The Festival of Bones / El festival de las calaveras

by Luis San Vicente, Luis San Vicente (Illustrator), Bobby Byrd (Translator), John Byrd (Translator)

Overview

Dance and rattle along with skeletons on their way to celebrate their day—the Day of the Dead!

Baila y meneate junto a las calaveras en camino a su día: ¡el Día de Muertos!

If you think Day of the Dead is a time of celebration for the living, just think how much more exciting it is for the guests of honor! Renowned Mexican artist, Luis San Vicente, lets children join the fun with playful, rhythmic text in English and Spanish. His wild and whimsical artwork imagines how skeletons might revel as they're called back to Earth for this holiday of remembrance. You can also learn about how the living world celebrates Day of the Dead: A helpful afterword provides a brief history of the holiday in Mexico and some pointers on how to celebrate, including instructions for creating altars for dead loved ones and making traditional treats like sugar skulls.

Si crees que el Día de Muertos es un momento de celebración para los vivos, ¡piensa cuánto más emocionante es para los invitados de honor! El reconocido artista mexicano, Luis San Vicente, permite que los niños se unan a la diversión con textos lúdicos y rítmicos en inglés y español. Su arte dinámico y extravagante imagina cómo las calaveras podrían deleitarse cuando son llamadas a regresar a la Tierra para esta festividad de recordar. También puedes aprender cómo se celebra el Día de Muertos en el mundo de los vivos: un epílogo útil detalla una breve historia del Día de Muertos en México y algunos consejos de cómo se puede celebrar, incluyendo cómo hacer un altar para seres queridos difuntos y recetas de delicias tradicionales como las calaveras de azúcar.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781941026038
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	09/23/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Language:	Spanish
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Luis San Vicente is an artist and author based in Mexico City. He has illustrated more than fifty children’s books for publishers all around the world, including Mexico, the US, and Spain. His artwork has been exhibited in Cuba, Korea, Slovakia, and many more countries. He has also received numerous international accolades, including two first-place awards in the Catalog of Children’s and Youth illustrations by Mexico’s National Council for Culture and Arts, selection for the prestigious Ibero-American Illustration Catalog, and the Encouragement Prize from UNESCO’s Noma Concours for Picture Books. You can learn more about him at luissanvicenteilustracion.com.

Luis San Vicente is an artist and author based in Mexico City. He has illustrated more than fifty children’s books for publishers all around the world, including Mexico, the US, and Spain. His artwork has been exhibited in Cuba, Korea, Slovakia, and many more countries. He has also received numerous international accolades, including two first-place awards in the Catalog of Children’s and Youth illustrations by Mexico’s National Council for Culture and Arts, selection for the prestigious Ibero-American Illustration Catalog, and the Encouragement Prize from UNESCO’s Noma Concours for Picture Books. You can learn more about him at luissanvicenteilustracion.com.

Bobby Byrd was a beloved poet and publisher. He and his wife, Lee Byrd, cofounded Cinco Puntos Press in 1985 and published hundreds of award-winning books before selling the press to Lee & Low Books in 2021. The pair garnered many accolades, including Cultural Freedom Fellowships for Excellence in Publishing from the Lannan Foundation. Bobby was the author of nine adult poetry books, including The Price of Doing Business in Mexico (Cinco Puntos Press/Lee & Low Books). Bobby died in 2022.

John Byrd, writer and editor, is the former president of Cinco Puntos Press. He co-edited Puro Border (Cinco Puntos/Lee & Low Books) and Lone Star Noir (Akashic Books). He also translated the children's book The Festival of Bones/El festival de las calaveras by Luis San Vicente and the novel Out of Their Minds by Luis Humberto Crosthwaite. He is now a Senior Editor at the Aerospace Center at the University of Texas in El Paso.

Editorial Reviews

"A breezy poetic and visual treatment in this compact volume. Gleeful rhythmic and occasionally rhyming verse in English and Spanish detail the peregrinations of the skeletons and their enjoyment of the festivities... Evokes the spirit of the Festival in the way that kids will appreciate." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Vicente, a respected Mexico City artist, creates charming skeletal characters; their playfulness accentuates the holiday's merriment. Rendered in a style reminiscent of scratchboard illustrations, his bony subjects dance in top hats and ride bicycles amid a fetchingly surreal world... A fresh look at a familiar subject. Ideas on how to honor the dead and recipes for the holiday feast are included." — Publishers Weekly

"Dancing skeletons create a party atmosphere in the celebration of el Dia de los Muertos. They zip around, coming, going, dancing—all of them happy and content to celebrate their big day in style. The text moves with a lively dance meter. San Vicente's artwork, done in black outlines with touches of warm color, is just sinister enough to produce a little frisson, but not so frightening as to be off putting to young readers." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher