The Latino Holiday Book: From Cinco de Mayo to Dia de Los Muertos: The Celebrations and Traditions of Hispanic-Americans

by Valerie Menard

Authoritative and beautifully designed, "The Latino Holiday Book" discusses each holiday's religious or social history, typical customs, and special foods or activities, and gives recipes or instructions for making authentic foods and crafts that represent that day's traditions.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569246467
• ISBN13: 9781569246467
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Treasure Chest Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Excellent resource

I've been looking for descriptions of festivities from the Latin American world for a long time. And it's not easy ! Too often it's assumed that everyone knows whar Cinco de Mayo is all abour, but it's all mysterious and novel in my part of the world. Thank you very much Valerie Menard for your excellent resource

One of the best books on the subject

There are not a lot of comprehensive books on Latin American Holidays (many on individual holidays, but few books that offer a solid description of multiple holidays). This book, though it focuses exclusively on the holidays and how they are celebrated in the United States, does manage to describe a number of holidays, and best of all, gives lots of ideas for activities (whether its recipes, or children's activity, or websites to visit for more information) that would work just as well in a classroom or in your own home, whether you hope to resurrect your own families' traditions, or create new traditions of your own. The layout is lovely, and the information is fairly complete, giving historical descriptions as well as descriptions of the traditions associated with the holiday. I highly recommend this book. Also note that the book is available in Spanish, under the title (I believe) _Tradiciones_.

mixed effort

There is a necessity for a book like this, although this book could have done a more even job of filling the need. A resource on some of the latino holiday/celebrations, slanted towards how they are celebrated in the U.S., this is can be a helpful resource. The down side is not all the celbrations are covered that you would expect; practically nothing about how Carneval (Mardi Gras) is celebrated in Latin America itself, only a mention of the Miami, Florida festivity. And there is absolutely no mention of Semana Santa, the week before Easter. On the other hand, a good job of describing the difference between Cinco de Mayo and the real Mexican Independence day in September; as well as receipes and insights that give the book a light-hearted feel. If you are looking for information on a specific holiday, this good be a good resource or a complete blank: If you are looking to find out more about Lation culture, this will be helpful. This is not a travel resource to prepare so much for visiting Latin America during festivals, meant more for understanding the celebrations here in the States, how they are celebrated, why, and their origins.

Makes a great gift!

When my sister-in-law was planning to get married, I wanted to get her a gift that she could keep and refer to throughout her future. We come from a large Hispanic family, so when I saw this book I was impressed. It made a cute gift and she was really excited to have gotten it. It goes thru all the different Mexican-themed holidays, offering history and ways to celebrate. Once she has kids, I know they will like it too!

great resource book

Its really great you can learn about the different celebrations of the Latino culture. You'll also find some traditional recipes, and other little fact we might have never bothered to learn from our parents. Its a nice and easy read. Its a great book for us latinos who want to know more about our traditions and or those who are interested in our culture. Everyone Latino and NON alike should go out and get this book its a great reference guide into the Latino culture, celebrations, and traditions.