Nine Days to Christmas

Ceci, a young girl in Mexico City, is finally old enough to have her own posada, the nine nights of candlelit processions and neighborhood parties that lead up to Christmas in Mexican tradition. Her mother takes her to the market to choose a piñata, and Ceci is dazzled by the hanging shapes overhead, a swan, a burro, a ship, before she settles her heart on a small golden star, even though everyone tells her the star is too plain next to the flashier animals. On the night of her own posada, guests process through the neighborhood reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the party breaks open at Ceci's house, and when the piñata is finally broken it is her modest star, not one of the grander shapes, that gets its turn, letting her quiet, personal choice pay off in front of everyone.

Ets, whose black and white charcoal drawings critics have said almost take on the look of woodcuts, works here in the soft pinks, golds and blues of candlelight and paper decorations for the market and party scenes. The pastel work keeps the same unhurried mood as the gentler stretches of the story, with the crowded market pages doing most of the visual work through pattern rather than color. It is written for preschool and early elementary listeners, and it moves gently enough for children still new to a multi page story, followi ng one child's very specific, personal wish rather than a larger plot. Viking published the book in 1959 with Aurora Labastida sharing the credit.