Whether you are teaching your little kids at home or sharing Day of the Dead customs with your high school Spanish classes, using books is one of my favorite teaching methods. I truly believe that students acquire a language through reading, and reading a lot! Children’s books especially can provide great comprehensible input with repetitive vocabulary and beautiful visuals.
I’m going to share with you some of my favorite Day of the Dead books with you, but before you begin reading, it is best to introduce some vocabulary first. Day of the Dead celebrations have a lot of unique elements, and for our students to really appreciate this holiday, we want to prepare them properly to understand some of the Spanish words they will encounter in the books.
Pre-Reading Strategies
You can also dedicate time to learning Day of the Dead vocabulary prior to reading books. This will give your students more confidence and context when reading. Some of my favorite strategies include:
- Design a word wall so your students always see the vocabulary word attached to a visual.
- Turn the word wall into a mini vocabulary book that they use as reference as they read the story.
- Students could then design their own ofrendas for a loved one or character once they’ve learned the vocabulary. They should label the different elements of the ofrenda and describe it to a classmate.
- Now, they’re ready to read!
The Best Day of the Dead Books
Coco Look & Find
This book is like a Day of the Dead version of I Spy. Each of the 8 scenes, students search for different people and cultural elements. Students will explore a cemetery, altar, market, and more! Plus, almost all students have heard of and love the movie Coco. You can watch the movie and play I Spy. If you only have one copy of the book, you could do Day of the Dead stations, and this could be one of the many stations. For other stations ideas, check out this list of activities to practice Day of the Dead vocabulary. You could also take images of the pages and create a Slides presentation for students to look at virtually.
Coming soon is a blog post about how I use I Spy in my high school Spanish classroom.
Celebrating Dia de los muertos
This Day of the Dead book is an easy read in English with beautiful illustrations. If you’re looking to get a good overview of the holiday, the customs, and the history for your students, this is the perfect place to start. You can pick and choose the different sections that you want your students to learn about or read the whole thing!
I remember Abuelito / Yo Recuerdo a Abuelito
This is a bilingual story about a young girl remembering her grandfather with a Day of the Dead celebration. The girl and her family prepare for their annual Día de los muertos celebrations by going to the market, preparing an altar, and more. Each page has English and Spanish text. You could easily cover up the English text if you want to keep students in the target language. Get your copy here.
Day of the Dead Origami
If you’re looking for a crafty way to incorporate Día de muertos in your classroom, making origami can be really fun! It is also a great idea for a Spanish Club activity. This book offers step-by-step visual instructions for creating origami butterflies, calaveras, and other Day of the Dead symbols!
Día de los muertos
A beginner book in English for students learning about the holiday. There are cute visuals and the text incorporates Spanish words like cempasuchil and ofrendas. It goes over the main parts of the celebrations, like food, altars, and calaveras.
Citlali y el Dia de muertos
Citlali is preparing an altar to honor her grandmother for her school’s Día de muertos celebration. This is another great bilingual book, with the English being for elementary students, but the Spanish translation is perfect for high school students. There is use of various verb tenses and grammar concepts. Both translations incorporate traditional Spanish vocabulary words like pan de muerto, so students learn about customs and can practice pronunciation. Amazon reviews rave about the quality of both the story and the beautiful illustrations. Find it here.
The Remembering Day
This bilingual book focuses more on the reason behind celebrating Day of the Dead. Rather than learning about the symbols like calaveras and cempasuchil, students will learn about the importance of remembering and honoring a loved one’s life. Of all of the books on my list, this one really pulls at your heartstrings, as Bella talks about a “remembering day” with her grandmother and then after her grandmother dies, celebrates a remembering day in her honor. While still alive, her grandmother said, “Teach others that when we think about the people we love, they are always with us, even though we can’t see them.” It is a great moral to the story, and demonstrates the beautiful tradition of Day of the Dead.
Close Reading
If you are using the book as an interpretive task in the classroom, I highly suggest trying close reading strategies. Your students will deeply analyze the text and then they can compare Day of the Dead to celebrations in their home. They will create their own discussion questions, dig deep, and make cultural comparisons. You can grab a free annotation bookmark here for all of your students! Learn how to do close reading here.
You can find so many books on Amazon, but it is also fun to find a diamond in the rough. Here, I share how I built my Spanish classroom library on a budget, at places like Scholastic Warehouses or library book sales.
If you are looking to use more books in your classroom, here are the best children’s books for teaching different grammar concepts, like preterit vs imperfect or the conditional tense. Students will acquire the grammar concept without even realizing that is why you’re reading the story!
You can always find more Day of the Dead Books with this Amazon search, but these are my top 7 favorite books for teaching about Dia de muertos.
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