1 comments about Day of the Dead: A Mexican-American Celebration.

1. This children's book tells the Día de los Muertos story through the eyes of bilingual Sacramento, California-based twins, aged ten, named Ximena and Azucena. The book tells the family history to illustrate the strong ties between the American family and its native Mexico. In 1974, the twin's father was an integral part of bringing Día de los Muertos to Sacramento. This book gives a very detailed history of Día de los Muertos that I didn't come across in any other children's books. It explains much of Aztec culture, including their Creation Myth, and how Día de los Muertos began. Then, Spanish conquistadors came into contact with these people, and their Catholic influence altered their traditions, and Halloween was beginning to brew in Europe simultaneously. Finally, it discusses how Mexican-Americans have another unique take on celebrating the holiday. Then, the book outlines the celebration, many pages on the ofrendas (with more elaborate detail than other books in this bibliography) a section on the masks of Día de los Muertos (another facet of the fiesta that isn't covered in other books), and the procession a family takes from its home to the cemetery. It also contains a glossary of the Spanish words used throughout the book with its definition.

No comments about Small Plays for Special Days: Holiday Plays for You and a Friend.

3 comments about Mimi's First Mardi Gras.

1. Everyone knows about Mardi Gras in New Orleans, right?

   If you don't, or if you want to know more then Mimi's First Mardi Gras is the book to read. Written for a young age level it imparts information for everyone.

   In story form the book tells us about beignets ( doughnuts eaten for the holiday breakfast), the different groups that march in the parades, trinkets and doubloons thrown from the floats

   Illustrated in the vibrant colors of Mardi Gras ( purple, green and gold)the pictures make the story come alive.




2. I grew up in New Orleans and this book perfectly describes what Mardi Gras was like in my family. The only difference was that after the parades when we went to my cousins' house, we ate homemade fried chicken! We now live in Dallas but try to celebrate Mardi Gras here with music, beads, and king cake parties. We went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans last year so our children understand it but our friends don't have a clue! I read this book to my daughter's kindergarten class and they loved it. It explained to a bunch of "Texans" what Mardi Gras is all about. I would have given it 5 stars but it's a little too long and the song at the end is weird.



3. If you need to know basics about Mardi Gras--if you are a teacher or parent with need-to-know children, then "Mimi's First Mardi Gras" is quite suitable. The illustrations are colorful and lovely, the information is correct, and there is a story incorporating the two.
   
   However, if you plan to read aloud, be familiar with the story to skip through some of the information. I found it too much when reading to my grandchildren. When the boy asked if it was almost over, I closed it to finish another day when I could recite the information better from memory.
   
   We live in Louisiana. When I found this book in our local library, I knew my grandkids needed to know and see what Mardi Gras is about. Their parents take them to our parades every year. However, for reports in school, look further, although this book is certainly helpful. Consider also that it is geared toward general information and not the religious background.
   
   As we walk through the story, I will convey the information for your edification. The double title page shows the colors of Mardi Gras--green, gold, purple, throwing of beads with hands upraised, but, ha ha, so orderly. Anyone who has been to a MG parade knows people are standing there almost riotously awaiting a throw for freebie beads and other trinkets!
   
   King Cakes are shown with Mimi discovering the baby figure and knowing the cake presages the parades. They eat the famous New Orleans beignets, a square of fried dough sprinkled with powered sugar and similar to a dough-nut taste. Quite yummy! The family puts on their costumes, as everyone, so it seems, wears costumes to the parades.
   
   When the MG Indians come by, Mimi's dad explains their history: black men form tribes and work on seriously elaborate costumes all year long. The the jazz funeral parade comes by (no explanation). Zulu is next--an African American parade in existence for 75 years. The big treat the Zulu members throw is coconuts.
   
   Mimi learns about cotton candy when her day buys some. Next the Rex parade with its trappings of splendor arrives. "Throw me something, Mister" is the line that everyone shouts as they try to catch the multitude of trinkets. Mimi tries to catch a gold doubloon, her most wished for freebie and catches one.
   
   I give this book four stars and deducted one for three things that really bothered me (perhaps I am silly for them):
   1. In every illustration Mimi's face looks so adult
   2. She has anorexic legs that are just pitiful.
   3. At the parade Mimi's mother shows up in only one picture and I am not sure that is she. However, a black woman is beside the dad several times. We know that Mimi's mother is a honey-blonde because she is in the pages in the morning.
   
