Childrens Book Review of Farolitos for Abuelo by Rudolfo Anaya: Sequel to The Farolitos of Christmas

Luz enjoys village life in San Juan. She finds Abuelo (Grandfather) astute, cooperative, and fast about:

• Getting homework done correctly and timely;
• Juggling fun and responsibility;
• Making room for customs, rituals, and traditions, particularly regarding his beloved granddaughter and his Catholic faith.

She gets to become an experienced fisher and expert gardener. She has fun-filled days year-round, indoors and outside. She nevertheless is most particularly a nature-lover of New Mexico’s:

• Arid land forms;
• Drought-tolerant edible, ornamental, wild, and woody plants;
• Refreshing water bodies.

For example, Abuelo knows that Luz likes their springtime visits to the village’s stream. A turn of events in fact makes it automatic for Luz to associate the stream with Abuelo and vice versa.

Abuelo and Luz appreciate the quiet beauty of a spring day spent fishing. But sparkling waters sometimes attract inexperienced swimmers. A young boy comes too close and falls in. Abuelo gets to the boy just in time. As in the tragic storm-drenching of first U.S. President George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799), water-logging nevertheless has its downside, with Abuelo:

• Catching cold;
• Getting pneumonia;
• Perishing.

Luz is sufficiently inspired, loyal, and strong to honor Abuelo’s garden with:

• Assiduous cultivation throughout summer;
• Steady harvests in autumn.

But what links Abuelo with winter and vice versa? Luz memorializes Abuelo’s love and support for Catholic-conducted and Hispanic-influenced Christmas festivities by establishing year-end remembrances at the cemetery through:

• Carols;
• Lanterns.

The story of Grandfather’s lanterns accommodates individual, parental, and pedagogical ventures into:

• Educational entertainment;
• Hispanic customs;
• Literary analysis;
• Local history;
• Spanish language-learning.

The 1999-released publication attests to the conscientious commitments of:

• Rudolfo Alfonso Anaya as storyteller;
• Disney-Hyperion Books for Children as publisher;
• Edward Gonzales as illustrator.

The book’s oil paintings in fact bespeak the same origins as those in its 1995-published prequel, The Farolitos of Christmas. They draw upon the real-life looks, movements, and reactions of people in the artist’s personal and professional life. The duet therefore emerges as a grateful prayer of thanks to:

• Life-time impacts for the book’s expressionist, realist artist;
• Old-time influences for the story’s narrator;
• Real-time inspirations for the tale’s owners and readers.

My special thanks to:

• Talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the Internet;

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for superior on-campus and on-line resources. 

Anaya, Rudolfo. 1999. Farolitos for Abuelo. New York, NY: Disney-Hyperion.

Anaya, Rudolfo. 1995. The Farolitos of Christmas. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

“Anaya, Rudolfo Alfonso.” Notable Biographies. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.notablebiographies.com/supp/Supplement-A-Bu-and-Obituaries/Anaya-Rudolfo-Alfonso.html

"Edward Gonzales." Chicano Artist.com. Bernalillo, NM: Edward Gonzales Art Gallery. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

• Available at: http://chicanoartist.com/edward-gonzales/

"Edward Gonzales Fine Art." Edward Gonzales.com. Bernalillo, NM: Edward Gonzales Art Gallery. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

• Available at: http://edwardgonzales.com/

“Rudolfo Anaya.” Children’s Literature: Meet Authors & Illustrators. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.childrenslit.com/childrenslit/mai_anaya_rudolfo.html

“Rudolfo Anaya.” Cinco Puntos Press: Authors. El Paso, Texas. Retrieved December 6, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.cincopuntos.com/authors_detail.sstg?id=39