Marco loves the food, parades, and fun of Cinco de Mayo. This year he's one of the dancers. As he listens to the mariachi music, Marco thinks of the brave Mexicans at the first Cinco de Mayo. Find out the different things people do to celebrate this holiday! Learn the history behind the days people celebrate in the Holidays and Special Days series. Each book follows a young narrator through the process of preparing for and celebrating a special event.

Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, honors an important battle fought by the Mexican army in 1862. On this day, people celebrate with Mexican food, music, and dancing. Sing along as you explore Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme!

It’s fiesta time! Cinco de Mayo is a fiesta day in Mexico and the United States. It’s celebrated on the fifth of May. This colorful holiday honors Mexico’s victory over the French army at the Battle of Pueblo in 1862. People march in parades, dance, and set off fireworks. Families enjoy traditional Mexican food and drink. Then they watch people act out the famous battle. Find out more about this joyful celebration of Mexican culture.

Jose invites Max to his house to help celebrate Cinco de Mayo with his family.

A young Mexican American from California learns about her heritage and celebrates the holiday with her friends, family, and community.

What really happened on the first Thanksgiving? How did a British drinking song become the US national anthem? And what makes Superman so darned American? Every tradition, even the noblest and most cherished, has a history, none more so than in the United States—a nation born with relative indifference, if not hostility, to the past. Most Americans would be surprised to learn just how recent (and controversial) the origins of their traditions are, as well as how those origins are often related to such divisive forces as the trauma of the Civil War or fears for American identity stemming from immigration and socialism. In pithy, entertaining chapters, Inventing American Tradition explores a set of beloved traditions spanning political symbols, holidays, lifestyles, and fictional characters—everything from the anthem to the American flag, blue jeans, and Mickey Mouse. Shedding light on the individuals who created these traditions and their motivations for promoting them, Jack David Eller reveals the murky, conflicted, confused, and contradictory history of emblems and institutions we very often take to be the bedrock of America. What emerges from this sideways take on our most celebrated Americanisms is the realization that all traditions are invented by particular people at particular times for particular reasons, and that the process of “traditioning” is forever ongoing—especially in the land of the free.

Viva Mexico! Pinatas, floats, and tasty food all play a role in the holiday that remembers Mexican independence. Kids learn the historical significance behind the festivities and gain an appreciation for the exciting traditions and rich cultural celebration associated with May 5.