día de los niños / día de los libros: many cultures, many books

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Pat Mora's Día de los niños / día de los libros celebration in the United States. Pat Mora, a librarian and an advocate for children, started dia as a way to celebrate children's literature from all world cultures, as well as a way to highlight family literacy. Dia is recognized as an annual celebration of children's literature, language, and cultural diversity.

I'm trying to brainstorm a craft to do with my kids the week before the celebration. Here are some of the ideas I found:

Mexican Ponchos
(Photos courtesy of Deep Space Sparkle)




I am also considering the idea of making a pinata (pardon the lack of tilde on the "n...") but I'm wondering how hard paper mache would be for a group of 5-7 year olds? I guess I can give it a college try and see how it goes! ;)

My inspiration for this project comes not only from dia de los ninos / dia de los libros, but also from a new book I found that I would love to read:



I'll add this to my list of books to read throughout my practicum project that I am doing this quarter, which is largely based upon working with Latino families and children in the library. Perfect!