Book Review Los Gatos Black on Halloween

Montez, Marissa. Los Gatos Black on Halloween, Henry Holt and Company, New York: Illustrated by Yuyi Morales

Marissa Montez is a Puerto Rico born author who has lived in many parts of the world before finally settling down in northern California where she resides with her family. She has won many awards for her work. She won the Pura Belpre award for Juan Bobo Goes to Work and she also won that same award for Los Gatos Black on Halloween. In this book she captures the spirit of Halloween. This book is an excellent multicultural book. Mrs. Montez includes many references to other cultures other than the United States. A couple of examples of this are the werewolf and the dancing skeletons. The werewolf originated in England, and the skeletons are a part of the Mexican holiday Dia Day Los Muertos. The way that she has written this book is in the format of a poem. This format makes the story flow very well from one page to the next. She has written this book using both English and Spanish words. The way that she uses her words is very easy for a student who does not speak Spanish. The reader can easily understand the Spanish words by reading the rest of the sentence. An example of this is on the first page about the black cats, “With ojos keen that squint and gleam”, the child should be able to conclude that ojos means eyes. This book also contains a Spanish to English glossary. If the Spanish words are not understood the child can look them up.
The illustrations in Los Gatos Black on Halloween are done by Yuyi Morales. She is an award winning Illustrator. She won the Christopher Award for her work on Harvesting Hope. Her illustrations for Los Gatos Black on Halloween are excellent. When looking at her illustrations they make you feel like you are really there. She does this with very detailed illustrations and with the dark color scheme.
This book is an excellent source to use to teach how different cultures celebrate the Halloween holiday.