18. Book Fiesta!

When I began teaching, I remember one of my students telling me, "Oh, Ms. Murdock, today I'm going to get a present because it's El día de los niños." The first thing I thought (sarcastically) was, 'Wait, isn't every day Children's Day.' So I went home and looked it up. In Mexico, every year on April 30, they celebrate El día del los niños/ Children's Day. When famed bilingual author Pat Mora heard of this, she decided to add on El día de los libros/ Book Day to April 30 as well. So now, for 15 years, libraries across the country celebrate children and books on this day. And that is what Book Fiesta (2008), written by Pat Mora herself, is all about.

The wraparound cover is a joyful scene of children happily reading their books, with animals, friends, and a curious sun in tow. I picked up this book originally because the vibrant colors reminded me of the houses I so love in Mexico. Both of the endpapers are gorgeous images of children on Book Day...the first is the sun rising and waking the children up who have their books ready; the final one is children reading on puffy clouds as the moon gets them ready to sleep.  

Once you open to the half title page, you realize that Mora and López have crafted the entire book to follow the children on their special day. After they wake up on the endpaper, the story continues with them bringing decorations, balloons, and signs to the fiesta. You even see the children 'writing' the publisher information and carrying in the letters for the title on a hot-air balloon. The actual title page shows the children painting the letters, hanging the exclamation point, etc. I thought it was an adorable way to set the scene for the upcoming fiesta even before Mora's text had begun. Speaking of the text, it is written in both English and Spanish on each page. It is always nestled into the illustrations, so it sometimes curves around or changes colors depending on the background color of the scene.


The visual elements are a celebration of children and reading. Each page turn brings a new double page bleed of one energetic, upbeat, joyful scene after another. Each cartoon-like image is a fiesta rich in every color imaginable. Rafael López' palette is full of oranges, reds, blues, purples, greens, pinks...you name it! The vibrant scenes immerse you in the celebration and take you away on all of their adventures. The bold acrylic paintings show children reading everywhere!  The fantastical elements of reading on an elephant's trunk or in a whale's mouth add to the imagination of the book.Even the children represented are colorful-- kids of all colors and shades can see themselves in this book. My favorite page is one where you actually have to turn the book lengthwise to see the little boy in his bed, with the moon looking over him, as he reads himself to sleep.

I believe that this book would be an excellent read aloud any day of the year (but especially on April 30). It will inspire children to pick up a book and see where their imagination takes them. When so many digital technologies tell us what to think, books allow us to make up our own images and immerse ourselves in new lands. At the end of the book, Mora explains the origin of this celebration day and also provides some suggestions for activities you can do on April 30. ¡No puedo esperar para celebrar!