What better time is there to visit Mexico than when it dresses in marigolds, papel picado crepe paper banners and candle-covered altars in late October and early November for the Day of the Dead? Día de Muertos has become a major draw for the country, attracting record numbers of visitors and generating more than $975 million in economic impact last year.
It may be too late this year for most travelers to throw together a getaway in time for peak celebrations on November 1st and 2nd, but those looking to sink into all the richness of this age-old tradition can turn to Mexico’s Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life Through Stories and Photos. After all, the debut book from Mexican-American author, journalist and creative Luisa Navarro is just as much of a journey through the sights, sounds and celebrations of Mexico’s most well-known holiday.
Though this is Navarro’s first full-length book, it’s far from her first time bringing Mexico home to the culturally curious. Navarro launched Mexico In My Pocket in 2015 to celebrate and uplift Mexican culture, first as a personal blog and now as a multifaceted lifestyle brand with close to 200,000 followers across platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
“There are many misconceptions around Día de Muertos,” said Navarro in an interview when asked about her inspiration for bringing her love for Mexico’s most colorful holiday into book form. “I tried researching to see if there was a book that explained the holiday and the meaning behind the traditions, but I couldn’t find anything that highlighted the holiday in a way that captured both the beauty and the history in equal measure.”
She created the deeply immersive anthology dedicated to all the magnificence of Día de Muertos to encapsulate what was missing all along. In its scope, Mexico’s Day of the Dead becomes a book that requires a few reads to capture all it has to say.
First, to leaf through and take in all the full-page images, oohing and aahing at the incredible photography of Christine Chitnis. With Navarro by her side, Chitnis documented everything from colorful skeleton-inspired face paint to altars laden with sweet and savory treats beside photos of lost loved ones. Her photography takes readers beyond the traditional imagery and stereotypes of the holiday and into its immense complexity.
A second read expands into the experience-based guides and essays that give a grounding context to the lived realities of celebrating the holiday. Navarro dives deep into the anatomy of the Día de Muertos altar here, spending much of the book covering how this tradition, far beyond many others, acts as a window into its true meaning as a deeply personal connection to those who have passed on.
Mexico’s Day of the Dead also an invitation to readers, offering tangible ways for readers to incorporate the celebration into their own traditions. The book includes recipes to recreate at home: one for making sugar skulls and another, from Brooklyn-based baker Fany Gerson, for making a classic pan de muerto sweetbread like those enjoyed across Mexico. Artist Sarahli Wilcox also shares a tutorial for creating papel picado at home as well.
The story is woven together by the author’s own deeply meaningful relationship with the holiday, one that started when a close relative unexpectedly died at a young age. “Nothing seemed to give me the comfort I was so desperately seeking… [until] I realized I was blessed to be Mexican-American, because our culture has an incredible tradition to honor the memories of the dead.”
“Grief is such a lonely process, and I wanted to share these traditions with others who might be struggling with the loss of a loved one.”
Mexico’s Day of the Dead opens with a letter from Navarro to what will one day be her great-great-grandchildren, acknowledging the power of carrying on this important tradition. It is an acknowledgment, too, of just how much of a treasure the book is bound to become for all those who pick it up, an offering to the beauty of one of Mexico’s most magnificent cultural traditions.
As the visibility of the Day of the Dead continues to grow at an unprecedented pace, Mexico’s Day of the Dead feels like a much-needed voice that roots it back to its tradition, rather than its all-too-frequent commercialization. Published by Hardie Grant, the book is now available for purchase wherever books are sold, both online and in stores everywhere.