12th December Poinsettia Day

Yesterday I went to a Book Fair with two friends in search of children's books that would make good gifts.  We got talking about how well Tomie dePaola books do Christmas and one of his Christmas books is The Legend of the Poinsettia  so i felt the need to commemorate it today. Below is my blog entry for this day from 2010.

Strictly speaking it is Poinsettia Day in America, but as it is close to Christmas and poinsettias are very common here at this time, it is a good time to think about their origin and connection to Christmas. In Mexico the plant is called La Flor de la Nochebuena or, Flower of the Holy Night and is displayed in celebration of the December 12th, Dia de la Virgen. Use of the plant to celebrate Christmas in Mexico dates back to the 17th century. The flower connects to the legend of a young girl, distraught about not having anything with which to honour the Baby Jesus in a Christmas Procession. An angel tells her that any gift given with love is a wonderful gift. Later the weeds she gathers by the roadside to place around the manger miraculously transform into the beautiful red star flower we think of as Poinsettia. But Mexico's relationship to the plant goes back even further. The Aztecs called the plant Cuitlaxochitl meaning "star flower" and used it to produce a red dye. The sap was also used to control fevers. Montezuma, last of the Aztec king had Poinsettias delivered to him by caravan to what is now Mexico City. The legend of the young Mexican girl is the subject for at least two picture books that are ideal for sharing this story with young children. I especially like sharing the Tomie dePaola's The Legend of the Poinsettia, but Joanne Oppenheim and Fabian Negrin's The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story also does the task admirably.

It is very easy to 'do' Christmas reading by just collecting together any Tomie de Paola picture books at hand. In the process you will also learn so much about Christmas traditions elsewhere in the world, about being grateful, about enjoying Christmas and about Tomie de Paola's fascination with Italy and Christmas.

18th December Flake Appreciation Day

Flake Appreciation Day is celebrated on 18th December every year in the United States. The holiday is used to show appreciation for snowflakes which are loved by many. Snowflakes are beautiful, unique, and naturally occurring. They come in complex shapes and sizes and are divided into 35 categories. As with human fingerprints, no two snowflakes are exactly alike. Snowflakes are created when water vapor in clouds freezes around dust particles due to humidity. Typically hexagonal, snowflakes can sometimes take the form of flat, needle-shaped particles.

Snowflakes can be classified into one of 35 different shape groups based on their size and shape. When water vapor in the clouds condenses into ice crystals, snowflakes spontaneously appear in nature. Snowflakes’ shapes are impacted by elements like dust, temperature, humidity, and currents.

The history of snowflakes was greatly influenced by Wilson Bentley. He was born in 1865 in Jericho, Vermont. His work is significant as he helped discover that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. He used a type of photography that uses microscopes called photomicrography to take pictures of 5,000 snowflakes. Read this biography

• Snowflake Bentley  by Jacqueline Briggs Martin & Mary Azarian

From the time he was a small boy, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful.

And then, read about some more snowflakes in:

• The Story of Snowflake and Inkdrop by Pierdomenico BaccalarioTwo worlds, two stories, two books in one, to be flipped and read from whichever direction you like! A big town in winter. A snowflake is about to fall from the sky. A big town in winter. An ink drop flies out of its bottle into the sky when a big gust of wind blows its bottle over. The wind carries Snowflake and Inkdrop through the sky. Where will each land?

Two worlds, two intersecting stories told in vivid colour illustrations, as well as through ingenious laser cuts and foldouts that are full of surprise.

• The Snowflake  by Neil Waldman

With a double-page spread for each month, this book describes the journey of a single drop of water throughout the year.

• The Story of Snow  by Jon Nelson

How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Why do star-shaped snow crystals usually have six arms? Are no two snow crystals alike?

These questions and more are answered inside this exploration of the science of snow, featuring photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity.

• The Snowflake  by Benji Davies

High, high up in the clouds a tiny snowflake is made. Perfectly small, fluffy, crystal and white, it tumbles and bounces inside the cloud. But then she begins to fall…

• Snowflake in My Pocket by Rachel Bright & Yu Rong      The snow is coming – Bear can smell it! Squirrel is so excited – he's never seen snow before! But when the snow arrives, Bear suddenly falls sick. Can Squirrel still bring some silvery, sparkly, magical whiteness to his best friend? 

• Fletcher and the Christmas Snowflake  by Julia Rawlinson & Tiphanie Beeke     It's Christmas Eve, and the rabbits have moved to a new burrow. Fletcher is excited about celebrating the holiday with them, until he realises...Santa Claus won't know where to deliver their presents!

• The Smallest Snowflake  by Bernadette Watts   Every snowflake has a dream. While the other snowflakes boast about their plans to travel on to glamorous and far off destinations— the most beautiful mountain in the world or atop the golden pinnacle of the jeweled dome of the castle, St. Basil—the smallest snowflake simply longs for someplace special . . . someplace warm. 

6th December Saint Nicholas Day

The feast of St. Nicholas is celebrated on 6th December, at the beginning of Advent. This day brings much celebrating, especially in Eastern Europe and Germanic countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Italy also celebrates this saint's day.

The legendary figure of St. Nicholas is derived from Nicholas of Myra who officiated as a bishop in 4th century Greece. During his lifetime he developed a reputation for gift-giving by putting coins in other people's shoes, which accounts for many of today's Christmas traditions that involve leaving gifts in shoes or boots. The gift giver, Santa Claus originated with Saint Nicholas, but Santa Claus brings presents on Christmas Day. As word of St Nicholas carried into northern Europe, he inspired the Dutch legend of "Sinterklaas" and the German "Christkindle", which would then spread as far as the Americas through migrants. 

The library has several stories about St Nicholas.

