“It seemed the more I knew about people, the more I knew about the strange magic hidden in their hearts.” – Rudolfo Anaya
¡Saludos, todos! This month’s book reviews will explore the significance of death by looking at stories about Día de los Muertos and La Llorona. In the process, we’ll open a conversation about what death means in Mexico and emphasize why that discussion is relevant to our classrooms – namely, because students deserve a safe space in which to discuss loss and grieving. This topic is one way to offer them that opportunity.
We’ve tied together the celebration of Día de los Muertos and the myth of La Llorona because they both come from Mexican culture and address concepts of loss; however, we want to emphasize that they are not otherwise related. Although it would be easy to conflate the two topics given their similarities, we advise against this. Día de los Muertos and La Llorona are better viewed as two separate topics tied together by commonalities. October is an opportune time to broach the topic of death and loss given that Día de los Muertos is not far off (November 1 and 2).
We start the month by featuring the children’s book Maya’s Children: The Story of La Llorona, written by New Mexican author Rudolfo Anaya and illustrated by Maria Baca. Anaya’s adaptation portrays La Llorona as a sympathetic figure whose haunting spirit reflects the enduring memories of love and loss. Continue reading
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