Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada!

by Virginia L. Kroll

A posada is an important Latino holiday tradition that happens all over the world on each of the nine nights before Christmas. There's a lot to do every night before the party can begin, and here a little girl guides us through each step—from putting out poinsettias to hanging the piñata—as she counts to ten in English and Spanish. Young readers can follow along by counting the different items mentioned. An author's note at the end of the story further explains the origins of the posada. Sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary and filled with lively illustrations, this is a posada no one should miss!

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Spanish Literature, Storytime, Childrens, Cultural

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2006

About the author

Kroll has written numerous children's books since her career started in the mid-80's. Her first book was published in 1992. She started writing when she had her fourth child. Before that, she taught elementary school in Buffalo, NY. She also has written a number of books under the pseudonym Melrose Cooper to mask her tremendous output in so short a time.

Reviews

[Morgan Colon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, "Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada!" by Virginia L Kroll is an amazing multicultural book for children. The book takes place in the home of a latino family who is celebrating the posada. A Posada is a latino Christmas holiday that is very important to that culture. The story follows a young girl who explains how to prepare for the Posada using English language, and some Spanish counting.

In the endpages, the author even goes into depth about the history of the Posada and its importance. The photos are all full bleeds, without any borders. I like that style of setting up the book.

I think this is a great book for children. Not only can they learn about another culture, they can also start to learn how to count to ten in Spanish. This can be a very valuable lesson to know and I think the book does a great job of exposing children to the culture.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely integrated Spanish vocabulary, including the numbers uno through diez make for a nice introduction to the tradition of Posadas. Ordinarily I don't like rhymes so much but the rhymes can help facilitate English-speaking kiddos pronunciation of the Spanish words. Would be a good addition to holiday storytimes.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the bilingual counting. It has a basic rhyme structure. I teach a little bit about las posadas in my classroom and it is very lecture-based. This book would give me an option to make it a little more interactive for the students if I had more copies. 3 and a half stars

[Susan Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the explanation in the back about the Posada holiday tradition. Great illustrations and combination of English and Spanish words.

[Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was happy to find such a fun, accessible look into Las Posadas for my preschoolers. It's a great mix of Spanish and English text, and the counting chant will make kids want to read along with you.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Festive intro to Los Posadas for me and my kids. I want some poinsettias and the kids want a piñata.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked that the author's note included all the Spanish vocabulary instead of using a glossary. The two stars are for the illustrations. Otherwise, this book has terrible rhyming and has an "us" and "them" view of culture. Ugh.

[Kate Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Count in English and Spanish to discover the Christmas tradition of Las Posadas, celebrated 9 days before Christmas in many Hispanic cultures.

[Tuyet Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches children how to count one through ten in Spanish. It embraces the Spanish's culture and relates students to American Holiday, like Christmas.

[Amy Mccarty]

!!!12/25/13MD

[Whitney Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a cute book that melds spanish counting/vocab with cultural traditions surrounding christmas/new year's. it's good for what it is.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combo of rhyming story and counting book that explains this Hispanic themed holiday. I didn't know that posadas originated in Spain, mentioned in the author's note.

[Phannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great little story about Christmas that helps teach numbers 1-10.

[Saanvi]

I actually read a different book with a similar title, and a different author. However, I can't seem to find that book on Goodreads so I just added this book instead...