The Legend of the Poinsettia

Bibliography: DePaola, T. (1994). The legend of the poinsettia. Barcelona: Putnam.

Annotation: A young girl named Lucida and her mom are asked to make a blanket for baby Jesus for the manger for Christmas at their church San Gabriel. Lucida’s momma becomes very ill before Christmas and won’t be able to finish the blanket in time. Lucida begins to weave the yarn herself, however the yarn becomes tangled. Lucida takes the unfinished blanket to Senora Gomez. Lucida felt very sad and would not go to celebrate Christmas with the others because she did not have gift for baby Jesus. She met an old woman who told her that her momma will be fine and her papa will bring her home soon She also told Lucida that any gift will be good for baby Jesus, so Lucida picked some weed. Lucida asked if they would be alright but the woman was gone. Lucida placed the weeds on the manger and suddenly they burst with red stars. These plants are now known as the Flower of the Holy Night the poinsettia.

Genre: Fiction

Grade: K-4

Readers: Readers that like DePaola books will love this book. Readers that enjoy reading books about holidays and traditions will also love this book.

Rate/Response: 10 I loved this book. It was very interesting to see a story of how we received the poinsettia. I also enjoyed this book because I loved the message that it brought to children. I feel this is a great cultural book to read around the holiday season.

Question: Who has heard of a plant called the Poinsettia? Who places these plants out around the holiday season?