic. Yet, I feel somewhat conflicted about the portrayal of the character Quisqueya, an indigenous inhabitant who also lives with the family on the finca. Everything is supposed to be nice and glittery, yet since the book is set during the new colonisation era of the Dominican country, perhaps a more reflected portrayal would’ve been better.
Nonetheless a very pleasant read.
Nonetheless a very pleasant read.
January 2, 2023
Read for Mass Center for Books Jan reading challenge- a book less than 100 pages
April 8, 2023
A mi me encantan las ilustraciones vívidas y detalladas de este libro, que cuenta una leyenda agradable de la República Dominicana.
March 16, 2024
A legend with Catholic influences about being grateful.
It was ok.
It was ok.
March 13, 2025
The illustrations were beautiful!
September 24, 2013
A sweet little childrens story..
Read
December 4, 2017Title: A gift of gracias: the legend of Altagracia
Author: Julia Alvarez
Illustrator: Beatriz Vidal
Genre: Legend
Theme(s): religion, farming
Opening line/sentence: ““Maria!” her mother called up.”
Brief Book Summary: While Maria’s family’s farm is not doing well, her father goes into the city and brings home oranges. Maria says gracias before going to bed and the meets Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia in her dream. She tells her family they must plant the orange seeds and soon after, they have a huge harvest of oranges that saves the farm.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Karin Snelson
Booklist
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
“Argentina-born illustrator Vidal uses small brushes and gouache to create lovely, stylized folk-art-style paintings of the hard-working family and tropical landscapes. The tale unravels rather slowly, but this talented team evokes an enchanted, sun-kissed world where dreams, and gratitude, bear fruit.”
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Publishers Weekly
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
“Vidal smoothly moves from the lushness of the orange grove and rolling hills to the dream sequences. Together, author and artist make dreams-come-true seem possible, as long as one remains grateful.”
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
I agree with both reviews that the illustrations of this book transition very well from different settings like tropical landscapes and dream sequences. I also agree with Snelson that the story unravels a bit slowly but nonetheless I think it made sense. Like the reviews say, the book tells a dream come true story through beautiful illustrations.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The book’s illustrations focus much more on the background than the characters. By doing so, it shows off the beautiful nature of the Dominican Republic. The story includes a few Spanish words that are key to the story, like “gracias,” and define them in English for non-Spanish speaking readers.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Although this book has no connection to Thanksgiving, I think it would be a good book to read-aloud around that time to get my students to think about being thankful. After reading it aloud to the class, I would ask my students what they are thankful for. I would have them write or draw out what they are thankful for, or even write a letter to what/who they are thankful for.
Author: Julia Alvarez
Illustrator: Beatriz Vidal
Genre: Legend
Theme(s): religion, farming
Opening line/sentence: ““Maria!” her mother called up.”
Brief Book Summary: While Maria’s family’s farm is not doing well, her father goes into the city and brings home oranges. Maria says gracias before going to bed and the meets Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia in her dream. She tells her family they must plant the orange seeds and soon after, they have a huge harvest of oranges that saves the farm.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Karin Snelson
Booklist
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
“Argentina-born illustrator Vidal uses small brushes and gouache to create lovely, stylized folk-art-style paintings of the hard-working family and tropical landscapes. The tale unravels rather slowly, but this talented team evokes an enchanted, sun-kissed world where dreams, and gratitude, bear fruit.”
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Publishers Weekly
http://www.clcd.com.ezaccess.librarie...
“Vidal smoothly moves from the lushness of the orange grove and rolling hills to the dream sequences. Together, author and artist make dreams-come-true seem possible, as long as one remains grateful.”
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
I agree with both reviews that the illustrations of this book transition very well from different settings like tropical landscapes and dream sequences. I also agree with Snelson that the story unravels a bit slowly but nonetheless I think it made sense. Like the reviews say, the book tells a dream come true story through beautiful illustrations.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The book’s illustrations focus much more on the background than the characters. By doing so, it shows off the beautiful nature of the Dominican Republic. The story includes a few Spanish words that are key to the story, like “gracias,” and define them in English for non-Spanish speaking readers.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Although this book has no connection to Thanksgiving, I think it would be a good book to read-aloud around that time to get my students to think about being thankful. After reading it aloud to the class, I would ask my students what they are thankful for. I would have them write or draw out what they are thankful for, or even write a letter to what/who they are thankful for.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews