Dreams of Green: A Three Kings' Day Story

by Mariel Jungkunz, Mónica Paola Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Overview

In this story about Día de los Reyes, or Three Kings’ Day, a girl and her family discover new ways to celebrate their Puerto Rican heritage in Ohio.

It’s eleven days after Christmas and Lucía yearns to be in lush Puerto Rico celebrating Día de los Reyes with family and friends. But this year, instead of dancing and singing in the parrandas of her Puerto Rican neighborhood, she is surrounded by cold and silence in snow-blanketed Ohio. How will she ever be able to guide the Three Kings to her new home in the frosty Midwest? This picture book is a celebration of Puerto Rican culture, heartwarming family tradition, and a reminder that we all carry a piece of home with us wherever life may take us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662620379
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	515,360
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mariel Jungkunz is a former journalist and a graduate of the Las
Hermanas mentorship program for unpublished Latinx kidlit writers at Las Musas Books. Originally from Puerto Rico, she currently resides in Ohio, where she works as an editor for dictionary.com.

Monica Rodriguez has a BFA in Fine Art from Savannah College of Art and Design and works primarily with picture book illustration and character design.

Editorial Reviews

08/28/2023

“Mamá’s story says that long ago los Reyes Magos visited al bebé Jesús with gifts, and now every year they visit children like me on Three Kings’ Day.” But until now, they’ve always visited Lucía in Puerto Rico. Frozen Ohio, where the child’s family has recently moved, proves very different from the warm January climate they’re used to, and the child worries about whether the kings will be able to find them, and how their camels will find food under the snow. As Lucía yearns for the country left behind (for the camels, “I gathered grass even in January”) and finds new ways to celebrate (“I see a tiny fluff of brown... and gather a few sticks, pine needles, and pinecones”), the holiday reassures the protagonist that their connection to their home country and culture is far from lost. Rodríguez’s digital art juxtaposes the landscapes of Puerto Rico and Ohio throughout. Notes about the holiday conclude. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ “A lovely tribute to El Día de los Reyes (Three Kings’ Day) and how traditions aren’t tied to a place but to those who celebrate them…This poignant picture book presents the traditions associated with Latin American celebrations of Epiphany Day (January 6) wrapped in the story of a little girl adjusting to life on the mainland. Rodriguez’s majestic spreads alternate ­between the emerald green scenes in Puerto Rico and the colder but still beautiful snow scenes of Ohio. The language has a nostalgic tinge, worshipful of the island and reverent of the religious and cultural holiday. Back matter includes explanation of the holiday, its basis in the Bible, and how countries all over the world honor it. A beautiful package, this special book belongs on all Spanish-language and holiday shelves.” —School Library Journal, starred review

"A comforting holiday story about sustaining tradition while making room for new beginnings."—Kirkus Reviews

"Soft, digitally rendered illustrations highlight thebeauty and fun Lucía finds in her family’s new experience of winter and the warmth they create for the holiday." —The Horn Book

"As Lucía yearns for the country left behind...the holiday reassures the protagonist that their connection to their home country and culture is far from lost. Rodríguez’s digital art juxtaposes the landscapes of Puerto Rico and Ohio throughout. "—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

09/01/2023

K-Gr 3—Lucia eagerly anticipates the celebration of Three Kings' Day. Worryingly, she and her family moved from Puerto Rico, which has green leaves and lush grass that Lucia could collect and put into a decorative box for the camels. Now Lucia lives in Ohio, a place with a gray sky and white snow blanketing the landscape. The illustrated settings alternate between a vibrant Puerto Rico and a drab Ohio, a contrast of bright green palms, green iguanas, and red flowers, with a variety of grays found in the icicles, frosty breath, and chimney smoke. In this bleak landscape, Lucia and her family find creativity, love, and joy to bring their island tradition to life, digging through the snow to find grass for the camels, making three kings out of snowmen decorated with headscarves and golden crowns, and filling the home with the scent of cinnamony mallorcas. Illustrations capture the magic of Three Kings' Day, with swirling patterns matching the balmy winds of Puerto Rico, spiraling musical notes filling the living room, whimsical puffs of frosty breath wafting to the guiding stars, and the swish of a white silhouette against a midnight sky depicting kings, camels, palms, and snowy mountains. Lucia learns that traditions can cross oceans and joy can be found, even in colorless landscapes. End pages offer history and the varying ways traditions thrive in different parts of the world, including Mexico, Spain, and Puerto Rico. VERDICT A wonderful addition to library collections.—Stephanie Creamer

School Library Journal

2023-08-12
When Lucía’s family moves to chilly Ohio from sunny Puerto Rico, the child worries about how the Three Kings will find them now that they’re so far away.

In January, Puerto Rico is full of green, from the grass to the leaves on the trees. Usually, Lucía collects these gifts for the camels ridden by the Three Kings, who once visited Jesus at his birth and who now visit children on Three Kings’ Day each year. But now that Lucía lives in snowy, gray Ohio, it’s unclear whether the Three Kings will be able to come at all. Will the camels eat arugula from the grocery store? When morning arrives, Lucía finds mallorcas baked by Mama and gifts left by the Three Kings—and the family calls Abuela and the cousins back in Puerto Rico. Lucía observes Three Kings’ Day just as the family did in Puerto Rico and celebrates a new path and life. The illustrations of Puerto Rico are vibrant, contrasting with the cooler palette depicting Ohio. During the Three Kings’ Day celebration, however, the saturation returns, bringing the beauty of the island to the mainland. Lucía and the family are brown-skinned and brown-haired. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A comforting holiday story about sustaining tradition while making room for new beginnings. (more information on Three Kings’ Day) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews