Nino's Mask

by Jeanette Winter

Although Niño wants to take part in the annual harvest fiesta and wear the special mask needed in order to catch the jaguar, his parents think he is too young to take on such a risky task, but Niño is determined and so secretly makes his own special mask in the hopes of getting his chance at the fiesta.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cultural, Spanish Literature

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 10, 2003

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bueno!

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about using your imagination to be something larger than yourself. It cleverly incorporates the traditional Mexican Fiesta del Tigre, where masked villagers scare away a masked tiger to ensure healthy crops for the year. It is told as a graphic story, with lush art, and intersperses Spanish words in such a way that their meaning can be seen from the context and pictures.

My only reservation is for industrious, independent children, because the book shows the boy cutting down a tree and carving the mask with a knife, all without adult supervision, after he has been told he is too young. I can easily see a young reader taking it upon themselves to model this story as a way to explore their dreams, much to the chagrin of their parents!

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Told mostly in English with Spanish words scattered in, this book relates the Fiesta of the Tigre when villagers wear masks & chase away the tiger so the corn can grow. This year, though, Nino wants to wear a mask, too. HIs mom tells him he's too young still, but that doesn't stop him!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has very colorful, cute and very realistic. The book is non-fiction. It has a cute setting and plot describing a tradition that Hispanics do in their country of Mexico. It has some Spanish words describing different animals.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains the Mexican tradition of wearing masks at various holiday fiestas. What a great story of a little boy who makes his fiesta mask and saves the day.

[Brianna N]

Summary: This book is trying to show is identity with hiding behind a mask. The tiger is eating all the corn and the horse tries the tiger from eating all the corn. The horse then stops him. It speaks a lot of Spanish. It was hard to read from Spanish to English.

Analysis: It was hard to read the words going from English to Spanish. I think that I liked that they had to come back from the mask and not hide behind the mask. They had to reveal them real selves. I don't really understand the book so I wouldn't always use it in my classroom because it's so hard to read.

Use in the classroom: I would use this in the classroom if I had students that spoke Spanish and learn English. I also could teach that each student is different and has a diverse background. This can help people learn how draw and be different and show their real self.

[Hannah Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nino wants nothing more than to have his father and mother make a mask and costume for this years Harvest Festival. For some reason they keep telling him he has to wait because he isn't old enough. What would happen if Nino decided to make a mask for the celebration himself?

This book made me really happy because it is about a boy living in a different culture than I do. It taught me something new that I was unaware of and I think that that is very important for children.

This book would be good for introducing some Mexican culture/traditions. Kids tend to be focused on their own culture because that is all they are taught about. Kids who do have Mexican heritage can feel included and maybe even more at home with a book like this shared in class.

[Hallie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a cool multicultural book, but if I ever read it in class, it would be good to learn about the event "The Fiesta of the Tigre" and provide some context/ information about it before the book is read.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a read-aloud, the book is awful - it's hard for kids to follow and tough for the reader to know how to parse the text, since it's all written in speech bubbles. There's little context, so kids who have a working knowledge of Dia de los Muertos will be much better off than kids who don't. Despite the small explanatory section at the back, the book would be really confusing to a child trying to read it on his/her own that didn't know much about Dia de los Muertos. As part of a larger lesson about Dia de los Muertos, it's a nice addition for kids to read on their own; as a primary teaching tool, it is a failure.

[Dorian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is done in the style of a comic or a graphic novel, which makes it feel a little more personal, but I personally would have liked to hear the story behind the fiesta and the boy listed all those animals but they had not part in the fiesta. I like how there was a glossary in the back and the Spanish words were very obvious thanks to the pictures.

[Kell* · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about the traditions in Nino's village. Nino is chosen to be the one who saves the villages crops through a wild chase through town. This is a fun culturally diverse book and can be integrated into holidays and multiculturalism in the classroom.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book from the perspective of teaching kid's about celebrations in other cultures, particularly Mexico, but the book still fell flat to me. Not sure why, but reading it twice, I couldn't warm up to it.

[Nakitah]

Bilingual text about a boy and his mask. Students will learn about Spanish tradition and may engage in a mask making activity and fiesta