Celebrating a Quinceanera: A Latina's 15th Birthday Celebration by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith is a picture book describing an important tradition in Mexican history. This tradition is called a quinceanera (KEEN-say-ahn-YAY-rah) and it is a girls 15th birthday. In the Mexican culture, a quinceanera is more than an average birthday party. It represent a females transition from childhood to adulthood. This tradition started in the ancient Aztec civilization in Mexico. When a female reached her 15th birthday, that would mark the time when she would have to choose between studying religion or marrying and becoming a mother. Today, a quinceanera no longer represent a time of life decisions, but it is a time where a girl is now viewed as a woman and should start thinking about her future. A traditional quinceanera today is a "fiesta" or party where up to hundreds of guests can be invited. Usually the extended and the entire community is invited to the party. As you can guess, the expenses of such an event are quite large, so the community traditionally pitches in to help in some way. The birthday girl usually wears a beautiful dress of pale pink of blue and receives a "muneca" (a doll that represents the childhood that the girl is leaving behind). The birthday girl also must choose a court of honor or a group of friends who will stay by her side throughout the night. To prepare for the special day takes a lot of work and planning. One of the biggest jobs is preparing the food. A typical dish seen at a quinceanera is "carnitas" which is a pork served with refried beans, rice, fresh coleslaw of cabbage, carrots, and celery. The actual day of the celebration begins with a church sermon. After the sermon, the birthday girl and her guests leave to eat the food that everyone has prepared. After dinner, there is a dance where the birthday girl and her court do the "vals" a practiced dance similar to the waltz. Overall, a quinceanera is a joyous celebration for a young girl moving into adulthood. I choose this picture book on the tradition of the quinceanera because it is an important event for all Mexican girls. As a future teacher, I will likely have many young Mexican men and women in my class. I believe it is important for me to know and understand their culture and what sorts of events are important to them.
Celebrating a Quinceanera: A Latina's 15th Birthday Celebration by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith is a picture book describing an important tradition in Mexican history. This tradition is called a quinceanera (KEEN-say-ahn-YAY-rah) and it is a girls 15th birthday.
ReplyDeleteIn the Mexican culture, a quinceanera is more than an average birthday party. It represent a females transition from childhood to adulthood. This tradition started in the ancient Aztec civilization in Mexico. When a female reached her 15th birthday, that would mark the time when she would have to choose between studying religion or marrying and becoming a mother.
Today, a quinceanera no longer represent a time of life decisions, but it is a time where a girl is now viewed as a woman and should start thinking about her future. A traditional quinceanera today is a "fiesta" or party where up to hundreds of guests can be invited. Usually the extended and the entire community is invited to the party. As you can guess, the expenses of such an event are quite large, so the community traditionally pitches in to help in some way. The birthday girl usually wears a beautiful dress of pale pink of blue and receives a "muneca" (a doll that represents the childhood that the girl is leaving behind). The birthday girl also must choose a court of honor or a group of friends who will stay by her side throughout the night.
To prepare for the special day takes a lot of work and planning. One of the biggest jobs is preparing the food. A typical dish seen at a quinceanera is "carnitas" which is a pork served with refried beans, rice, fresh coleslaw of cabbage, carrots, and celery.
The actual day of the celebration begins with a church sermon. After the sermon, the birthday girl and her guests leave to eat the food that everyone has prepared. After dinner, there is a dance where the birthday girl and her court do the "vals" a practiced dance similar to the waltz. Overall, a quinceanera is a joyous celebration for a young girl moving into adulthood.
I choose this picture book on the tradition of the quinceanera because it is an important event for all Mexican girls. As a future teacher, I will likely have many young Mexican men and women in my class. I believe it is important for me to know and understand their culture and what sorts of events are important to them.