The Secret Stars

By Joseph Slate

Book Overview

In New Mexico on a rainy, icy Night of the Three Kings, Sila and Pepe worry that the kings will not be able to use the stars to navigate, so their grandmother takes them on a magical journey to see... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761450270
• ISBN13: 9780761450276
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.8" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 5 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Three Kings of Mexico

A Mexican Christmas story, this book is lacking a few things. First, I had to go searching to find out which culture it was representing. Second, there was no background about the Mexican celebration of Christmas. In a way this was a good thing because it did not make the characters any different from anyone else; they were not a "minority", but simply people. However, I feel that American schoolchildren would have a hard time understanding what was happening in the story.Familial bonds and magic of Christmas were a focus however. These are things that many people in the world can relate to. Because nothing was explicitly taught, it did not make the culture a novelty. But it did not ignore it either. I wish more "multicultural" books were done this way. The impact is effective, but no hard-hitting.Why 4 stars?:Secret Stars is a nice story about family and the magic of Christmas that takes place within the Mexican culture. However, the culture is not the dominant aspect of the book, which I really appreciated. However, I didn't find the book to be incredibly interesting or useful in the classroom. It does have a place and could be helpful with Mexican immigrant children.