Nine Days to Christmas: A Story of Mexico
By: Marie Hall Ets
Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED
Mother said that Ceci was old enough now to stay up for the posadas—the special Mexican parties given, one each night, for the nine days before Christmas. Ceci was only five, and it was hard for her to wait patiently through the twenty-one long days until the first posada. For that was to be her very own, given in her own home.
She wondered if she would have a piñata—one of those fantastic paper figures filled with fruit and candies—that hung high in the patio. What fun the children always had, being blindfolded and vying to be first to burst the piñata with their long sticks, and then scrambling for the sweet shower. Ceci badly wanted a very special piñata for her first posada.
She thought about it long and carefully and at last came the wonderful day when she knew she was to have her wish. Mother took her to the old Mexican market where the many-shaped, many-hued piñatas hung, quietly turning in the little breeze. They seemed to speak to her, saying, "Take me, take me." It was terribly difficult to choose—until she saw the Very One!
A gentle story of a loving modern Mexican family beautifully told and colorfully pictured—a treat for the reader as well as for the young listener.
From the dust jacket
Houses from the Sea
By: Alice E. Goudey
Illustrated by: Adrienne Adams
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4 and up
Also read and recommended by: Sherry Early
Alice Goudey gracefully turns the story of a day at the beach into a gentle lesson about various kinds of shells. The story starts and ends with “the waves ran up to meet us,” which gives a satisfied cohesion to the story. As a brother and sister explore the beach, they learn about each of the fifteen shells they find. The illustrations by Adrienne Adams are soft-hued pastels, and the pages have a variety of layouts with lots of white space. At the end of the book are two pages of the shells and their identification, and then two pages telling how shells are made.
This book is lovely and would be a nice picture book to read before your family goes to the beach, to inspire your children to collect their own pails full of shells.
Some might want to know that, typical of the time period this book was written, Native Americans are called Indians when the text discusses how quahog shells were used for money.
The Moon Jumpers
By: Janice May Udry
Illustrated by: Maurice Sendak
Honor
Reviewed by: Sandy Hall
Recommended age: Ages 4-8
Also read and recommended by: Sherry Early
Reminiscent of my childhood summer nights, this book brings back delightful memories. The moon shines brightly as four children play outside, enjoying the sights and sounds of a summer evening. The text is simple to tell the story and often is made up of sentence fragments. Every other two-page spread has black and white drawings with the text, and then the two-page spread with full-color, full-page illustrations. Soft tones highlight the moon shining across the grass as well as the moon shadows of the children as they frolic. Sadly, at the end, mother calls them in, and they slowly go back toward the house with heads down. On that page, instead of the moonlight, the light shines from the doorway and the shadow is the mother’s. Watch for a black cat on every full-color illustration.
Some parents might want to know there is reference to telling ghost stories and the father smokes a pipe.
