Abuelita's Gift: A Día de Muertos Story

In Abuelita’s Gift, Julieta is excited to honor Abuelita's spirit for Dia De Muertos but can’t seem to find the perfect gift for her. Julieta’s ideas for a gift to honor Abuelita and show how much she misses her fail one by one and Julieta is worried she won’t find one in time. It isn’t until Julieta returns to memories with her abuelita that she discovers the perfect gift for her.

What I Liked: Growing up I didn’t hear a lot about Dia De Muertos from my family and really only learned more as an adult. I am delighted to see that more and more books are coming out that introduce this day and concept to younger audiences.

I appreciated the gift that Julieta ends up giving for her Abuelita as it honors her memory and Julieta has realized that this was a gift her Abuelita had actually given her. The moment in which she recognized this is beautiful and heartfelt as Julieta is returning to a hobby she had put away when her grandmother passed away.

The images in this story are sweet and remind me of Gustavo the Shy Ghost. I love how the words come to life in the images and how the expressions on each of the characters' faces help tell the story. The expressions throughout the book explore how grief shows up differently in people and how complicated those feelings can be.

Final Verdict: Abuelita’s Gift is a beautiful story about the ways in which we honor our loved ones who have passed through the memories we have of them. This is a great book for children who are grieving the loss of a loved one and need help processing those emotions. This book shows the importance of memories and how those memories keep your loved ones close to your heart.