Nine days to Christmas

by Marie Hall Ets

Other authorsAurora Labastida (Author)
Paper Book, 1987

Contents

From the dust jacket:

Mother said that Ceci was old enough now to stay up for the posadas—the special Mexican parties given, one each night, for the nine days before Christmas. Ceci was only five, and it was hard for her to wait patiently through the twenty-one long days until the first posada. For that was to be her very own, given in her own home.

She wondered if she would have a piñata—one of those fantastic paper figures filled with fruit and candies—that hung high in the patio. What fun the children always had, being blindfolded and vying to be first to burst the piñata with their long sticks, and then scrambling for the sweet shower. Ceci badly wanted a very special piñata for her first posada.

She thought about it long and carefully and at last came the wonderful day when she knew she was to have her wish. Mother took her to the old Mexican market where the many-shaped, many-hued piñatas hung, quietly turning in the little breeze. They seemed to speak to her, saying, "Take me, take me." It was terribly difficult to choose—until she saw the Very One!

A gentle story of a loving modern Mexican family beautifully told and colorfully pictured—a treat for the reader as well as for the young listener.

Description

Ceci anxiously awaits her first posada, the special Mexican Christmas party, and the opportunity to select a piñata for it.

Pages

48

Awards

Caldecott Medal (Medal Winner — 1960)
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