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The Christmas Pinata
A cracked Mexican clay pot feels ugly and useless until a little girl discovers it just before a holiday celebration
- GenresChristmasPicture Books
34 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1975
1 person is currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Jack Kent
130 books47 followersJohn Wellington "Jack" Kent (1920 – 1985) was an American cartoonist and prolific author-illustrator of children's books. He is perhaps best known as the creator of the comic strip King Aroo. In addition to his own books, he illustrated more than twenty books by other authors.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 15, 2022
A story about two pots and how "we began the same and we ended the same ... we were each useful in our own way."
Ages: 4 - 8
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
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Ages: 4 - 8
Cleanliness: nothing to note.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!
January 22, 2013
One of my favorite books to read to my kindergartners in December. Great story and lesson.
May 25, 2024
Juan Gomez is a potter, and turns out 2 pots from lumps of clay, using his talented hands. His son helps set them in the kiln to bake, but sadly one comes out cracked (and therefore unsaleable). It is set aside, as the perfect, flawless pot is beautifully and lovingly adorned with paints and glazes. The little pot looks on with envy at the beautiful pottery going to market, and his beautiful twin pot is kept by Juan's wife to be used to fetch water.
The pot spends some time feeling sorry for itself, until the young daughter puts it to use as the basis for this year's pinata. (I loved the illustrations in this story: from clay to pot to fired, glazed pottery with beautiful traditional motifs; the mother making tortillas on a stone; the clever construction and decoration of the pinata, including how the frilly paper is made (strips and scissors), and how it is stuffed and hung!). We see the children taking part in the candlelit procession of Los Posadas, where they search for room (at the inn, a la Mary and Joseph in Bethelehem), are repeatedly turned away, until they reach the designated party house and are welcomed in to celebrate.
The pot meets its end, as expected. The potsherds are chucked on the rubbish heap, along with the potsherds from its twin, the beautiful water pot. "Nothing lasts forever", it says.
There's a further lesson here, very plainly stated - however we turn out, there was a role for us to play in life, and an important one, relative glamour aside, and we all end up together again, as we started.
I might need to track down a hard copy of this one. There are legions of feel-good Christmas time picture books out there, but it's rare to find one this good. ;) It'll sit nicely with my copy of Rosa... <3
The pot spends some time feeling sorry for itself, until the young daughter puts it to use as the basis for this year's pinata. (I loved the illustrations in this story: from clay to pot to fired, glazed pottery with beautiful traditional motifs; the mother making tortillas on a stone; the clever construction and decoration of the pinata, including how the frilly paper is made (strips and scissors), and how it is stuffed and hung!). We see the children taking part in the candlelit procession of Los Posadas, where they search for room (at the inn, a la Mary and Joseph in Bethelehem), are repeatedly turned away, until they reach the designated party house and are welcomed in to celebrate.
The pot meets its end, as expected. The potsherds are chucked on the rubbish heap, along with the potsherds from its twin, the beautiful water pot. "Nothing lasts forever", it says.
There's a further lesson here, very plainly stated - however we turn out, there was a role for us to play in life, and an important one, relative glamour aside, and we all end up together again, as we started.
I might need to track down a hard copy of this one. There are legions of feel-good Christmas time picture books out there, but it's rare to find one this good. ;) It'll sit nicely with my copy of Rosa... <3
June 15, 2012
Read this book. You will be a better person for it.
July 31, 2008
My dad gave me this book. The illustrations are great! Nice story.
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January 13, 2019awesome little book. loved it
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews