La Noche Before Three Kings Day

 

Written by Sheila Colón-Bagley 

Illustrated by Alejandro Mesa 

 

Publisher: ‎HarperCollins

Language: ‎English

Hardcover: ‎32 pages

ISBN-10: ‎0063234327

ISBN-13: ‎978-0063234321

 

Inspired by Clement Clarke Moore’s "The Night Before Christmas," La Noche Before Three Kings Day is a perfect holiday tale.  

 

It’s almost Three Kings Day, and while the grownups prepare a large meal, the kids prepare their shoe boxes for los Reyes to arrive later that night. Will they stay up late enough to wish the Kings a Feliz Día de los Reyes? Or will the magic pass them by?

 

Sing along with a great big familia as they fill up their platos, play their favorite juegos, and wait for the three kings and regalitos to arrive.  

 

This enchanting celebration of a beloved holiday is brought to life through lively rhyming dual-lingual text by Sheila Colón-Bagley with festive illustrations from Alejandro Mesa.

 

Review

 

“Full of warmth and good cheer.” — Kirkus Reviews

 

“This title adds a vision of Latinx joy and ­festivity to ­collections.”  — School Library Journal

 

“Warm illustrations by Mesa honor family connection, food, and the fancifully portrayed kings in a domestic tale that evokes the holiday’s wonder.”  — Publishers Weekly

 

"This inviting picture book celebrates Puerto Rican culture in Mesa's beautiful, whimsical illustrations.” — Booklist

 

"Cheerful...whimsical" — Horn Book Magazine

 

 

Sheila Colón-Bagley is a stay-at-home mother of three. As a Puerto Rico native, she’s long dreamed of writing books featuring multicultural characters that children of all backgrounds would love—for her multicultural daughters, and kids like them—to have books about families who look and live like they do. She’s also a member of the SCBWI, was awarded a Spring 2020 Las Musas mentorship, and was a volunteer on the first-ever virtual Latinx Kidlit Book Festival in December 2020. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from Temple University and practiced public relations for over twenty-five years before becoming an author. She lives outside of Charlotte, NC, with her family, and their dog, Vader.

 

Alejandro Mesa was born in Soatá, a little town in Colombia. He is an illustrator of children’s books. Alejandro has also been a character designer for animation in the Netflix series Legend Quest. He works from his small but cozy studio in Bogotá, Colombia, where he lives with his wife and their Frenchie, Flora.