A Doll for Navidades Book

Esmeralda Santiago, whose adult memoirs - When I Was Puerto Rican , Almost a Woman , The Turkish Lover - have won such acclaim, makes her children's book debut with this engaging holiday story set in Puerto Rico. Based on an incident in the author's own childhood, A Doll for Navidades follows its young narrator as she celebrates the Christmas season with her family: the preparation of special food, the strolling bands of night-time carolers - known as parrandas, these bands of carolers would move from house to house, singing aguinaldos (Christmas songs) in exchange for treats - the celebration of midnight mass on Nochebeuna, and the anticipation of El Día de Los Tres Reyes Magos, when the Three Kings bring children the gifts they have requested. Will Navidades be ruined when Esmeralda doesn't receive the baby doll for which she has been longing, but her younger sister does...?

A engaging tale that explores a childhood Christmas experience - not getting the gift for which one hoped - that is quite common in real life, but too infrequently depicted in holiday stories, A Doll for Navidades is a touching family story. I particularly appreciated the exchange between Esmeralda and her father, in which it will be evident to readers that the family can't afford two dolls, even though Esmeralda herself does not understand. Her eventual reconciliation to reality, when she realizes that her father is as distressed as she, reminded me of how fraught an issue holiday gift-giving can be, when the family budget is stretched tight, and how sensitive children can sometimes be, in the face of such difficulties. I also appreciated the glimpses of Puerto Rican Christmas customs that are offered here - the parrandas, with their aguinaldos, El Día de Los Tres Reyes Magos, with its gift-giving tradition - making this as educational a tale as it is entertaining. Recommended to young readers looking for Christmas stories with a Puerto Rican setting, or for engaging family stories in general.