The Farolitos of Christmas

by Rudolfo Anaya and Edward Gonzales

Book Overview

First published in Fall 1995 to much acclaim, Rudolfo Anaya's warmly told tale of how the Christmas tradition of farolitos came to be has become a perennial favorite.This season Hyperion Books for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786800607
• ISBN13: 9780786800605
• Release Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.7" x 11.4"
• Age Range: 5 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 4

Customer Reviews

Enchanting Christmas story

This is one of Anaya's enchanting stories reflecting the Hispanic culture of northern New Mexico, unique in all the US. This old, deep culture is rooted in high desert austerity. It is a rural life of sparseness. Beauty is found in family life and small traditions. All who read this charming story will be enriched. To see the simple "paper bags with candles" lining roads and driveways on Christmas Eve is to be transported. This story is perfect for the holidays.

Farolitos of Christmas

This book is an excellent way for children to learn about their own culture or the culture of others with whom they may be attending school. This is a meaningful story of giving the most valuable of all gifts: love and gestures of personal comitment toward those whom we love. There are numerous such stories for children, but this is from the cultural confluence of the Hispanic and Native American cultures and we need many more such stories.

Some Corrections ...

This is a wonderful, warm book, and gives an insight into a culture that is different from what most in other parts of the U.S. have experienced. But the culture is not Mexican American, but the Hispanic culture of Northern New Mexico, which dates back to the late 16th Century. I can't, in a short review, list the distinctions, but they are deep and significant. For more information, see the other works by Rudolfo Anaya, Christmas in Old Santa Fe, by Pedro Ortega, and histories of the area such as Horgan's Great River. In short, New Mexico was at the end of a very long journey from Mexico, and the isolation produced its own rich and unique culture.

The Farolitos of Christmas tells a tale of family love.

The Farolitos of Christmas tells a warm story of a young girl's respect and love for her grandfather, who is too ill to keep his commitment to light fires at Christmas time. The story creates how the young girl thought of "farolitos" or "little lights" to be used to keep the promise in an acceptable way and also light the path for the carolers at Christmas time. A wonderful story that reflects the rich family traditions of the Mexican American culture. This book was one of the winners of the 1995 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award, given to recognize books that authentically reflect the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States.