The Legend of the Poinsettia
Prices for book: The Legend of the Poinsettia
Book ISBN: 9780399216923
Author(s): Tomie de Paola
Document type: Trade Cloth
Publisher: Unknown
Categories: Children: Grades 2-3 | Juvenile Fiction | Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction | Mexico | Children: Kindergarten | Holidays & Celebrations - Christmas & Advent | Juvenile Fiction / Holidays & Celebrations / Christmas & Advent | Folklore | Poinsettias
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Reviews
A simple gift
Sometimes the best stories are the ones that are simple, that come from the heart, like simple gifts. The Wise Men began the gift giving tradition to the Christ Child. We continue it to show adoration for the life of sacrifice to come.
Tomie dePaola's simple yet beautiful rendering of the legend from Mexico, that of the poinsettia, is told through his solid and vivid illustrations and a simple story line. The cover illustration shows this solid simplicity and elegance.
Lucida and her father live in the mountains of Mexico in a small village. They are a farming family and devoutly worship their God. This year the priest has asked Lucida's mother to weave a new blanket for the manger scene. While she works on it, she falls ill. Lucida is not experienced enough to finish it and worries that her family will not have anything to give to the Christ Child at end of the Christmas Eve procession.
On the night of the procession an old woman (an angel?) appears to Lucida to tell her that any gift is special because it is a gift. Lucida grabs an armful of weeds that grow freely in the village. After she places them around the manger they suddenly light up in flaming red stars at the tips. These are the Flors de Nochebuena--Flowers of the Holy Night.
They came to be called poinsettias when the ambassador to Mexico from 1825 to 1830, Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, brought some back to his home in South Carolina. Eventually these lovely flowers found their way into our American traditional Christmas as gifts for loved ones.
And "The Legend of the Poinsettia" could become a traditional book to take out for Christmas reading and let the blooms flame on the pages.
Judy K. Polhemus (Amazon.com)
Great story with little historical accuracy
If you are looking for the true story of the legend of the poinsettia, this is not it!!! The only thing that is the same about the legend from Mexico and this story is the fact that the poinsettias were made red on christmas eve because a little girl brought baby jesus a weed for his birthday because she was so poor. the names, plot, and special saying that the little girl's brother said in the legend is not in this book, which takes away the impact of the story. the drawings although are beautiful and the story is nice if you don't know the real legend.
Gloria Dempsey (Amazon.com)
The Legend of the Poinsettia
I needed this for Christmas around the world at my school. The book is excellent and the children really enjoyed the story.
D. Sanders (Amazon.com)
Love Tomie's books!
Another great addition to my collection. Tomie's illustrations complete this wonderful book.
K. Pearsall (Amazon.com)
Wonderful book :)
Such an endearing story! This book contains beautiful illustrations. It is a Christmastime favorite.
primary teacher (Amazon.com)
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