I’m going to confess something.

Ready?

Día de los muertos is not my favorite holiday. There! I said it!

I’m definitely not opposed to remembering and celebrating our ancestors, of course, but I mean… DEATH. In my family we didn’t build altares covered in flor de cempasúchil (although I did very much enjoy the pan de muertos and my mom, former Spanish teacher, can write a mean calavera). Being from northern Mexico probably contributed to this lackadaisical attitude re: Día de los Muertos festivities (in southern Mexico it’s a much bigger deal and the celebrations are beautiful!).

However, now that I’m here in the U.S. raising my little mexicanitas I want to make sure they learn about and appreciate this important tradition and that it doesn’t get totally eclipsed by Halloween (also not my favorite holiday, though gaining in favor now that I get to eat all my kids’ Halloween candy).

And you better believe I want books en español as we celebrate both! Here are my top picks, whether you’re looking to build your collection of Halloween / Día de los Muertos children’s books or just grab a few new titles from the library:

Board books:

La Llorona by Patty Rodriguez and Adriana Stein

Like all Lil’ Libros books, this one has a simple one word/one image per page format and focuses on counting spooky illustrations (rather than the actual story of La Llorona). My tolerance for spooky things is very low, but even I can handle this one!

Dibuja a la bruja by Monica Campadabal

This book comes with a pen and invites kids to draw different faces on the witch (sad, surprised, etc.) mirroring the illustration of her making that face on the opposite page. This is a cute little interactive book and I love the unusual shape!

Boo! / ¡Bu! by Leslie Patricelli

This is a year-round favorite at our house. The first year my hija mayor was old enough to grasp the concept of carving a pumpkin, she ran to get this book and straight up used it as a manual while supervising the pumpkin-face-carving process (“¡Ahora tienes que hacer la boca así!”).

Picture books:

Las zanahorias maléficas by Aaron Reynolds (Spanish)

I first read the English version of this book (Creepy Carrots!) and was super happy to see there is a Spanish translation! It reminds me of an old-timey horror film, with its ominous black and white illustrations peppered with a pop of orange. El conejito Jasper won’t stop eating carrots, so the carrots decide to go after him! Or is he just imagining things?

Rosita y Conchita by Erich Haeger and Eric Gonzalez (bilingual English/Spanish)

Sweetest story of Rosita and Conchita, twin sisters (one living, one dead) who connect on Día de los Muertos. I was sweating for a second thinking I was going to have to explain to my two year old what “se murió” means, but she’s still a little too young to grasp the concept. However, if you DO want to discuss grief or death with young kids, this is the perfect book for it since it focuses more on the sisters’ emotional connection than the sadness of death. This book also goes through every aspect of the altar so it’s great for contextualizing what is traditionally added to ofrendas. (Looks like this one is now a million dollars on Amazon, but I’m leaving it on the list in case you run across it somewhere else!)

The Day of the Dead / El Dia De Los Muertos by Bob Barner (bilingual English/Spanish)

In this book we follow two children as they celebrate their ancestors by making an ofrenda of marigolds, sugar skulls, pan de muertos and other delicious foods. This is a basic Día de los Muertos primer with bold, colorful illustrations.

Bonus:

Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh (English)

This book isn’t in Spanish, but I couldn’t not include it because it’s pretty great, especially for older kids. It has won all kinds of awards and was on the New York Times Best list for illustrations in 2015. In it, we learn the story of Mexican artist José Guadalupe (Lupe) Posada, who created the calavera (skeleton) illustrations that have now become synonymous with el Día de los Muertos.

Any of your favorites I missed? Let me know because there are not many books in Spanish out there for these holidays- dear authors and publishers, there’s a market opportunity for you!

P.S. Three more (newer!) Halloween books in Spanish that we love.