Elaine Johnson

ENG-314

Fall, 2001

December 14, 2001

H * O * L * I * D * A * Y * S

All children enjoy the celebration of a holiday; however, not all children celebrate the same holidays. As teachers, we must become aware of the different holidays that are celebrated by the children in our classrooms. The children in our classrooms will be a wonderful bouquet of different faces, colors, names, and religions. The classrooms of today are very different from those of the past. The backgrounds of our students are as varied as the number of countries in the world. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Jewish are only a few of the cultures of the students being taught today. Each nationality or religion celebrates different holidays and we need to be aware of this.

The basis of this project was to provide information on some of the holidays that are celebrated by different peoples around the world. Today, these different peoples are a part of the American society. The children of different cultures are a part of our classroom community and their special days should be acknowledged along with the mainstream American holidays. By providing information to the students as a whole, these wonderful and different holidays can be acknowledged and appreciated.

The following bibliography can be used as a resource for the teacher to learn more about the different holidays celebrated around the world. Some of the books fall into more than one genre and this will be noted. Enjoy these books and enjoy all the many children these stories highlight.

Ali, Aminah Ibrahim. The Three Muslim Festivals. Chicago: International

Education Foundation, 1998.

Multicultural and Informational: Three stories are told from the perspective of three siblings – Rabiah, Musa, and Ahmad. The three Muslim holidays – Ramadan, Id al-Fitr, and Id al-Adha, are highlighted. The book explains how a Muslim family celebrates these holidays, what food is chosen, and the excitement of the children. Anderson, Joan. The Glorious Fourth at Prairietown. New York: William

Morrow & Co., 1986.

Historical: A historical presentation of a pioneer family’s celebration in Prairietown, Indiana in the year 1836. The Carpenter family is moving from Pennsylvania to Illinois or Iowa in search of land to begin farming. They stop in Prairietown and are included in the town’s Fourth of July celebration. Historical representation of the town’s barbecue, parade, and fireworks is interesting and can be used as comparison for modern celebrations. Bunting, Eve. December. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1997. Picture Book: This is a heart-warming story of a child and his/her mother living in a box and how they celebrate Christmas. An old woman approaches and asks to come into their box because she is cold. When she says she is hungry, the child gives her one of the only two cookies they have. When she asks if she can stay and sleep with them in the box, they agree. The child dreams of an angel coming to their box who is a replica of an angel picture they call "December". The next morning the old woman is gone and the child sees that "December" has the same faded rose in her hair as the old woman had on her hat. After this, the family’s situation improves and they find a home. Burch, Robert. Christmas With Ida Early. New York: Viking Press, 1983. Chapter Book: Zany Ida Early changes the solemn re-enactment of the Christmas story that is planned by the new preacher into her style of high-spirited fun. This is an easy chapter book that will help emerging readers enjoy the humorous adventures of Ida Early. Demi. Kites: Magic Wishes That Fly Up to the Sky. New York: Crown

Publishers, 1999.

Multicultural: Demi tells a story of how the Chinese celebration of Ch’ing Yang (The Double Ninth Festival) originated. This festival is held on the ninth day of the ninth month and is a day of celebration for Chinese families. Historically, pictures were offered to the gods for wishes of favors or good fortune. This eventually turned into kites being flown high into the sky to be offered to the gods. People asked for good luck, happiness, or fortune by flying a specific kite. This book details all of the kites and their meanings.
 
  dePaola, Tomie. Country Angel Christmas. New York, G.P. Putnam’s Sons,

1995.

Picture Book: St. Nicholas comes to tell the Country Angels that they have been chosen to make the Christmas celebration for all of Heaven this year. The angels are worried that they will not be able to provide as elegant a celebration as in previous years. St. Nicholas tells them to be themselves and everything will be fine. The Country Angels begin preparing but all reject the help of the three smallest angels - Ari, Pip, and Kira. The three small angels are dejected but St. Nicholas helps them prepare for the celebration. They provide the Star of Bethlehem to light the celebration and a good time was had by all. Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. Adapted by Malvina Vogel. New York:

Baronet Books, 1990.

Classic/Chapter Book/Fantasy: This is the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his turn-about feelings for Christmas. With the help of three spirits – Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet-To-Be, Scrooge discovers the real reason for Christmas. This adaptation by Malvina Vogel is presented in an early-reader chapter book that is easy to read and understand. Dobler, Lavinia. Customs and Holidays Around the World. New York: Fleet

Press, 1962.

