Hello, I hope everyone had a good Halloween. Mine was pretty calm. I handed out candy and waited for Dragon Age Veilguard to download. I already know I’m going to sink way too many hours into this game. Anyway, today is Day of the Dead, and I wanted to share some books that highlighted this important tradition.
Day of the Dead is a primarily Latinx holiday that celebrates the connection between life and death. The holiday is a mix between Aztec traditions from the Mexico and the Christian tradition of All Souls Day.
Day of the Dead is important for Mexicans especially but is celebrated all over Central America. Some of the traditions include
Ofrendas: are altars created in either the home or the cemetery near the grave of the deceased. They are thought to bring the dead back to the world of the living. They are decorated with things the deceased person liked in life, such as favorite foods, photos, and candles.
Sugar skulls: Also known as Calaveras, sugar skulls are decorated and placed on the ofrendas. They can also be eaten, with the names of the deceased placed on the sugar skulls to help children understand death.
Marigolds: These are important flowers on Day of the Dead as they are said to help guide the deceased spirits back home.
Costumes, parades, and dancing: The community often gathers to celebrate with music and dancing, as well as dressing up as death.
Some of my favorite media that celebrates Day of the Dead include
1) Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
A lovely graphic novel about a middle schooler having to deal with her own sister’s mortality. Catrina and her family move to try and help her sister’s cystic fibrosis. Cat isn’t happy about leaving her friends for the town of Bahia de la Luna. Still, she loves her sister and wants the best for her.
As the girls start to explore the town of Bahia de la Luna, a neighbor lets them in on a secret. That the town is home to ghosts. Catrina’s sister Maya becomes determined to meet one. But Cat wants nothing to do with them, thinking they herald her own sisters death. But as the Day of the Dead approaches Cat must deal with her fears for Maya’s sake and her own.
determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister’s sake — and her own.
Amazon: Ghosts
Raina Telgemeier is the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award–winning creator of Smile, Sisters, and Guts, which are all graphic memoirs based on her childhood.
She is also the creator of Drama and Ghosts, and is the adapter and illustrator of the first four Baby-sitters Club graphic novels. Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier is based on an exhibition that was held at The Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Raina lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more, visit her online at goraina.com.
2) The Skeletons at the Feast by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chole Sayer
This book is a good introductory primer for both children and adults about Day of the Dead. The authors set a vibrant scene of how the Day of the Dead is celebrated. They bring up some of the elements I mentioned above as well as the fact that families often bake bread for the dead and put on new clothing.
The book traces the holiday’s origin from prehispanic times and highlight its imprortance both in the past as well as the present. The book also contains interviews with Mexican artist who provide goods for the festival that include sugar skulls and giant papier mache skeltons.
Filled with lavish photograph, this is a great book to pick up if you are just learning about Day of the Dead.
Amazon: The Skeletons at The Feast
Elizabeth Carmichael is curator of the Latin American collections of the British Museum.
Chloë Sayer is the author of several books on Mexico.
3) An Oferenda for Perro by Judith Valdés B., Carlos Velez Aguilera
This book for young children is excellent is an excellent guide to explain the Deay of the Dead. It shows a child named Benito mourning his dog Perro, who has passed away. During the Day of the Dead, Benito tries to understand the meanings of the Marigolds, candles and bread of the dead.
He also learns about the tradition of putting photographs on an oferenda, and sharing memories. He is able to create his own offerenda for Perro, he realizes that while Perro may be gone his love for him will always stay.
Amazon: An Oferenda for Perro
Judith Valdés B is a Mexican-American writer and illustrator who holds degrees in Illustration (BFA), Business Administration (BA), and International Affairs (MA). She is a Children’s Book Academy graduate, as well as a student at the Institute of Children’s Literature. Born in Sinaloa, Mexico, she has lived in five countries across three continents and currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand with her husband and their three children. Find out more about Judith at judithvaldesb.com.
Carlos Vélez Aguilera is an illustrator based in Mexico City, Mexico. He graduated from the National School of Plastic Arts and has illustrated more than twenty children’s books including his graphic novel Salón Destino.
4) Labyrinth Lost
This book is a bit older, from the mid 2010s. And while it doesn’t deal directly with Day of the Dead. It does have the witchy vibes that surround the holiday. Focused on a fantasy system based on Mexican magic and celebrations Alex Mortiz is the latest in a long line of powerful brujas (witches). She’s unsuccessfully tried to hide her powers from her family.
Her family dismisses her disinterest as typical teen behavior and continue to have high expectations of her abilities. At her Deathday, or her sixteenth birthday where her family will call the spirits of her ancestors to bless her.
At her Deathday celebration Alex is expected to take her place as a bruja and accept her abilities. Instead Alex sees magic as a curse, and casts a spell to strip herself of her magic. This ends up sending her entire family to Los Lagos, the underworld.
Alex is horrified by what she has done and is determined to make everything right. To do this she embarks on a magical journey with her non-magical best friend and a mysterious handsome boy named Nova.
This journey ends up being more than any of them bargained for. Will they save her family or will the be doomed to Los Lagos. This book has got all the vibes for a perfect read for Day of the Dead and highlights Lantix culture and mythology.
Amazon: Labyrinth Lost
About the Author
Zoraida Córdova is the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels and short stories, including the Brooklyn Brujas series, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: A Crash of Fate, and The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.
In addition to writing novels, she serves on the Board of We Need Diverse Books, and is the co-editor of the bestselling anthology Vampires Never Get Old, as well as the cohost of the writing podcast, Deadline City. She writes romance novels as Zoey Castile. Zoraida was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and calls New York City home. When she’s not working, she’s roaming the world in search of magical stories. For more information, visit her at zoraidacordova.com.
5) Love, Sugar, Magic by Anna Meriano
This is one of my favorite series and is good for kids and adults. Leonora’s family owns a beloved bakery in Rose Hill, Texas. Her family spends their days crafting up delicious recipes. Dia De Los Muertos is their most important holiday.
Despite hoping she will be involved in the festivities this year, Leo isn’t old enough and feels left out. This leads her to sneaking out an discovering a secret about her mother, sisters and aunt. They are brujas, who put sweet magic into everything they bake.
Realizing she has magical ability as well she is more determined than ever to join the family business. However she can’t let her sisters know that she knows yet. So when an opportunity to help her best friend comes up, she sees it as the perfect time to use her magic. Its just one little spell after all, what could go wrong?
Amazon: Love, Sugar, Magic
About the Author
Anna Meriano grew up in Houston with an older brother and a younger brother, but (tragically) no sisters. She graduated from Rice University with a degree in English and earned her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis on writing for children from the New School in New York. She has taught creative writing and high school English and works as a writing tutor. Anna likes reading, knitting, playing full-contact quidditch, and singing along to songs in English, Spanish, and ASL. Anna still lives in Houston with her dog, Cisco. Her favorite baked goods are the kind that don’t fly away before you eat them.
Kyla Garcia is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. Born and raised in Hoboken, New Jersey, she discovered acting at the age of eight when she played Lady Macbeth in a children’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy. She made her off-Broadway debut at fifteen when she played Dorothy in Oz: A Twisted Musical. Eleven years after she discovered her passion for acting, she would go on to play Lady Macbeth once again in London at the Globe Theatre, where she studied Shakespeare during her third year at Mason Gross School of the Arts. She received her BFA in acting from Rutgers University.
I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween and I can’t wait to see you all again on Thursday.
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