Celebrate Christmas
December 25 is a day of peace and festivity, the culmination of a season of worldwide goodwill. Carol singers give voice to the joyful spirit, trees are decorated, and gifts exchanged between families and friends. A name-check of the gift-bearers awaited by children reflects the global nature of the celebration: Pere Noel in France, Santa Claus in America, La Befana in Italy, and the Three Kings of Hispanic cultures. With first-person narrative, informative back matter, and evocative photography,
Celebrate Christmas is a rich historical and cultural resource for children.
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo continues National Geographic's spectacular Holidays Around the World series with this joyous feast of Mexican culture—an 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 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 country—from 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.
Celebrate Diwali
Beautiful, dynamic photographs and brief, lively text introduce readers to the joyous holiday of Diwali, evoking the celebrations of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world. In Deborah Heiligman's inviting global odyssey of the Hindu holiday we learn that Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil, and of light over darkness. Although celebrated differently in different places, Diwali is universally viewed as a time of great joy, celebrated with fireworks, sweets, and gifts. Celebrate Diwali brings to life the holiday's traditions, food, and celebration rituals. The informative back matter includes Diwali recipes, a glossary, a Diwali card game, a map, and a resource list of books and Web sites. Also included is a note to parents and teachers from the book's consultant, Dr. Vasudha Narayanan.
Celebrate Easter
The joyous celebration of Easter is seen through a global perspective in this National Geographic volume featuring over 25 vibrant photographs. Witness the holiest day on the Christian calendar as it is celebrated throughout the world: from the famous Easter Egg Roll at the White House to the traditional bonfires throughout Europe, to colorful customs, to the universally popular dying of eggshells worldwide.
The first-person narrative leads young readers through the origins and traditions of this springtime festival of rebirth and hope. Reverend George Handzo gives parents and teachers a historical and cultural background in his informative note.
Celebrate Halloween
Trick or treat? Celebrate Halloween is a real treat.Vivid images and Deborah Heiligman's lively, inviting text illuminate the spookiest night of the year. The book spirits readers on a front-seat tour of Halloween celebrations around the globe as it explores the rich history of this holiday, the creepy creatures associated with it, and the origins of such customs as carving jack-o'-lanterns and trick-or-treating. Halloween folklore, food, games, costumes, and traditions all combine in a most bewitching brew.
Celebrate Hanukkah
In Celebrate Hanukkah Deborah Heiligman welcomes readers to a holiday celebrated by Jewish communities around the world. The vivid photography of National Geographic illustrates the joyous celebrations of Jewish people around the world—including Ghana, Uganda, India, Israel, Peru, the United States and Poland—as they light menorahs, spin dreidels, and make latkes. The richly informative back matter details many facts, such as the story of U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, who brought a menorah and a dreidel on his Space Shuttle mission in 1993. Hoffman observed the traditional spinning of the dreidel, but wisely left the menorah unlit in the proximity of several thousand liters of rocket fuel! Also included are the author's sure-to-please latke recipe, Hanukkah blessings, and a Hanukkah song.
Celebrate Independence Day
Strike up the band, pack a picnic, and enjoy the fireworks.
Celebrate Independence Daytakes a nationwide perspective on the joy of America's biggest party. All the history and culture of Independence Day is here, along with fun facts, an all-American recipe, a locator map for every photo and a complete resource guide. Deborah Heiligman's rich narrative evokes the patriotic flavor of the Fourth—and explains its associations with liberty and democracy. The text also looks at how people from other nations celebrate their independence days, and includes an expert consultant's note.
Celebrate Passover
The most celebrated holiday in the Jewish year, Passover commemorates the Exodus of Hebrew slaves from Egypt to freedom over 3,500 years ago. This colorful book explores the many forms that this weeklong celebration takes worldwide. Deborah Heiligman's rich text details the long lavish meals called seders, at which Exodus is recalled in ritual, prayer, song, and story. The historical significance of the food at these Passover feasts is also explained, and delicious recipes encourage readers to experience the full flavors of this internationally observed holiday. Rabbi Shira Stern's informative note provides parents and teachers with a historical and cultural background of the celebration of Passover.
Celebrate Ramadan
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the fast's end, are sacred times for millions throughout the world. Celebrate Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr examines the reasons for the month-long dawn-to-dusk fast and observes some of the wide variety of celebrations at the end of the fast worldwide. Deborah Heiligman's text examines the historical, religious, and cultural aspect of this Muslim holiday. The book's beautiful photographs are complemented with a map pinpointing the exact locations illustrated. The extensive back matter also includes a list of further resources such as books and Web sites, useful for the research student and paper writer in grades one to four.
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur examines how these Jewish High Holy Days are celebrated worldwide. Rosh Hashanah, known as the Jewish New Year, is a time for reflection and resolution. On Yom Kippur, also called the Day of Atonement, Jews fast, pray, and ask God's forgiveness for their sins. Deborah Heiligman's lively first-person text introduces readers to the sounding of the shofar, the holidays' greeting cards, prayers, and special foods. Rabbi Shira Stern's informative note puts the High Holy Days into wider historical and cultural context for parents and teachers.
Celebrate Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the original American holiday. When the Pilgrims sat down to give thanks for the hard-won bounty of their new world, they continued a Native American tradition that would become a focal point in the calendar of all generations of Americans to come. The author relates this holiday to the harvest festivals celebrated by thankful believers of many faiths all over the globe. The books stunning pictures show the celebration in its historical and cultural aspects, and the back matter contains a delicious Thanksgiving recipe, a glossary, and a useful list of holiday references and resources.
Celebrate Valentine's Day
In the mood for love? Whose heart has not been won over on February 14—the day reserved around the world for celebrating love in its many forms. Celebrate Valentine's Day focuses on historical and cultural aspects of this holiday and the international traditions, food, and celebrations associated with it. This celebration of love includes fun facts; a recipe; a map showing the location of all photographs; a resource list of books, videos, and Web sites; and a note from an expert consultant, aimed at parents and teachers, which deepens our understanding of the holiday's importance and meaning.
The history of the holiday is shrouded in mystery, but we do know that Valentine's Day wasn't always a time for red roses, candy hearts, and frilly greeting cards. Young readers learn that some historians trace the feast of the patron saint of love to ancient Greek and Roman festivals that signaled the beginning of spring, which officially began in February in ancient Rome. We discover how, according to one legend, St. Valentine was a priest imprisoned for defying the emperor. Before being put to death, he sent the first "valentine" —a letter that he signed "From your Valentine," words still used on cards today.
Discover a range of international Valentine's Day traditions: making and exchanging cards decorated with hearts, lace, and ribbons; giving flowers, candy, balloons, and other gifts to friends and loved ones; attending special parties at school; and baking cookies and other treats. We learn how the holiday's popularity has grown around the world, particularly in Korea and Japan, where office workers give chocolates to their co-workers on Valentine's Day.
