Dia de los Muertos, board book is read-along fun for 3 and up

Everything I know about Dia de los Muertos I learned from Coco. I need a shirt that says that, because it’s 100% true. Now I know a little bit about it, like the key terms of abuelos, ofrendas and muertos. It wasn’t too long ago that I thought Dia de Los Muertos has more sinister leanings at worst or at best the backdrop for a sub-par James Bond film. Dia de los Muertos is also in a board book. It’s a bright slice of family memories that simply spells out what makes this Mexican tradition a happy spot in an undead arena.

That’s what I thought the tradition was all about. Skeletons, ghosts and specters, it’s like Halloween but they have parades instead of candy, I thought.

No, Dia de Los Muertos is thinking about, honoring and having fun while the family gathers around to celebrate life. That life can be the ones that are living it, as well as the ones who have already lived theirs. The text in this board book is too big and advanced for those who aren’t in second grade to read by themselves. However, this is a board book that’s meant for you to read to others.

Parents: don’t be put off by the skeletons or the whole ‘dead’ thing in the book. Dia de los Muertos is a board book that is perfectly suited for young readers aged 3 and up. The text in the book is from Hannah Eliot and the illustrations are by Jorge Gutierrez. Every single space in the pages is taken up with color, from the varied backgrounds to the activity bubbles of color, neon skeletons and tan atole this book keeps you awake with its energy.

There are two sentences on most of the pages, with a couple of them having three and some having none. That makes this a great, good-night book. You can read it once and be happy. If your young audience wants a second helping then the book is short enough to do so and have it not be taxing to you, the reader. As a bonus, if your audience is really young and simply wants to look at the pages that’s OK because the pages are cardboard.

Dia de los Muertos is the all age vehicle for young walkers, young readers and pre-K people to learn about a tradition that might not really be what they think it is. It wasn’t for us.