Childrens Book Review of The Legend of the Poinsettia Retold and Illustrated by Tomie dePaola

Flora-lovers in the United States of America associate poinsettias with potted houseplants whose bracts become red, flowers bloom yellow, leaves remain green, and lifespan runs annually. Plant-lovers in Latin America contrastingly connect them with shrubs whose growth habit is unruly and whose life cycle is perennial. The differences honor culture-specific contexts of the flowering plant known as:

• Christmas flower, fire flower, flower of the Holy Night, painted leaves, and poinsettia in English;
• Cuetlaxochitl (“residue flower”) in central Mexico’s Nahuatl language;
• Estrella federal (“federal flower”), flor de fuego (“fire flower”), flor de Navidad (“Nativity flower”), noche buena (“Holy Night”), pascuero (“Easter [plant]”), and pastora (“shepherd [plant]”) in Spanish;
• Euphorbia pulcherrima (Euphorbos’s most beautiful [plant]) in binomial (“two-name”) nomenclature.

A Mexican legend begins with:

• Lucida assisting her parents and -- with siblings Lupe and Paco -- restocking the Virgin of Guadalupe’s shrine candles;
• Mama Martínez cleaning house and making tortillas;
• Papa farming with Pepito the donkey.

The family comes to all of San Gabriel’s fiestas, holy days, and Masses. Padre Alvarez gets Lucida and Mama to buy and rainbow-dye super-fine wool for weaving the Baby Jesus figure’s Christmas blanket. But Señora Gomez gives Lucida the news of:

• Papa and Tía Carmen leaving with super-sick Mama;
• The present remaining unfinished.

Lucida is worried about Jesus’s gift. She leaves tangled weeds at San Gabriel’s manger. Jesus transforms them into Holy Night’s flaming red starred poinsettias every Christmas thenceforth.

The Legend of the Poinsettia can be found under many Christmas trees. This “must-own," 1994-published book counts among standard decorations and props of:

• Advent;
• Christmas;
• Epiphany.

Its characters, dialogue, and plot express the simple eloquence of Mexican mountain village life structured around:

• Church;
• Community;
• Crops;
• Family.

It represents the sublime collaboration of:  

• Patrick Collins, as designer;
• Tomie de Paola, as illustrator and reteller;
• Clarita Kohen, as Spanish translator;
• G.P. Putnam’s Sons, as publishers;
• South China Printing Co. Ltd., as Hong Kong-based printers.

Set in Palatino, the text rewards ages 4 – 8 and up and grades preschool through third grade and onward with ample opportunities for parent-, peer-, and teacher-facilitated forays into:

• Cultural enrichment;
• Educational entertainment;
• Spanish language-learning.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

perfectly manicured poinsettia plant
Euphorbia pulcherrima's dark green leaves and flaming red bracts (specialized leaves): Wildfeuer, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2007-12-22Euphorbia_pulcherrima05.jpg

In "The Legend of the Poinsettia," Lucida, distraught over tangling the weaving for baby Jesus' blanket, picks a tangle of wild poinsettias to leave at the church altar.
In its native homelands of Mexico and Central America, poinsettia is familiar in wild habitats.
Belize, eastern coastal Central America: Belizian, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poinsettia_bush_belize.jpg

In "The Legend of the Poinsettia," Lucida and her siblings Lupe and Paco help their parents to restock the Virgin of Guadalupe's shrine candles.
Original picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe) is in Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nueva Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) in Mexico City (Ciudad de México).
Fray Juan de Zumárraga No. 2, Gustavo A. Madero Borough, northeastern Mexico City: Anagoria, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1531_Nuestra_Señora_de_Guadalupe_anagoria.jpg

"Poinsettia Legend" (11:57) ~ narrated by author-illustrator Tomie dePaola
Uploaded December 10, 2013, by Kristi Marino to YouTube ~ URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0C5V4OB18

A five-pointed Star of Bethlehem finial tops a Christmas tree formed from poinsettias.
San Diego, southern California; Jan. 1, 2006: Jon Sullivan/PD Photo.org, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poinsettia_tree.jpg

The miracle of poinsettias takes place in a church dedicated to Saint Gabriel (San Gabriel).
In iconography, Saint Gabriel often is depicted with the white lilies that he offered to Mary during the Annunciation.
Our Lady of Solitude Cathedral, Acapulco; Plaza Álvarez, Acapulco, Guerrero state, southwest Mexico: Enrique López-Tamayo Biosca, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_of_Nuestra_Señora_de_la_Soledad_00.JPG

“Annie’s ‘Poinsettia’ Page.” Annie’s Home Page.com. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://annieshomepage.com/poinsettia.html

Cavanaugh, Fr. Brian. December 1999. “Legend of the Poinsettia.” Apple Seeds.org. Steubenville, OH: Franciscan University. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://www.appleseeds.org/poinsettia-legend.htm

Cavanaugh, Fr. Brian. 2001. Miracle of the Poinsettia: Milagro de la Flor de Nochebuena. Illustration by Dennis Rockhill. Con tradicción al español de Carmen Lopez-Platek. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press Sower’s Seeds Series.

de Paola, Tomie. 1994. The Legend of the Poinsettia. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Ecke, Paul. 1960. The Greenhouse Culture of the Potted Poinsettia, the Christmas Plant. Encinitas, CA: Paul Ecke, Inc.

Ecke, Paul; and Matkin, O.A. 1971. The Poinsettia Manual. Encinitas, CA: Paul Ecke Poinsettias.

Ecke III, Paul; Faust, James E.; Williams, Jack; and Higgins, Andy. 2004. The Ecke Poinsettia Manual. Batavia, IL: Ball Publishing.

“History and Legend of the Poinsettia.” About Flowers.com: Flower > Holidays > Occasions & Parties > Christmas. Alexandria, VA: Society of American Florists. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://www.aboutflowers.com/flower-holidays-occasions-a-parties/christmas/poinsettia-history.html

Jain, S. Mohan; and Ochatt, Sergio J. (eds.). 2010. Protocols for In Vitro Propagation of Ornamental Plants. New York, NY: Humana Press.

“Legend of Poinsettia.” Christmas World. World of Christmas.net: Christmas Stories. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://www.worldofchristmas.net/christmas-stories/legend-of-poinsettia.html

“The Legend of the Poinsettia.” Just 4 Kids Magazine.com. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/poinsettia.html

“The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola.” Scholastic.com: Teachers > Book. Retrieved December 2014.

• Available at: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/legend-poinsettia#cart/cleanup

Marousky, Francis John. 1967. Effects of Temperature, Light and Nutrition on Color and Anthocyanin Content of Poinsettia Bracts. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute PhD. Thesis.

Pizano Salazar, Marta. 1983. Bacterial Canker of Poinsettia.