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Children's books are a great way to open up new worlds to children, and to make history and culture come alive. Many of the books listed on this web site have ties to Latino culture in the U.S. and south of the border. This page is designed as a stepping stone to point out some of these connections and tie in these gripping stories with the real-life traditions, culture, and history they portray.

La Quincenera

La Navidad/Christmas

Farm and Migrant workers

La Quinceañera

Painting by Carmen Lomas Garza The quinceañera is a rite of passage celebration for fifteen-year-old girls in Latin America and Puerto Rico. Thought to have been based on Aztec ceremonies, the quinceanera celebrates a young woman’s maturity, and reinforces her commitment to family, tradition, and community.

Today, this ceremony is often celebrated in the

United States

in addition to Latin America, and most consist of a Misa de accíon de gracias, or Mass of Thanksgiving, followed by a fiesta, which includes dancing and a feast.

For more information on quinceañeras, see the following links:

General Information about La quinceañera
Journal of New York Folklore Article--Includes an interview with dressmaker
Article about one girl’s quinceañera
Series of photos showing quinceñera preparations

La Navidad

Latin America is rich with traditions that celebrate Christmas, both religious and cultural.

Las Posadas/ La Navidad in Mexico Las Posadas is a Mexican festival in which a group reenacts Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn, by traveling door-to-door within a community. In Oaxaca, the people celebrate la navidad by participating in a huge radish-carving contest in which entries are displayed along the streets of the marketplace.

Many Mexicans exchange gifts on January 6, El día de Reyes, or Day of the Kings/ Wise Men. It is also a Mexican tradition to make tamales for the Christmas season, especially for "El dia de la Candelaria", or Day of the Candle, Feb. 2, where the nativity is put away and a christening gown is made for baby Jesus.

Navidad in Mexico links:

History of Las Posadas: http://www.geocities.com/coachcarmona/Posadas.html
Various Mexican http://www.mexonline.com/christmas.htm
Mexican Traditions for Christmas http://www.nacnet.org/assunta/nacimnto.htm

Puerto Rican Christmas

Puerto Rican traditions for navidad are similar to Mexico’s with some variation: much of their celebration is concentrated on La Víspera de Reyes, or the Eve of the Day of the Kings. Roast pork is often served with arroz con gandules, plátanos, and pasteles.

More on Christmas in Puerto Rico:
http://www.elboricua.com/pr_christmas.html
Glossary of traditions http://www.elboricua.com/traditions.html
http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2001/vol5n49/HolidayTrad-en.shtml

Christmas traditions from other Latino cultures:
For more information on other Central and South American cultures’ festivities, follow the link below:
http://www.christmas.com/worldview/

Los Campesinos: Farm and Migrant Workers in the U.S.

Field work and migration is one of the central issues in many Mexican-American lives, and is a topic heavily represented in children’s literature. In the 1930s, Mexican migrant workers began to protest the poor living conditions and wages of farm work, but they were met with firm resistance and were often evicted or deported. In the 1960s Cesar Chavez lead successful strikes against grape growers in California, and founded the United Farm Workers in 1962, an organization that helped increase wages and improve conditions for many.

Information on Cesar Chavez:
http://www.ufw.org/cecstory.htm

United Farm Workers Web site:
http://www.ufw.org/

California's state guide to K-12 curriculum on labor education:
http://www.cft.org/about/comm/labor/RG02.pdf