This is a great way to introduce children to a holiday they may not have heard of before and discover more about the world around them.

With 24 pages, this is a sturdy little board book, perfect for small hands. The cover and pages will hold up to small accidents and a bit of roughness. The traditions and reasons for celebrating Dia de los Muertos are explained clearly, while still allowing the excitement the holiday brings to still filter in. The text uses simple enough vocabulary for kids to understand, while still allowing some lesser known, cultural words to filter in.

The illustrations are as expected from Jorge Gutierrez—a real treat. He has brought the holiday across in a vibrant, exciting way while still keeping the foundations of the celebration clear. There are many small details in the drawings to make sure children come back and investigate them on their own.

While there are many great things to this book, I'm not sure it's fitting for the board book age group. The text is fairly long for the youngest listeners and the illustrations, while beautiful, don't always depict the situations clear enough for board book audiences to understand. Slightly older listeners/readers would slide into these pages without a problem, but unfortunately, the older age group (who would enjoy this book the most) will most likely not be willing to pick up a board book.

Still, it's a wonderful story which does a terrific job in introducing Dia de los Muertos to kids.

I received a complimentary copy a found it such a wonderful idea and book that I wanted to leave my honest thoughts. ( )

This is a good book to share with children so they can understand more about a very important Mexican culture holiday. It explains what all the special things we add on altars are for and what they represent.