Celebrate Cinco de Mayo continues National Geographic’s spectacular Holidays Around the World series with this joyous feast of Mexican culturean annual event in Mexico and an increasingly popular holiday in America as well. Many mistakenly assume that the fifth of May is Mexico’s Independence Day. In fact, the date marks the anniversary of a famous 1862 battle in which the Mexicans defeated the French. Known as the Battle of Puebla, the victory marked a watershed in Mexican pride and unity that echoes down to the present day.

With succinct text and dazzling photography, Celebrate Cinco de Mayo takes readers on a journey to discover the rich variety of celebrations across our countryfrom Texas to Minnesota to New York. This inviting book gives readers a flavor of the wide range of colorful holiday traditions: parades and pageants; races and rodeos; mariachi music and dancing; parties with piñatas and delicious Mexican foods. Children will learn how the largest Cinco de Mayo event in the world, the Fiesta Broadway, actually takes place in the United States, and attracts more than 600,000 revelers each year.

Mexico is our closest neighbor and the birthplace of America’s largest immigrant community; a knowledge of Mexican culture and history is increasingly relevant to students across the United States.