LA NOCHE BEFORE THREE KINGS DAY
SHEILA COLÓN-BAGLEY
Harper Collins
2023
ISBN 978-0-06-323432-1
This year, Hispanic Heritage month was celebrated from September 15th through October 15th.
So, even though we are not in the December holiday season yet, I thought it would be fitting to post this particular book review now in October. Don’t most stores already have their holiday decorations on display? I also figured that if Hallmark can feature Christmas movies in July, I’m a lot closer to the season in October.
Besides, it’s never too early to get a jump start on your Christmas shopping because you’ll want this book.
For those of you not familiar with Three Kings Day, known in Spanish as, el Día de los Reyes Magos, it is celebrated throughout Latin America, Spain, and some other countries in Europe on January 6th in commemoration of the three wise men from the east, known as Balthazar, Melchior, and Gaspar, who brought gifts to honor the birth of the baby Jesus.
Instead of waiting for Santa Claus, children wait for gifts from the Three Kings. No milk and cookies for them. My mother, who grew up in the Dominican Republic, said they would always leave water and some grass or hay for the camels. The place to look for your gifts was not under a tree, but underneath your bed.
Colon-Bagley’s story, in Spanish and English, is told with the rhyming cadence of, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. As two of her lines read:
“We wrapped our shoeboxes with glee and delight, knowing the Three Kings would be here tonight.”
And, “While Papá washed the dishes and walked our perrito, Mamá tucked us in with a good night besito.”
Vibrant colorful illustrations by Alejandro Mesa depict the excitement in the home as the family prepares for the wondrous arrival.
Decorating the house. Wrapping gifts for each other. A buffet table feast with scrumptious food. Singing and dancing. And excited children begging to stay up late. Well, you get the picture.
And I hope you’ll get the book. It is a delightful holiday story that you just might find yourself adding to your Christmas books collection and pulling if off the shelf to read year after year after year.
Oh, and don’t forget to stock up on some hay!
Veronica Jorge
See you next time on November 22nd!
Other Books Reviewed by Veronica
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When you love someone, you want to know everything about them. That someone, in this case, was my maternal grandmother. We shared a close bond, but there was a wrinkle on the face-map of her life that I could not trace. I wish I had asked her my questions while she was still with me.
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The Many Colors of Us: Remembering 9/11
by Veronica JorgeMost people are a combination of various cultures, though I think their ancestors tended to confine their marriages to one continent.
Mine didn’t.
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A story of second-chances, hope, friendship, gratitude, and yes, the redeeming power of love, A Slight Change of Plans, satisfies at many levels. As the title suggests, things may not always work out the way we plan or expect. Colby encourages us to believe that there is a good plan for our lives, and a Master Planner who knows how to put all of the pieces together in the right place if we would only trust Him and let Him.
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The world’s treasures, many of them at your fingertips, in the pages of a book.
Such was my experience during a recent museum visit when I discovered an inspiring and uplifting work of art, Girl Balancing Knowledge, by the sculptor Yinka Shonibare. A British-Nigerian artist, he explores themes of cultural identity in a globalized world. The bright colors of the African Ankara fabrics he uses in his pieces are appealing and strikingly eye catching.
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Below is an excerpt from one of our 2024 mentees, Veronica Jorge, from her project, Crushed Like Sugarcane, based on her Chinese ancestor, Zhou Zhijian, who left China to work in the sugarcane fields of Cuba where he was enslaved. In this portion, newly arrived and unwilling to accept the situation, he decides to escape:
Nothing Found
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