Kids Around the World Celebrate!: The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands [Paperback]

Lynda Jones (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Kids Around the World

Everyone loves a reason to have a good time, and although cultures around the world have their own unique feasts and festivals, we all share many of the same reasons to celebrate. Now you can learn about the many ways people from around the globe celebrate their special days, and join in the fun!

Celebrate Chinese New Year while making chiao-tzu dumplings, then pop over to Saudi Arabia and taste delicious date-nut cookies called ma amoul while celebrating Eid ul-Fitr. Make an elaborate Venetian mask to wear at a masquerade ball in Venice during carnevale, then pound out a festive rhythm on the Igbo drum you ve made and celebrate the Iriji festival in Nigeria. Eat, drink, and make merry with the many diverse and exciting crafts, recipes, and activities in this book. No matter what language you say it in, celebrations are fun!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-Each chapter in this excellent addition to holiday and multicultural collections offers a simple explanation of customs and cultures followed by hands-on activities to help children Celebrate! Organized by theme, the book includes chapters on "Welcoming the New Year," "Celebrating Before and After Fasts," "Giving Thanks," and "Renewing the Spirit." In addition to some well-known celebrations such as Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and El D'a de los Reyes, Jones includes less familiar festivals from Scotland, Ecuador, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Nigeria, Barbados, and Japan. The recipes and art projects are clearly explained and illustrated, and include helpful lists such as "Here's What You Need" and "Here's What You Do." The volume concludes with a detailed index.
Kristina Aaronson, Bethel Elementary School Library, VT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

Everyone loves a reason to have a good time, and although cultures around the world have their own unique feasts and festivals, we all share many of the same reasons to celebrate. Now you can learn about the many ways people from around the globe celebrate their special days, and join in the fun!

Celebrate Chinese New Year while making chiao-tzu dumplings, then pop over to Saudi Arabia and taste delicious date-nut cookies called ma?amoul while celebrating Eid ul-Fitr. Make an elaborate Venetian mask to wear at a masquerade ball in Venice during carnevale, then pound out a festive rhythm on the Igbo drum you?ve made and celebrate the Iriji festival in Nigeria. Eat, drink, and make merry with the many diverse and exciting crafts, recipes, and activities in this book. No matter what language you say it in, celebrations are fun!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (November 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047134527X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471345275
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 10.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #615,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations > Around the World

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Covers a variety of feasts and festivals from around the world, March 17, 2011

By 

Julia Flyte - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kids Around the World Celebrate!: The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands (Paperback)

My seven year old son needed to choose and research an international festival for a school project. This is a brilliant little book that's ideal for the 6-9 age group. It covers 16 festivals from around the world (four from the US and the rest from countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Italy, Nigeria, Barbados, Israel and China). The festivals are grouped into four categories: New Year festivals, celebrating before and after fasts, giving thanks and renewing the spirit. For each festival it talks about the historical background, what people are celebrating, how they celebrate and the kinds of foods and decorations that they use. Then for each celebration there is a craft activity and a recipe.

As examples, for Ano Viejo (an Ecuardorian New Year festival) there are simple instructions for making an Ano Viejo puppet and making fruit salad. For the Japanese Festival of the Dead, children can make paper lanterns and soba noodle soup. For Pongal (a Hindu thanksgiving festival celebrated in south-eastern India), children can make a rice based pongal feast and a garland of bells for their pets. For the Brazilian Mardi Gras, children can make a Samba school flag and a Coconut Cooler drink. In all cases, the materials and ingredients are readily obtainable.

The book is written in a very engaging way and I learned a lot reading it, even about festivals that I thought I already had a good understanding of. I highly recommend this as a way to encourage your children to learn more about the world around us and its many religions, as well as being a terrific source of fun craft activities. The only improvement that I would make is a calendar to show approximately when these festivals fall within the year.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for you and the kids, February 9, 2000

By 

a_reader_somewhere (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kids Around the World Celebrate!: The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands (Paperback)

We were looking for something to do with our twins the other night and made a recipe for Chinese new year from this book. It was delicious and lots of fun to do together. Plus the kids loved doing the activities. Highly reccomended.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Kids Around the World Celebrate!: The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands (Kids Around the World), December 20, 2007

By 

NMP "40-something mom" (Muncie, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kids Around the World Celebrate!: The Best Feasts and Festivals from Many Lands (Paperback)

My daughter and I just made date nut cookies from a recipe in this book. They ended up being disasterous and a rather expensive mistake to make. The ingredient proportions and the oven temperature we obviously incorrect.