Get It Now The Fiesta Dress: A Quinceanera Tale Scripted By Caren McNelly McCormack Available As Bound Copy

sisters and I all ended up buying this book around the same time and didn't even know it, It is adorable. Lovely pictures, and a great book for little girls, I love the aspect that it's about getting ready for Quinceanera, that is so unique, and a good way to explain a tradition to children that may not understand it.
With a title of "Fiesta Dress" I foolishly believed it would be about the the quinceanera and her dress, The story is cute. But the book seems like an attempt to buy into the Hispanic market and not a story about a quinceanera or a fiesta de quince anos, "The Last Doll" by Diane Gonzales Bertrand is a much better story, A bit lame, although it's kind of cute, Charmingly illustrated tale of a little sister who feels left out the day of her big sister's quinceanera, The story's predictable by adult standards, but told in a fun manner that will be enjoyed by kids, Who doesn't like a little girl who causes mischief but saves the day

Good preschoolstorytime and Latinoculturedisplay book,

This book is aAmericas Award Commended Book Title, In this book, a young girl is used to getting all of the attention in her family because she is the youngest, Then, it is the day of her sister's Quinceanera, and her entire family is busy getting ready for the party, Her aunts are making tamales, her uncles are cleaning for the party, and her sister and the other girls are getting dressed and primped for the event, She becomes upset that she is not getting the attention that she is used to, and she makes a bad choice that almost ruins the day! I enjoyed reading this book.
The mischief and illustrations definitely catch the reader's attention, I think that this tradition of a Quinceanera is portrayed in a positive, exciting light, This would be a great book to introduce thisth birthday tradition to students that are unfamiliar with it or it could be used to create discussion of other cultures in a diverse classroom.
There are a few Spanish words mixed in to the text, so this book would also be a good tool for teaching how to use context clues/picture clues to find the meanings of unfamiliar words.


The author does a really good job touching on the subject of a Quinceanera while also introducing Latin culture in the text and illustrations with the food and the clothing.
I would definitely recommend this book in a younger elementary classroom, A story about a girl who's sister is having a quinceanera, Usually she is the center of attention because she's the youngest but today is her sister's day so it takes some getting used to, but her sister lets her in on the fun and excitement.
Americas Award. This is a sweet story for very young children but stereotypes the Quinceañera without much detail about the traditions, Once again, every latinoa fiesta does not have to include tamales! It's frustrating as a Cuban who has different food traditions for this event, I can see using this book in an exploration of culture, clothes, but not much else in the curriculum, Earth toned preparations and pastel pomp treat us to a slightly slighted little sibling's view of what seems like a very cool coming of age tradition,

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our sitelink Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast,

Other books mentioned:
sitelinkThe Lime Green Secret
sitelinkJamelas Dress
sitelinkThe Fisherman and the Turtle

Wed love to hear your thoughts on a favourite childrens book.
Leave a voice message on our JOMB listener hotline,, so we can include your audio in our show,
the Fiesta Dress is an interesting realistic fiction book following a family preparing for a Quinceanera by looking at it from the youngest sister's perspective, The story introduces Spanish language and culture in a way that would interest students, The little sister is used to getting all the attention from the Tios and primos and does not like how they are preoccupied with preparing for her sisters quinceanera.
The characters are realistic and convincing and the illustrations clearly and nicely depict them, The story has a rich plot filled with the problem of the perro dog running off with the white sash that is dire for the quinceanera, Although it is the little sister's fault that the perro has the sash, she is able to solve the problem and brign back the sash, This was a cute book for a young reader between first and second grade, The story is about a little girl who feels ignored while her family prepares for her older sisters quinceanera, There are Spanish words in the book ,which the reader must use context clues and hints from the pictures to figure out, There is glossary at the end of the book, I won't give the entire plot away, but it turned out to be a nice story, Appealing illustrations and a fun, if simple, introduction to another culture's tradition, We liked the miniglossary, but it would have been helpful to have it in the front, with a pronunciation guide and have a short nonfiction summary at the end to explain a little more about Quniceanera.
I am picky about books that choose to use another language in the text of the story, Just replacing words doesn't work, Either do the bilingual thing where the text is in both English or Spanish, or if you use Spanish words, explain them within the text and use words that would be appropriate to substitute out in Spanish.
This book doesn't do that, :

Cute story otherwise, The Fiesta Dress: A Quinceanera Tale/ Caren McNelly McCormack/
Genre: fiction
Format: picture book
Plot Summary: While Eva and her family prepare for her quinceañera, no one is paying attention to her younger sister, but when the dog gets out of the laundry room and steals Eva's sash, her little sister comes to the rescue.

Considerations: no red flags
Citation: School Library Journal March, Vol,Issue, p,p
Selection Source: Bibliography from Celebrating Diverse Latino Cultures, Literature, and Literacy Everyday ALSC Institute
Recommended age:Really liked that in the midst of this book being entertaining how it teaches on selfregulation and socialemotional issues.
In addition that despite the title, it's a good book for both boys and girls, And last but not least, I'm a big fan of cultural diversity being taught, especially to young children, This was a great all around book!!! Lola gets bored not getting the attention of her older sister, Eva, at her Quinceanera party, However, when the dog Gobo runs off with Eva's sash, Lola becomes a hero,

It becomes a cultural examination of family members during a Quinceanera, multiple Spanish vocabulary words, foods, and the traditions of Quinceanera celebration, Perfect book for when a kid feel rejected or put apart, Shows empathy, family, culture, and friendship, The book explain a very popular tradition for most of Hispanic people that is just starting to be celebrated in the United

States, I think a lot of kids will be interested in the information around this festivity, Also is perfect to introduce children to words in Spanish and made them guess what the words mean or what the author is trying to say, The book is Spanglish y every single page,
. The main character, Lolo, has an older sister who is turning fifteen and is having a quinceanera party, So Lolo feels left out, but then a problem occurs and she ends up saving her sisters party, This book is a realistic fiction, showing many Hispanic cultures of how girls celebrate their fifteenth birthday,
. This story would be a great book for students to read or for the teacher to read aloud to the class, Its fairly easy for kids to understand and it has good illustrations to get their attention, The students can share with another how they celebrate their birthday and what they like to do, They could also learn some new Spanish words,
. The author, Caren McNelly McCormack grew up in Texas and has seen many of her close friends celebrate their quinceañeras, And the illustrator, Martha Aviles was born and raised in Mexico City, They tried to show a bit of Hispanic culture with an interesting story to catch the childrens attentions, It not only showed how people celebrate quinceañeras but it showed the community and culture of Hispanic heritage, The book also showed how quinceañeras was a different way for people to celebrate birthdays, however it additionally marked a transition in a girls life from childhood to young womanhood.

.