Customer Reviews

All Year Round (Lifeways)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The authors discuss various ways celebrating festivals throughout the year. What I found interesting was that this book was written from a British/European perspective so, it was easy for me to get new ideas for celebrating the holidays. There are songs and stories and patterns you can use to make the crafts in the book. I wish that they had color pictures though. The authors commented on this in the book saying it had something to do with a budget. The pictures were easy to interpret, I would just have liked to see them in color. The authors' ideas about a seasonal table were interesting and I plan on using this book as a starter for planning holidays and a seasonal table with my family.

Brimming with stories, poems, songs, and things to make and cook, this book offers itself as a friendly guide to the seasonal round of festivals. Arranged by season, each chapter includes a calendar of holidays to celebrate and, believe me, there are enough to keep you partying all year long! Some of my favorites are the more obscure ones that have fallen out of favor in our modern world, such as Shrove Tuesday celebrated prior to Lent, Whitsunday, and St. Nicholas Day. This book has so many ideas, you can't possibly do them in one year and that's why it's such a value. As I have, you will return to it again and again.

Brimming with stories, poems, and activities, things to make and songs, "All Year Round" offers a friendly guide to the seasonal round of festivals. Helpful drawings and diagrams illustrate this practical book. It contains a wealth of experience that can help families find their own way around the year. Parents are encouraged to develop their traditions and family ways using this as a springboard. As the authors say, "The words are ours, the festivals are yours." "All Year Round" arose from the families of the authors, who also have run festivals workshops for years at "Lifeways" conferences. Whilst many parents they worked with still had living, festive, seasonal and family traditions, an increasing number of people lacked these and asked, "Why bother with festivals?" The authors believe that observing a round of festivals is an enjoyable way of bringing rhythm into children's lives, a way of providing meaningful landmarks to look forward to. Experiencing the unfolding year through stories, poems, and making seasonal tables encourages a love of nature. Each festival has a character of its own, bringing a special gift to family life. Celebrating together is important for families in all kinds of ways. This book offers suggestions about how to get going and helps all those who wish to deepen their understanding of festivals. Marije Rowling is a painter and art teacher, and also illustrated "The Children's Year". This was co-authored by Christine Fynes-Clinton who teaches music and crafts. Ann Druitt trained as an artist and teaches adult education. Her twelve stories round off the book.

I just got this book, so I have not had the chance to make any of the wonderful-looking crafts yet. But I love, love, love it! As an American, I find it charmingly quaint and British. And although the subtitle is "Christian calendar of celebrations," the authors give a nice treatment of the pre-Christian traditions from which they are derived, and point out the correlations between the Christian and pre-Christian celebrations. As a Christian with great respect for other traditions and paths, I found it quite refreshing that they lack the weird American fundamentalist propensity to deny (or occasionally acknowledge and vilify) the fact that so many of our holiday dates and customs were ripped off from the pagans. If you are Christian, you will enjoy this book's focus on the Christian holidays; if you're Pagan, ignore the Christian stuff and you'll enjoy (and be able to make good use of) the rest. If you are neither Christian nor Pagan, there are plenty of ideas that can be used for each season in general without being associated with any particular Christian/Pagan holiday.

I should note that this book is quite similar to Festivals Family and Food; but for only a couple dollars extra, you get about 50% more pages in this book. The two complement each other nicely, though, because I don't believe that many of the crafts are identical.

whenever i order from amazon i browse all my new books. usually I like all of them enough to keep them, but just in case i want to return something I dont like, i want the option. I bought this book, and festivals family and food and the childrens year. THIS was what i was expecting out of the other TWO combined. I am actually thinking of making my first return on the other two due to my disapointment of them. Maybe it was their layout or something, but they just were not up to par for me. This however wa delightful to browse. I love th fact that the co authers come from different (all be it all european) regions. Cheers!

This is probably a lovely book, just beware that the title that was shipped to me was not the same as advertised on Amazon, or anywhere else that I have seen. The book that arrived was "All Year Round; Christian Calendar of Celebrations". So if, like me, you have no intentions of celebrating Christian holidays, then this is not the book for you.

I love, love, love this book. Little crafts and ideas for each season of the year. Such a great resource. It has really helped me make the transition into a more waldorf/natural lifestyle especially when it comes to holidays. I especially love the Christmas/advent celebration ideas. So wonderful. If you are going to buy one craft book, make this the one!

i had shown this book to a friend of mine later that evening the book had turned up missing.. hence the title good enough to steal. loved the book so i bought yet another copy. i had shared this book with my childs first grade glass and did the bee craft with them which was simple for little hands to create. i look into this book constantly for ideas crafts and bedtime stories to read to my kids. one of my favorite things about this book is that not all of the crafts take a long time to accomplish so i can hang them up wear them give as gifts and move on to our countless other crafts to work on :) simply loved the story of how april fools dat came about the craft that went a long with it as well very cute/ informative. the instructions on how to do the crafts are detailed and easy to follow especially love the full size templates if my second copy gets stolen.. i will have to buy a third it is a book that is worthy of repeat purchase.

Healthy and delicious recipes, beautiful poetry, and great ideas centering around natural materials and family time. Wonderful for incorporating into seasonal holidays, celebrations, or family gatherings - memorable activities & flavors for kids of all ages. Varied selection of ideas and projects. A keeper!

Everything you need and more... Alot of fun ideas to make and do... You never get bored with this one!!!