Maria Molina celebrates the Days of the Dead with her family in Mexico in this lovely picture-book from author Kathleen Krull and illustrator Enrique O. Sánchez. On the first day, they gather in the cemetery around the grave of her brother Pablo, who died as an infant, making offerings and prayers, and celebrating his life. On the second day they remember Maria's abuela (grandmother), and she goes to the market with her aunt and uncle. Maria reflects on the customs around her, and wonders about the American holiday of Halloween. When her parents leave Mexico to live and work in the United States, eventually sending for her, she gets to experience Halloween for herself. But what about Pablo and Abuela, she wonders: who will remember them now...?

I wasn't sure at first that I was going to like Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead, being put off by the fact that Maria keeps mentioning Halloween. It felt somehow intrusive at first, and a little bit condescending on Krull's part, as if Day of the Dead were being somehow equated to Halloween and found wanting. But when the story moved on to the second half, and I realized that Maria's family had plans to move to the United States, her musings began to make more sense. I appreciated the way in which the family maintained their traditions, while also embracing the ones of the new country, although I was surprised that there were no Day of the Dead celebrations where they were. I know they've become quite common on the west coast, so perhaps they moved somewhere further away. In any case, I ended up finding the story here more appealing than I expected, and I thought the artwork from Sánchez was lovely. I've encountered his illustrations before, in Esmeralda Santiago's A Doll for Navidades, but I think I preferred the visuals here to the ones in that other title. I also appreciated the afterword, which gives more information about the customs described in the story, as well as a recipe for Pan de lod Muertos ('Bread of the Dead'). Recommended to picture-book readers seeking stories about Day of the Dead. ( )

4. Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Enrique O. Sanchez, and published by the Macmillan Publishing company in 1994 is an informational Picture book on the Mexican custom of Dia de Muertos or, in English, Day of the Dead. This custom is about remembering those relatives who are not with us and honoring their memory. We follow Maria Molina as she celebrates the memory of her Grandmother and baby brother, one year in Mexico and the other in America. This was a great story that pushed me to think and read about the Day of the Dead custom. Also I liked how the story had a tiny bit of suspense in it to keep me engaged. This book did a great job explaining the custom of Day of the Dead to someone who’s a foreigner not only to Mexico but their culture as well. We begin in the Molina family Graveyard where they are paying their respects to the memory, and spirits of their past loved ones. We learn that they honor the little children, or the angelitos, on the first night of Day of the Dead. This is to appease the young ones and let them know that they are still loved along with the elders. What I really like about this book is that, after the story is over there is a glossary of terms and items traditionally used in Day of the Dead. What furthers this reading is that the definitions all have pictures next to them to help the reader visualize the term. As an example they go over a sugar candy skull and what it signifies. The sugar skulls are part of a food offering for the deceased. The dead don’t actually eat the food. They just inhale its essence. We in America kind of celebrate Day of the Dead. We just call it Halloween. In this story Maria and her family move to America. It is here that the plot gets suspenseful when Maria wonders how they will celebrate Pablo and Abuelas Spirit if they are not a t their grave. Maria is eventually assured that everything will be ok when they see a shrine to the family members in a room. This suspense kept me engaged in the book when I thought I was losing interest. Mexican Culture and family are huge big ideas to this story. The Mexican culture of Day of the Dead is what this book is about. Family is very important to Maria, and that is why she doesn’t want to leave Mexico. ( )

Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead is a book about a Spanish family and tells how the celebrate the Days of the Dead. Maria has lost a grandmother and a little brohter, so on this holiday they celebrate them. This book explains why and how they celebrate this holiday.

This is a neat book to read. I like learning about different cultures traditions.The very first page was sad when it talked about her losing her little brother, but I think it is reall amazing how they honor their relatives who have passed away.

This book would be a great book to read around Halloween to show your class that not culture celebrates the same holiday as we do.

This book was about a girl that lives in Mexico and one of their traditions. The Days of the Dead honors the dead. Families go to the grave yard on October 31st every year to honor their ancestors that have died. The family in the book honors their baby brother that died. They bring toys and chocolate to put on the grave. They move to the United States and end up celebrating Halloween on this day.

I liked this book because it showed what other cultures celebrate and their holidays. I also found it ironic that the day they celebrate it on was Halloween in the United States.

This book could be used on a multi-cultural week for students to read to them selves or the teacher to read to them. They could also make a list of items they could bring to the Days of the Dead.