   None of these things are serious. The illustrations are really lovely. I do recommend this book with the beware statements at the beginning in mind (too many words, remember?)

3 comments about Turkey Surprise.

1. Peggy Archer, Turkey Surprise (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2005)
   
   I've been trying to figure out how to fairly review this book for a couple of weeks now. I always do my best to try and divorce my feelings on the book itself from the feelings of the message contained therein, as long as that message is artfully conveyed. I always thought that I could fairly review books containing even the most offensive messages based on their technical merits. This one has sorely tested that belief. Not just because the underlying message is the kind of thing that drives me up the wall, but because this in one of those rare cases where the book is technically proficient enough to warrant a positive review.
   
   Turkey Surprise is well-written enough that its message doesn't slap the reader in the face with a dead fish (or turkey, as the case may be), but it still gets its point across with no ambiguity whatsoever (Spider Robinson could learn a whole lot from Peggy Archer)-- this is a vegetarian manifesto that attacks Thanksgiving, and it's an important enough point that it's mentioned front and center in the Booklist review that heads up the Amazon page. If you, as a parent, don't have a problem with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and see no reason why your child should, avoid this book. Its entire purpose is to telegraph the message "turkeys should not be killed for food."
   
   But, as I said, it gets that message across both with technical proficiency (the writing style is well above average-- stratospheric for a "message book," in fact) and nonverbal content (the pictures are witty and charming).
   
   My original rating of the book was, for all intents and purposes, an excoriation, pure and simple. I have since revised it up to "perfectly average" (perhaps "perfectly balanced" would be a better phrase here) to account for the fact that the only thing about the book that bothers me is its message. It may go up again in the future. ** ½



2. My pre-schooler and I both enjoyed this book. It is a lovely holiday book which I expect to be asked to read long after Thanksgiving. Both the text and the illustrations were artfully rendered. I found the surprise that this pilgrim family chose not to eat turkey at their otherwise traditional Thanksgiving dinner to be unique and entertaining. My daughter, a confirmed meat eater from a confirmed meat eating family, thought the ending was fun. I would highly recommend this book.



3. Two pilgrim brothers go around town and look for a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner in "Turkey Surprise". The little pilgrim brother isn't sure about plucking, stuffing and cooking a turkey. As they are searching, a turkey walks along the road and realizes that the pilgrim brothers want to pluck and stuff him. The turkey tries to find a hiding place but none of the places that he goes (up a tree, a gopher hole, in the water) can effectively hide the turkey. The little pilgrim brother spots the turkey and finds a good hiding place for him and convinces his big brother to bring something else to Thanksgiving dinner.
   
   Some parts of the story are repetitive, making it suitable for beginning readers. The story itself was not interesting enough to sustain my childrens attentions. When little pilgrim asks if a turkey is necessary to have at Thanksgiving, his brother's only explanations were that "Mother and Father want one". A more acceptable analogy would have been to explain the significance of having turkeys at Thanksgiving, perhaps even the origin of when the first turkey was served at Thanksgiving.
   
   Two of the main characters, the turkey and the little pilgrim, appeared ignorant and awkward. The turkey realized that he couldn't swim AFTER he almost drowned. Did the little pilgrim really see the turkey all of those times that he was looking through his spyglass? The evidence suggests that he did know and, in fact, did manage to protect the turkey from becoming a part of the family's Thanksgiving feast.
   
   What could have been a heroic tale of a pilgrim who saved the life of an animal merely ended up as a truly ridiculous turkey tale.

1 comments about Mother's Day.

1. I read this book to my class for Mothers Day. We visit Mrs Madoffs class as we have just about every holiday. (I want to be in her class, she is so nice)! The children discuss the different ways that they will celebrate the holiday, making breakfast, snuggling, and various other ways. The children were asked to bring in a button for class. The children used the button to make a tissue paper flower as a gift. The book gives step by step directions. As always Anne deals with the difficulties of the holday with a student who was celebrating with her grandmother as her mother had passed away. The craft is really cute, the children and mothers spent lots of time picking out their button and had little stories about why they chose that button. Mom's didn't know what the button was for and were so surprised that it was to make a flower. Really great!

