A PIÑATA IN A PINE TREE

“On the first day of Christmas my amiga gave to me,” sings a little girl. Her rhymes, mainly in Spanish, increase in syllables and words with the number of objects she is receiving, from the titular piñata to doce angelitos celebrando. Mora blends Latino holiday traditions of her native Southwest with some from Mexico. The gifts are ethnic dishes like pastelitos, ornaments like paper lanterns—luminarias—and spinning tops—trompos—and Mexican folk-art–styled figures. Morales’s acrylic paintings complement the song, showing, in the background, family members engaged in activities that are revealed on the last page along with the identity of the amiga—a new little sister. The inclusion of numerals and the pronunciation of the Spanish words, along with a concluding glossary and pronunciation guide, facilitates reading and makes it absolutely entertaining. (Picture book. 6-9)