The Best Gift of All: The Legend of La Vieja Belen
A bilingual picture book
Written by Julia Alvarez (author) and Ruddy Nunez (illustrator)
Translated by Rhina Espaillat
For those who try to teach diversity by sharing customs, holidays and traditions to children, The Best Gift of All: The Legend of La Vieja Belen is a welcome addition.
La Vieja Belen is an old woman from the Dominican Republic who brings gifts to poor children on the Sunday after the Feast of the Three Kings. Tradition says that the Vieja Belen keeps busy cleaning and serving guests. When the Three Kings stop at her house, she feeds them traditional foods including empanadas, fruit, and tamales. The story concludes with the acknowledgement that the best gift of all is the gift of time which is such an important concept in this age of consumerism.
I am always on the lookout for bilingual books and the rhyming text in The Best Gift of All: The Legend of La Vieja Belen works when read aloud in both Spanish and English. The soft illustrations portray an authentic home in the Dominican Republic.
Author Julia Alvarez (one of my favorite authors) shares how the tradition of La Vieja Belen is becoming overshadowed by commercialism and why she set out to write this book here.
You might also enjoy this youtube video showing the celebration of La Vieja Belen in the Dominican Republic.
If you are participating in my Read Around the World Challenge, La Vieja Belen can be used in a number of categories. And yes, you can use a book more than once.
Visiting from A/Z. Cute theme you have. I didn’t realize they had books that were bilingual, interesting concept! This does sound like a cute story to emphasize the gift of time.
Enjoy the rest of the challenge!
betty
Wonderful post, and yes agree, bilingual books are wonderful:.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m always on the lookout for bilingual books.
I love those bilingual picture books. They are such a good idea for children, regardless of whether they are bilingual or not. 🙂
I managed to drop by this morning. Great posts. The Feast of the Three Kings is very popular in Spanish culture. When I was a child, my grandparents (French Canadian) always celebrated this day as the end of the Christmas season–it came with a cake in which she’d wrap coins. Loved getting pennies in mt food. If I got a nickel, that was a real treat. Thanks for the memory nudge.
Hi Susanne,
I think The Feast of the Three kings is a wonderful holiday. Where I live, it is celebrated in a big way by the Portugese community. Thanksfor stopping by.
What a wonderful theme for a challenge– (wow I love this script the comments show up as, I could write like this all day!!) I visited the Dominican Republic once although in a resort, and outside the resort it seemed like a very poor and backward nation. I’d like to read this book.
Hi Karen,
Thanks for stopping by. (I love the script, too – thanks!) I have never been to the DR but my husband has been doing some micro-financing with an international aid group 2 of my daughters have worked there so they saw a very different side of the country.I’m hoping to get there eventually.
Interesting book for me as you know that we also celebrate the Three Kings in France. I agree that learning another culture goes with the knowledge of the rituals and celebrations. The connection with Youtube kept failing but hopefully I’ll be able to see it another time. Good luck with the challenge, Claire. Glad we both found our niche and are still on. Cheers!
I still love your story in Ladybug about the King Cake. I actually saw a King Cake mix at cost + the other day.