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Mi Familia Calaca / My Skeleton Family
"The details traditional Oaxacan artist Canseco Zárate includes charm as fully as Weill's crunchy vocabulary. . . ¡ tan lindo !"— Kirkus Reviews "Zárate's sculptures exude personality."— Publishers Weekly Welcome to the family! It's just like yours, right? But maybe there's something a little bit different about this bunch. Cynthia Weill Mi Familia is Weill's fifth book featuring the folk art of Oaxaca. She is the Director of the Bank Street Center for Childrens' Literature. Jesus Canseco Zárate is a Oaxacan folk artist known for his elaborate papier-mache calacas. In 2008, he won first prize in the Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art completion for young artists.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 8, 2019
Spanish- English language book.
Great book about the Skeleton Family for the littles. I would ask them what "Nosotros los niños" translates to and they would tell me (guess) in English.
I'm not into the whole skeletal Day of The Dead theme (oddly, my parents didn't celebrate it or teach us about it...) but I've found some fascinating books like this. What's even more interesting is that it is made from paper mache. The drawings of the family are beautiful and bright.
Great book about the Skeleton Family for the littles. I would ask them what "Nosotros los niños" translates to and they would tell me (guess) in English.
I'm not into the whole skeletal Day of The Dead theme (oddly, my parents didn't celebrate it or teach us about it...) but I've found some fascinating books like this. What's even more interesting is that it is made from paper mache. The drawings of the family are beautiful and bright.
June 17, 2015
Engaging Interactive read alouds
The title of today’s read aloud is Mi Familia Calala. What do you think I read? Listen again carefully to the three words in the title. I’ll give you a clue, I want you to predict the word that begins with the /f/ sound. The word in familia, and familia is very important to me. Can you guess the word? S: Family?, yes. Teacher draws attention to a photo of her family; is your family important? Students respond. T: I see some similarities between my family and the one on this cover such as a Mom, Dad, and children. Ss: give responses to what they see. T: yes, yes you all have made excellent observations. I wonder why their faces and bodies look differently? Let’s read our book to find out!
Opening moves: The teacher makes a personal connection to the word Family in Spanish. Families are shared regardless of the culture of people. The students were also encouraged to use their prior knowledge of the Spanish language to predict the words in the title as well as the cover pictures.
Rationale: This book fits into the Mexican culture unit by continuing bilingual vocabulary. The students will be creating their own book using this as a mentor text while practicing bilingual writing and sharing their family with the class.
The title of today’s read aloud is Mi Familia Calala. What do you think I read? Listen again carefully to the three words in the title. I’ll give you a clue, I want you to predict the word that begins with the /f/ sound. The word in familia, and familia is very important to me. Can you guess the word? S: Family?, yes. Teacher draws attention to a photo of her family; is your family important? Students respond. T: I see some similarities between my family and the one on this cover such as a Mom, Dad, and children. Ss: give responses to what they see. T: yes, yes you all have made excellent observations. I wonder why their faces and bodies look differently? Let’s read our book to find out!
Opening moves: The teacher makes a personal connection to the word Family in Spanish. Families are shared regardless of the culture of people. The students were also encouraged to use their prior knowledge of the Spanish language to predict the words in the title as well as the cover pictures.
Rationale: This book fits into the Mexican culture unit by continuing bilingual vocabulary. The students will be creating their own book using this as a mentor text while practicing bilingual writing and sharing their family with the class.
October 2, 2019
This book is a cute, simple bi-lingual (Spanish/English) book about a family of skeletons. The narrator (Anita) introduces us to each of her family members in both English and Spanish. The book beautifully incorporates the Mexican symbol of skeletons by using sculptures created by Mexican artist Jesus Canseco.
I want to make a point to include bi-lingual books in my classroom in order to expose students to other languages or include a home language in the classroom. Using this book in the classroom can be an introductory lesson for English language grammar, history/social studies, art, or science. It has simple sentence formatting, so in higher level classrooms, I would have students create their own book modeled after My Skeleton Family. Clearly, studying the origin and significance of skeletons and Dios de los Muertos is a connection, but creating their own paper mache sculpture and labeling parts of the body is something that can be done as well.
I want to make a point to include bi-lingual books in my classroom in order to expose students to other languages or include a home language in the classroom. Using this book in the classroom can be an introductory lesson for English language grammar, history/social studies, art, or science. It has simple sentence formatting, so in higher level classrooms, I would have students create their own book modeled after My Skeleton Family. Clearly, studying the origin and significance of skeletons and Dios de los Muertos is a connection, but creating their own paper mache sculpture and labeling parts of the body is something that can be done as well.
October 25, 2016
My favorite book to share come Dia de los Muertos! Short and sweet bilingual prose, gorgeous art. Not much of a narrative here, but these celebratory skeletons are the perfect conversation starter for all ages.
October 26, 2019
Brightly colored pages background beautiful papier-mache images of different members of a skeleton family. Simple text (in both English and Spanish) accompanies each picture. This book is exceptionally versatile, and could be used for babies, preschoolers, and even early readers. The only drawback is how heavily the book relies on a binary sense of gender -- "the women of the family" and "the men of the family" are starkly and separately pictured.
Themes: Family
Themes: Family
June 15, 2020
2nd or 3rd garde
The book has english and spanish text on same page. Great read for beginner ELL in 2nd or 3rd grade.
