The Dead Family Diaz was published by Dial Books for Young Readers. It was written by P.J. Bracegirdle and illustrated by Poly Bernaten.
The beginning of the story is set in the Land of the Dead. The Day of the Dead event is being held in the Land of the Living.
Angelito is the young boy of the family and is told by his big sister that the Living have big red tongues, bulging eyes and feel hot and squishy. Angelito is scared.
In the Land of the Living, Angelito gets lost and meets a living person called Pablo. They hang out a bit, not knowing they’re different. By the end Angelito realizes that Pablo is a decent guy and that living people are not scary at all.
The Dead Family Diaz is a pretty big book (roughly 9 X 11) so it’s a real visual delight. The illustrator does a good job of using perspective. The cities look good as the use of angles allow just the right amount of detail.
I felt the story was on the short side... the two boys meet each other for such a short time and in the end they seemingly become “best” friends. If only this could so easily happen in the real world...
I didn’t know much about the Day of the Dead (there’s a brief explanation on the final page of the book) so it was nice to learn about this festival. Children who read this book might become more curious about what kind of celebrations people in other countries enjoy.
