Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras

Gr 3–6 - A picture is worth a 1,000 words accurately describes the work of Mexican artist Jose Guadalupe Posada whose is commonly associated with the Day of the Dead calaveras (skeleton)images. Posada began his profession as a political cartoonist, transitioning to illustrating books and poems. Many of his freestyle calavera drawings depict the cultural and historical time period, and Tonatiuh suggests possible symbolic interpretations of Posada's portrayal of this "intangible cultural heritage of humanity." Narrator Armando Duran's command of the English and Spanish vocabulary is beautifully seamless. Pairing the art with Duran's audio links the best of both worlds in a tribute to both the festival Día de los muertos and the lesser known life and legacy of the artist whose renderings are synonymous with the holiday.