The book has english and spanish text on same page. Great read for beginner ELL in 2nd or 3rd grade.
October 20, 2021
What a fantastic bilingual book about families!
November 3, 2022
I loved this as a great introduction for kiddos to talk about their families in English and Spanish. The art work was really fun too.
January 18, 2023
I liked this book a lot! I loved the paper mache art and being able to teach my son the English/Spanish translations. 🖤
August 10, 2020
It’s a cute simple translation English/Spanish about members of the family. I wish there was more of a storyline. And as cute as the illustrations are, they’re just standing there, it be cuter if the characters where doing things.
January 29, 2024
This is a bilingual picture book of skeleton family members. It would be good for discussing categories, like male-female and adult-child, and the generation terms. It was positive for all the family members except for the brother.
October 30, 2025
I loved this book! The illustrations are joyful, and the text is filled with oodles of love. The author presents each family member with a descriptive word about their personality. The author proceeds with pages about groups in the family including siblings and pets.
March 21, 2023
Fun bilingual picture book about families!
August 21, 2024
Stylized art depicting Anita and her skeleton family. Creepy-cool a la Tim Burton, Addams family, etc.
Themes: Dia de los Muertos, culture, bilingual
Ages: Toddler-2nd grade
Pub year: 2013
Themes: Dia de los Muertos, culture, bilingual
Ages: Toddler-2nd grade
Pub year: 2013
July 10, 2020
My family. Mi familia. Day of the Dead.
(Manny Calavera!)
4.5
(Manny Calavera!)
4.5
June 14, 2015
The title of today’s read aloud is Mi Familia Calala. What do you think I read? Listen again carefully to the three words in the title. I’ll give you a clue, I want you to predict the word that begins with the /f/ sound. The word in familia, and familia is very important to me. Can you guess the word? S: Family?, yes. Teacher draws attention to a photo of her family; is your family important? Students respond. T: I see some similarities between my family and the one on this cover such as a Mom, Dad, and children. Ss: give responses to what they see. T: yes, yes you all have made excellent observations. I wonder why their faces and bodies look differently? Let’s read our book to find out!
Opening moves: The teacher makes a personal connection to the word Family in Spanish. Families are shared regardless of the culture of people. The students were also encouraged to use their prior knowledge of the Spanish language to predict the words in the title as well as the cover pictures.
Rationale: This book fits into the Mexican culture unit by continuing bilingual vocabulary. The students will be creating their own book using this as a mentor text while practicing bilingual writing and sharing their family with the class.
Opening moves: The teacher makes a personal connection to the word Family in Spanish. Families are shared regardless of the culture of people. The students were also encouraged to use their prior knowledge of the Spanish language to predict the words in the title as well as the cover pictures.
Rationale: This book fits into the Mexican culture unit by continuing bilingual vocabulary. The students will be creating their own book using this as a mentor text while practicing bilingual writing and sharing their family with the class.
February 20, 2014
This book is as much fun as Cynthia Weill's other books. I love them all. Mexico has a tradition of having fun with skeletons. You can find skeletons of all sizes, dressed in all kinds of clothes, engaged in every activity imaginable: playing instruments, taking photos, working, getting married. Like all of Weill's books, the well-crafted sculptures are beautifully photographed against bright backgrounds and accompanied by simple text. I read this aloud to students in pre-k, kindergarten, and first grade. They laughed out loud.
April 15, 2015
Very colorful and joyful book. An amazing book that combines Mexican traditions and relationships. Children will enjoy this bilingual book full of life. This is a great book to educate children on one of the very popular Mexican traditions, Day of the Dead, and show that individuals can consist of many different types of family members.
January 4, 2015
This is a very simple, bilingual photo book of the calaca family made by Oaxacan paper mache artist Jesus Canseco Zarate. It teaches family relationships as we wonder over these Day of the Dead skeletons, and is great for the younger grades.
December 6, 2013
This is super great! Very little words, but it's in English and Spanish so the girl can learn more words and phrases, and the papier-mâché skeletons are awesomesauce!
December 18, 2013
Bilingual Skeleton family----I love the brief cultural history of skeletons and how they were made for this book.
January 25, 2014
"My brother Miguel. He's a brat."
I would like to give this book a hug. It's humor coupled with the expressive art and simple text makes for a perfectly composed bilingual treat.
I would like to give this book a hug. It's humor coupled with the expressive art and simple text makes for a perfectly composed bilingual treat.
January 31, 2014
I love this delightfully weird bilingual picture book! This would be a great read-aloud for younger children, as well as a fun, simple text for children learning Spanish or English.
October 8, 2014
My students loved this book. Their favorite part was the picture if the pets. They thought the pictures were great, but they also loved hearing the Spanish.
October 31, 2014
Este libro es perfecto por el Día de los Muertos. Este año, nuestra familia tiene disfrases con las calacas, y Mi Familia Calaca ayudanos a aprender el vocabulario de la familia en inglés y español.
February 19, 2015
I really enjoyed looking at the illustrations in this book. It is a very adorable way to incorporate Mexican folk art while learning Spanish.
November 27, 2013
Possibly my favorite bilingual book this year! There's a calavera with a walker!
December 26, 2013
Cute pictures. clear translations. cheery skeletons. No plot really to speak of.
August 31, 2016
great for beginning readers and young ESL students.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews