Fiesta!

by Sherry Shahan, Paula Barragán (Illustrator)

A bold and beautiful celebration of Latino festivals.
Sherry Shahan and Paula Barrágan, the award-winning team who created bilingual interpretations of colors (S picy Hot Colors ) and numbers (C ool Cats Counting ), embark on another colorful romp celebrating Latino culture in this sizzling month-by-month presentation of fiestas. Shahan introduces a Latino festival for each month of the year, including Cinco de Mayo, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun). The cultures of Brazil, Costa Rica, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, and the Quiché and Cuchumatán peoples of Guatemala, are all represented here. Each spread features a spirited poetic interpretation for younger readers alongside an explanation of the custom for older readers. Ecuadoran artist Paula Barrágan's digitally enhanced cut-paper illustrations brim with color and energy, capturing the merriment and vivacity of each celebration of the Latin culture. This festive collection teaches readers the importance of caring and respect.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published December 16, 2008

About the author

Sherry Shahan is a photographer and an author. She enjoys watching, photographing, and writing about the otters that play in the sea near her home in California. Sherry also wrote and photographed The Changing Caterpillar for Richard C. Owen Publishers.

Reviews

[Miranda Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book about the many festivals and celebration in Latinx culture. I do wish it was a little more descriptive for children who may not be familiar with the festivals or holidays prior to reading.

[Megan Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of the book is when they talk about how they make wine. This book will be useful in a classroom when talking about culture

[Shamilah Gillani · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Fiesta! By Sherry Shahan and illustrated by Paula Barragan is a great picture book that teaches children about all the Latino festivals related to each month of the year. Popular celebrations, such as Cinco de Mayo, and lesser known celebrations are explored with a poem, an informative paragraph, and corresponding full-page illustrations. Many holidays will be new to most children and will provide great insight into the Latino culture such as the Pilgrimage of Saut d’Eau and a Inti Raymi. The book provides vocabulary for the students by writing the months is Spanish and English. Further details and geographical information is provided in the back of the book. I would use this book as a tool for bringing Spanish into the classroom and to educate the children about Latino culture. Since most students know Latinos, it would be a great way to help children understand the customs of their Latino friends. The students could do an activity on the book by interviewing a Latino friend and asking them what they do for each respective holiday to obtain more cultural insight. The author and illustrator are a team who have done other books that talk about the Latino culture and an educational objective, such as colors, counting, and now months. Their Latino backgrounds are resourceful in creating an accurate and detailed occurrence of the event in each month. Their creativity makes the book a fun and exciting read for all children.

[Catherine Woodman]

THis is a gorgeously illustrated book--one page for each month, and a festival chosen to highlight for that month from somewhere in Latin America (from Mexico to Peru)--the descriptions are not nearly to the quality of the illustrations. I would seek out another book by the illustrator (an Ecuadorian artist) but wouldn't look for another by the author too early).

[Sam Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, bold illustrations are the big draw here. The book itself is interesting enough, with a description of a Latino Festival for each month of the year. Plus, I now know how to say all the months in Spanish. Lord, how I hate Enero y Febrero!!!

[Olivia Bretting]

This book focused on the Latino culture and explains the festivals and holidays celebrated in the Latin America. It talks about different events because of the time of year or season that it is. This books is colorful and informational for young readers.

[Lindsey Hapeman]

published: 2008

This is a historical fiction book based on festivals and celebrations in the Latino culture. Although all of the history in this book is true, the characters and stories about the celebrations are not real or factual