A Calendar of Festivals (Hardcover)

by Cherry Gilchrist (Author), Helen Cann (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 5-Legends and folktales associated with eight different festivals from around the world are arranged in chronological order. Each story is introduced by a single page of background. Holi is represented by "How Krishna Stole the Butter." "The Life of the Buddha" is the story for Vesak, while the tale of "The Oxherd and the Weaving Maiden" accompanies the Japanese festival of Tanabata. The tale of Jamie Freel, here called "The Halloween Changeling," is the selection for Halloween. Kwanzaa is represented by a Caribbean story, "How the Warau People Come Down to Earth." Finally, the Russian "Father Frost" rewards a poor girl and destroys her greedy, rude stepsister in an offering for the New Year. The retellings are fluent and readable, and could be used for storytelling. This handsome book has detailed watercolor illustrations on every page. Sources for the stories are given at the back. Louisa Campbell's A World of Holidays (Silver Moon, 1993) includes celebrations in Japan, Pakistan, Namibia, Canada, and Mexico, but the stories deal with contemporary children. A good addition to folklore and holiday sections, and especially valuable for the less-familiar festivals included.
Pam Gosner, formerly at Maplewood Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 8^-12. Bright greeting-card colors and patterned borders set the tone for this compendium of celebrations that covers the year from Jewish Purim in early March to the Russian Frost King/Snow Maiden in December. "How Krishna Stole the Butter" and the life of the Buddha lead into the Chinese and Japanese legend "The Oxherd and the Weaving Maiden" and the changeling Halloween tale from the west of Ireland. The tales are lively in the retelling, although they hold no sense of the sacred. The text is straightforward--the Christian Christmas story comes straight from the New Testament Gospels--and a fair number of sentences seem to end in a breathless exclamation point. Useful for looking at the many ways cultures seek to find an answer to why things are the way they are and for tracing the universal human impulse toward celebration. Sources appended. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Barefoot Books; 1St Edition edition (September 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190122368X
• ISBN-13: 978-1901223682
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,402,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A World of Celebrations, January 30, 2001

By	drariadne (Earth) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful book with a story for each festival. There are 8 stories and a short description of how each festival is celebrated, and it's history. It is a multicultural-multi-religion book, including Purim (Jewish), Holi (Hindu), Vesak (Buddhist), Tanabata (Japanese), Halloween (Celtic), Christmas (Christian), Kwanzaa (Carribean) and New Year (Russian). Obviously this book isn't meant to be the "last word" on any of these festivals, but to give a bit more background to festivals you might celebrate, and increase knowledge of those you don't. There are full color pictures and edgings done in the style of the country involved for each story. Although the reading level is listed at 8-12, children much younger will be happy to sit and listen. My 5 yo loves it, and I expect many children as young as 4 will enjoy it.

1.0 out of 5 stars erasing me, August 25, 2007

By	phoenix - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Calendar Of Festivals: Celebrations From Around The World (Paperback)

i was excited about the title of this book as both a parent and a montessori directress...until i realized there was no mention of muslim festivals or holidays. how does one write a book like this and ignore the religion of ...what is it? one fourth of the world's population?

3.0 out of 5 stars Seems nice..., February 13, 2007

By	R. Pearson "Avid Reader" (IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Calendar Of Festivals: Celebrations From Around The World (Paperback)

... this is a great book for kids who are doing a project on different kind of festivities or to sit down and talk about cultural things with your kids, however this isn't really an interesting read for the average reader.