Informational: This is an extremely thorough book about holidays around the world. The sections are broken into seasons and holidays are listed by day, country, and what type of celebration is associated with the holiday. Teachers would be able to use this book to bring many types of cultures into focus for a social science unit. Kimmel, Eric A. The Chanukkah Guest. New York: Holiday House, 1988. Picture Book: This is a story of the first night of Chanukkah celebrated by a very old woman named Bubba Brayna. Bubba Brayna is very hard of hearing and her eyesight is diminished. She prepares her special potato latkes for the Rabbi who is coming for dinner. When there is a knock at the door, she assumes it is the Rabbi and lets him in. When she serves him the latkes, he says, "Rrrrughrrr!" When they play the dreidel game, the guest says, "RRRROWRRR!" When he leaves, the guest gives Bubba Brayna a big, wet lick on the face. Afterwards, there is another knock on the door and Bubba Brayna’s real guests arrive, including the Rabbi. The guests discover bear footprints outside in the snow and realize the first visitor was a bear. This is a very cute story for early elementary students to learn some of the customs of Chanukkah. ---. Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. New York: Holiday House, 1985. Fantasy/Multicultural/Picture Book: This is another Eric Kimmel story about Hanukkah. Hershel of Ostropol helps a town rid their synagogue of goblins that are stopping the Hanukkah celebration. For seven nights, Hershel tricks different goblins into letting him light the Hanukkah candles. On the eighth nigh, the horrible King of the Goblins comes to destroy Hershel. Again, Hershel tricks the goblin who lights the last Hanukkah candle and is destroyed. Hershel saves Hanukkah and the townspeople and is everybody’s hero. Lasky, Kathryn. Days of the Dead. New York: Harper, 1994. Realistic Fiction/Multicultural/Informational: This is an informational/realistic fiction story about the de Jesus family and their celebration of los Dias de Muertos, the Days of the Dead. The setting for this story is a rural Mexican village outside Mexico City. The family prepares for the celebration of welcoming their grandparent’s spirits home from October 30 to November 2. Families visit the cemeteries of their ancestors to clean and decorate the graves. Costumes are worn, special skull candy is made, and youngsters throng through the streets shouting, "Calaveras! Calaveras!" while holding out bowls or boxes for coins and candies. This custom can be related to the American custom of Halloween trick-or-treating. The beautiful photography that illustrates this book can be used in a classroom for various lessons on cultures, celebrations, and how people commemorate their ancestors. Livingston, Myra Cohn, ed. Calloh! Callay! Holiday Poems for Young Readers.

New York: Atheneum, 1978.

Poetry: The title for this book was taken from the Lewis Carroll poem "Jabberwocky". This is a very diversified collection of more than eighty poems celebrating special days. Works from some well-known authors have been included – Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes, e.e. cummings, along with many lesser-known authors. This book is directed at the elementary grades but can be used at any age level. The poetry ranges from eleventh century China to twentieth century America. This would be a very useful resource for any teacher. Matthews, Mary. Magid Fasts for Ramadan. New York, Clarion, 1996. Realistic Fiction/Multicultural: This is a story of eight year old Magid who is too young to fast with his family in honor of Ramadan. Secretly, Magid does fast and is found out by his older sister. Naturally, the older sister tells on him and his parents and grandfather are upset. They explain to Magid that fasting for Ramadan is a special rite and should not be done in deceit. They finally agree to allow Magid to fast until noon. This is a very well told story of how a Muslim family celebrates the Ramadan holiday. Information is provided to help other children learn of the solemnity and uniqueness of this Muslim holiday. Polacco, Patricia. The Trees of the Dancing Goats. New York: Simon &

Schuster, 1996.

Picture Book: Patricia Polacco skillfully tells the messages of friendship, cultural difference acceptance, and holiday celebrations in this enchanting book. Trisha and her family live on a farm outside Union City, Michigan. Trisha states, "We didn’t celebrate the same holidays as most of our neighbors . . . but we shared their delight and anticipation of them just the same." Trisha’s family is Jewish and the story tells of their preparation for the Hanukkah festivities. When Trisha finds out that almost all of their neighbors have been stricken with scarlet fever, her family sets out to bring holiday cheer to the ill families. Trisha’s grandfather and grandmother deliver decorated trees and food to all of the sick families. The trees are decorated with the carved wooden animals that grandfather makes. Each tree has at least one dancing goat ornament, from which the title of the book is taken. After recovering, the neighbors come to thank Trisha’s family and bring them a homemade menorah decorated with the wooden ornaments. I liked this book because it highlighted the similarities of Christmas and Hanukkah. This would be a wonderful story for early elementary students to learn acceptance and appreciation of other cultures. ---. Welcome Comfort. New York: Philomel Books, 1999. Picture Book: Welcome Comfort is a boy who does not fit in. He is a foster child so he has no family. The kids at school pick on him because of his name and because he is chubby. Mr. Hamp, the school custodian, befriends Welcome and shares many enjoyable activities with him. However, on Christmas Eve, Mr. Hamp and his wife "go north" and Welcome is alone. As he sleeps, he dreams that Santa comes and takes him on his gift-giving journey. Welcome is given a golden star pin with a sprig of holly, but the pin is not there upon awakening. Years later, after Welcome has grown, married, and began working alongside Mr. Hamp as school custodian, he finally travels north with the Hamps. There he is presented with the golden star pin with a sprig of holly that magically turns him into Santa. This was Mr. Hamp’s secret for many years and upon retiring, Welcome turns into the next Santa. After the holidays and back at school, Welcome notices a chubby boy being picked on by his classmates and the tradition continues. Soto, Gary. Too Many Tamales. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1993. Picture Book/Multicultural: Gary Soto tells a wonderful story of one of the Mexican Christmas traditions of making tamales. When Maria believes she has lost her mother’s diamond ring in the preparation of the tamales, she has her cousins help her eat twenty-four tamales to find the ring. When the ring is thought to have been swallowed by her cousin, Maria must finally confess to loosing her mother’s ring. However, the ring is on her mother’s finger but all the tamales are gone. The family prepares another batch with much cheer and festivity. This is a delightful story of a Mexican tradition for Christmas that can be used as a basis for studying other culturally significant traditions. Walter, Mildred Pitts. Have a Happy . . . New York: Avon, 1989. Chapter Book/Multicultural: Christopher is an African-American boy whose eleventh birthday is Christmas day. Because of the holiday rush, his birthday is usually overlooked and the gifts he receives are combination Christmas and birthday gifts. This year is especially hard because his father has been out of work for eighteen months and there is no money for Christmas. With the help of his uncle, Chris is able to celebrate Kwanzaa and remember the things he should be thankful for. Kwanzaa is the African-American celebration of their great ancient heritage. Seven days are devoted to the different aspects that have kept the African-American people proud and strong. This is an excellent early chapter book for middle elementary students that uses simple language and familiar settings to tell the story of an African-American family that has faith in itself.