2 comments about Who Do You Love?.

1. We love Martin Waddell's books, particularly the ones that have touched our hearts and tickled our funny bones (Once There Were Giants, The Big, Big Sea, The Pig in the Pond). This book fits right in! My daughter, now 3, is at the stage where she loves mama "best of all." And the delightful teasing in this bedtime story gave her a new way to play that game! We are thrilled to find another Waddell book that we hadn't read!



2. This is a charming, cozy book, marred only by its repetition of bad grammar. The author and publishers (what are editors for?) have missed an opportunity to fix the correct form in the minds of children and parents everywhere, and to have it associated with a smiling, shared secret pleasure. No rhyme or rhythm would have been destroyed by saying "Whom do you love?" instead of "Who do you love?" Quite the contrary, in fact: the m of whom lends a certain delicious quality to the question. If you are reading to a non-reader, and can substitute whom for who without detection, this is recommended bedtime reading; if not, skip it.

1 comments about Christmas Is Here, Corduroy! (Sticker Stories).

1. My daughter loves Corduroy and sticker books, so this is a great comibination. If you are looking for a sticker book that shows dotted lines to help your child place the sticker in the right picture, look for another one.

No comments about Canada Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays).

5 comments about Lights of Winter: Winter Celebrations Around the World.

1. I just got this book and flipped through it. The illustrations look like bad computer art - pixelated. I wish I could return it. The text seems well written.



2. Finally here is a book that explores the Holidays for all cultures, all people. I am raising my son to respect other cultures and their traditions. I loved how this book honored our differences and also showed how much we have in common. I have given this book to friends and they love it also. My son's teacher borrowed our copy to read to her class and she told me it was a wonderful way to expose the children to different cultures. This is a great book and I am very glad it is part of our family library!!!



3. I'm back for my third book! My neighbor's kids loved it and my nephews love this book! The many holidays are described in clear language and the brightly colored pictures, like Las Posadas on the cover, are cute and simple--child art, not adult art. Kids love finding the dog and cat hidden in each illustration. My nephew's preschool teacher was thrilled to have a book that talks about different winter holidays, several of which her students celebrate at home. This little book is a great find!



4. Lights of Winter is an excellent children's' book. It tells kids about all the holidays people from all different cultures celebrate in the winter. Not only that, but it has wonderful illustrations to really get the idea of that holiday in peoples' heads. The language in this book is wonderful and descriptive. It covers most big cultures, and I think, as a child of 14 years old, is a pleasure to read.



5. I bought this book for my preschooler son to share with his class. Since it arrived yesterday, he has requested me to read it to him twice. The book features short descriptions of 10 winter holidays, written in simple language that is easily understood by preschoolers. While the pictures are of poor computer art quality (think MS Paint), my son enjoyed them and said one looked like a scene from the game Runescape. This is a nice book to share with children, and does a nice job of introducing children to the different Winter holidays people celebrate.

2 comments about Morris the Artist.

1. Poor Morris can't bear to part with the gift of paints he brought the birthday boy. The tiny package grows and weighs on Morris until he is unable to enjoy the party. When he's finally ready to give it --the birthday boy has gone on to his other presents. Morris opens the paints and soon has the whole party joining in creating fantastical painting on paper and on themselves. The art draws the reader in, it's peculiar, but appealing with lots of different perspectives, the artist has fun with the sizes of things. A lovely book.



2. The good things: The art is eye-catching, the colors work well togther, and it looks, well, artsy, which is good, since it's about a boy who wants to spend all his time painting. Morris is supposed to give Benjamin a birthday present, and at first he doesn't want to. As he sees more things he wants to do, the present gets visually bigger as holding onto it is a bigger problem for Morris. The author presents the stress of a young child's birthday party pretty accurately (at least from the observations of this mother).

   The bad things: The story is going along well, and then it just ends in what feels like the middle. If you take out the text and look at it, you're left scratching your head and going, "huh?" The action doesn't wind down or come to a conclusion or anything. It's a bit disconcerting. Also, the kids' faces in the pictures don't look like kids (abstracted or otherwise).

   Overall the pictures are fun, but I think the text could have been tweaked just a bit to make it better.