Thos book tells the Mexican legend of the Poinsettia. This tradional Christmas flower is the flower of the Holy Night. Its red blooms light up the area around it. This story is great for Chistmas time because it allows children to see what makes a gift special.

This is a good example of a legend. For a book to be a legend it must be based on fact with some imaginary material. Almost this whole book could really happen. Through the story of a little girl named Lucida, the book explains the celebration of Christmas in Mexico. It talks of the traditions that occur and how it is usually celebrated. The imaginative element comes in when Lucida places a handful of weeds down for Baby Jesus and then they bloom into poinsettias along with all of the other weeds in town. This story has been passed down for years and is believed to be true. America even uses the poinsettia as a Christmas flower now.

Lucida would be the protagonist in this story and a good one at that. Lucida clearly drives the story and is a dynamic character. Lucida is a helpful girl who does what she is told. She works with her Mom and Dad, but when her Mom gets ill she is very sad. She tries to finish the blanket, showing her compassion and perseverance, but fails to do so. She then pouts and is sad because of her failure, but then she talks to someone and gains the courage to give, even when embarrassed. She humbles herself and is rewarded for it.

Media: Ink and Wash

Tomie dePaola's illustrations of this traditional Mexican legend bring this story to life. It was important for me to read this in Spanish because I was sure there was something lost in the translation.

The genre of this book is folklore and it is fictional. The illustrations are hand-drawn using pen and colored using watercolor paints. It is about a little Mexican girl named Lucida, who is making a blanket with her mother to give to the baby Jesus on Christmas eve, but her mother becomes sick and is unable to help her finish her blanket. Lucida does not want to walk in the church empty handed, so she takes a handful of green weeds to lay at the baby Jesus' feet. When she turns around, the weeds were tipped with a flaming red star and became known as the Flower of teh Holy Night-the poinsettia. The reading level is probably late second grade or third grade. The curricular connections are: Christmas, Mexico, giving, blankets, poinsetta and love. ( )

Uses:
-Have students create poinsettias as craft project
-Unit on various legends ( )