Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? [Paperback]

Linda Hacon Winwood (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Mommy Why?

Children ask the toughest questions! As a parent, you want to give them the best answers. This amazing children's book will help dedicated parents answer tough questions simply, biblically, and lovingly. Christ- centered and sensitively written, this book will help satisfy the curiosity of even the most inquisitive children.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Halloween! Do you know the truth behind the dressing up and trick-or-treating that are important parts of this holiday? If not, you and your parents need to read this book.

Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? helps children understand why Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween. It reveals, in story form, the truth behind the activities that have become such an accepted part of Halloween traditions. Children who read this book and talk about it with their parents will learn how the "fun" of Halloween harms them. They will also learn what to say to others who do not understand the true meaning of Halloween.

From the Back Cover

Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? helps children understand why Christians shouldn't celebrate Halloween. It reveals, in story form, the truth behind the activities that have become such an accepted part of Halloween traditions. Children who read this book and talk about it with their parents will learn how the "fun" of Halloween harms them. They will also learn what to say to others who do not understand the true meaning of Halloween.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers (August 24, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560438231
• ISBN-13: 978-1560438236
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 152 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Good intentions, misguided conclusions, August 17, 1999

By 

Miriam Van Scott "Candy Canes in Bethlehem" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? (Paperback)

I applaud the author's attempt to foster Christian values in a secular and often anti-religious society. However, equating trick or treating with Devil worship is uniformed and grossly misguided.

It's true that Halloween has its origins in pagan religions, however these were NATURE worshipers, NOT Satan worshipers! Ignorant of the truth, these Druids and Celts tried to manage in a hostile and unknowable world. When Christianity came to Ireland, it was embraced and celebrated. Residual practice of some Halloween customs continued as a cultural, NOT religious observence, in much the same way not all people who celebrate St. Partick's Day are Roman Catholic.

More disturbing, Winwood reveals a rather ugly prejudice by describing the Pope's moving of All Saints Day to November 1 in the 7th century to supplant Halloween as "playing Let's Make a Deal with the devil". A "Christian" book for children is hardly the place to vent such anti-catholic hate mongering, and it smacks of the "My Jesus is better than your Jesus" mindset. (She also seems to forget that December 25 was likewise once the pagan holiday Saturnalia, "Christianized" to replace the earlier feast by papal writ. So is celebrating Christmas on that date equally Satanic?)

Last, she misses the message that Christ HAS conquered death and Satan, eradicating fear of the unknown. What was once a dark pagan feast is now a time for candy, costumes, and visiting neighbors --- what a wonderful example of "good conquering evil" and "light overcoming darkness"! Teaching kids to cower in the darkness, smugly telling themselves that they are faithful "friends of Jesus" while their peers go trick or treating to "honor the devil" is sorely inaccurate and unfair. (That sentiment actually attributes MORE power to Satan, as if we are in his grasp and are left without hope.) After all, Jesus himself did not run from "evil doers"; he mixed with them, broke bread and participated in cultural festivals alongside "the wicked".

A better message to kids is that Halloween is a reminder that unlike the Druids and other pagans, Christians no longer have to fear spooks and spirits, or worry over our ultimate fate, for death has lost its sting. What we celebrate is NOT the power of Satan, but the reality of Salvation through the sacrifice of Christ! Now THAT'S a message I want to give my kids!

41 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book to explain "Why?", September 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? (Paperback)

I think that Halloween is an issue that Christians either find absolutely abhorent or no big deal. For those of us who choose *not* to celebrate October 31st, this is a great book to have. It explained to my children why we don't do all that stuff, without going into really scary detail.

I don't see the prejudice described by the previous reviewer. Instead, I saw history described accurately. Yes, both Christmas and Halloween [and Easter, too] were changed from pagan observances to Christian celebrations to appease the people. However, while Christmas and Easter have remained Christian celebrations, I don't see that as happening with Halloween.

Therefore, for us, this book is a useful tool. Others, who have decided to ignore the bad and celebrate the good, may find the book "Halloween, You For Real?" more to their liking.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaches kids to stand for Christ amid attacks from others..even Christians., October 18, 2010

By 

R. Lemarr - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? (Paperback)

Scripture tells us why we shouldn't celebrate Halloween or even imitate it. And that's where we need to go to find the truth about it. For my Christian brothers and sisters who defend Halloween and decide to resort to name calling or fake outrage, these are for you..and I pray God speaks to your heart and you can no longer defend it in the face of His truth:

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 ("Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.")
James 1:27 ("keep oneself from being polluted by the world")
3 John 1:11 ("do not imitate what is evil")
Romans 12:9 ("abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.")
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (do not learn to imitate detestable ways, including spiritists, sorcerers and witchcraft)
Ephesians 5:11-12 ("Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness" / "live as children of light")
1 Timothy 4:1 (don't "follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons")
1 Corinthians 10:21 (You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.)
2 Corinthians 6:14-17 ("what fellowship can light have with darkness?")
Philippians 4:8 (think about pure, lovely, noble things)
1 Corinthians 11:1 ("follow the example of Christ")
1 Corinthians 10:31 ("whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God")
James 4:7-8 (submit yourselves to God / resist the devil / purify your hearts)
Ezekiel 44:23 ("...teach my people... to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.")
Proverbs 22:6 ("train a child in the way he should go")
Matthew 18:6 ("if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin...")
Hosea 4:6 ("My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.")
John 3:19-20 (people love darkness instead of light)
Romans 13:12 ("put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.")
Ephesians 6:11-18 ("take your stand against the devil's schemes.")
1 John 5:19 (We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.)
2 Chronicles 7:14 (and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. )
Leviticus 20:26 ('Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.)
Isaiah 5:20 (Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter)

Teach your children early to stand up for Christ and be set apart from the world, or they will imitate your excuses for following darkness and end up in the midst of sin.