• The Legend of Saint Nicholas  by Demi

Through his good works, Nicholas becomes the youngest man to ever become a bishop and the patron saint of seafarers, children, and prisoners. He performs more than twenty miracles. Demi describes pivotal events in the history and life of the saint, weaving a rich tapestry of luminous imagery into the story of his connection with Christmas and our modern-day Santa Claus. 

•  Saint Nicholas: The story of the real Santa Claus by Mary Joslin

Nicholas was a Christian who lived in the town of Myra in the fourth century AD. He was much loved for his charity and generosity. On one occasion, he wanted to give money to three daughters who were facing destitution because their father had no money for a dowry in order that they might marry. Nicholas thought of a clever way to give his gift in secret, showering gold coins into their house at night through the chimney. Some of the coins landed in the stockings that had been hung up to dry there.

• The Legend of St Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving  by Dani Daley Mackall

Read about the origin of St. Nicholas, the story of a man who spent his life secretly helping the poor all over the world, giving gifts on Christmas Eve to remind people of the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ.

• Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver  by Ned Bustard

Around Christmas we spend a lot of time thinking about presents, but have you ever wondered why we give gifts? Learn about the life of Saint Nicholas and discover why he became known as one of the greatest giftgivers of all time. Told as a delightful poem, this colourfully illustrated book will be enjoyed by children and the adults who read with them.

• The Night Before Christmas  by Clement C. Moore

Clement C. Moore first read this timeless poem to his young children on Christmas Eve in 1822. It was initially published anonymously as A Visit from Saint Nicholas in a New York newspaper the following year and quickly spread around the world, becoming a cherished Christmas tradition for many families. 

This famous poem has been illustrated by many well-known children's book illustrators. Look for one of these fabulous versions. Then there are adaptions. See the one by Kes Gray.

Robert Ingpen

Christian Birmingham

Charles Santore

Eric Puybaret

Tomie DePaola 

Lisbeth Zwerger 

Jan Brett

P.J.Lynch

Gennardy Spirin

24th December Christmas Eve

Fifty years ago in 1974, the people who lived in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australian experienced an horrific tropical cyclone named Tracy. It devastated 80% of the city and killed 66 people and ruined Christmas for everyone. Because of this anniversary there has been much written and aired about it this week. There are two picture books that explain the effects of Tracy very well, one old and one new.

Follow Me by Rick Searle and Bronwyn Searle

Follow me begins when Dad was a boy. A tiny tree has taken root in the brick work of their Darwin house. Dad and Gran rescue the little plant. They put it in a pot and the next Christmas it goes into a bigger pot and so on until eventually the tree needs to go into the ground. Many years pass. Dad grows up and the tree becomes enormous. Every Christmas Dad returns to visit his mum (Gran) with his new family and to see his tree. Each year it is decorated with hundreds of Christmas lights. Then comes the Christmas of 1974.

Cyclone  by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley

The story of Cyclone Tracy as it ripped through Darwin on Christmas Eve of 1974. It’s a story about expectations, fear, loss, family, one’s home town and how one community rebuilt itself back up in the face of such devastation. It’s a story of hope and possibility.

Another interesting thing to note is that this year Hanukkah and Christmas are occurring at the same time. Hanukkah (Chanukah) is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods. Christmas is a Christian festival that lasts from  Christmas Eve or Day and goes to Epiphany 12 days later, the day that the three kings arrived to visit Jesus in the stable.

There are many families that will no doubt be celebrating both festivals as families unite to eat together and commemorate their heritage. There are picture books that help these children see that they too, are not alone.

See:

Light the Lights! by Margaret Moorman

A delightful picture book captures the warmth of family tradition as Emma and her family celebrate two holidays--Hanukkah, a time to light the menorah and play dreidl games, and Christmas, a time to sing carols and open presents.

Boris and Stella and the Perfect Gift by Dara Goldman

A delightful picture book captures the warmth of family tradition as Emma and her family celebrate two holidays--Hanukkah, a time to light the menorah and play dreidl games, and Christmas, a time to sing carols and open presents.

My Two Grandmothers  by Effin Older

Lily loves spending time with her Grammy Lane, riding tractors in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter. She loves playing golf and going to the clubhouse with her Bubbe Silver. And she especially loves the holidays--Christmas with Grammy and Hanukkah with Bubbe. There are Lane family traditions. And there are Silver family traditions.

Daddy Christmas Hanukkah Mama by Selina Alko

I am a mix of two traditions.
From Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama.
How lucky am I?

Holiday time at Sadie's house means golden gelt sparkling under the Christmas tree, candy canes hanging on eight menorah branches, voices uniting to sing carols about Macabees and the manger, and latkes on the mantel awaiting Santa's arrival.

16th December Las Posadas

 

Just as for other religious celebrations we can rely on Tomie dePaola to have created a picture book about it. Poinsettia Day is celebrated on the 12th December in Mexico and Tomie dePaola helps children understand its significance in his story The Legend of the Poinsettia. Then he does it for Las Posadas in his book The Night of Las Posadas.

Las Posadas, is celebrated  between December 16 and 24. It commemorates the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge for Mary to give birth to the baby, Jesus.  When they were unable to find lodging in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary were forced to seek shelter in a stable, where the Christ Child was born.

Las Posadas is celebrated in cities and towns across Mexico. Each evening during the festival, a small child dressed as an angel leads a procession through the streets of the town. The procession is primarily made up of children dressed in silver and gold robes carrying lit candles and images of Mary and Joseph riding a donkey. Adults, including musicians, follow the procession, which visits selected homes and asks for lodging for Joseph and Mary. Traditionally, the procession is always refused lodging, though the hosts often provide refreshments. At each stop, passages of scripture are read and Christmas carols are sung.

Mass is held each day after the procession, and, at the conclusion of the service, children break open piñatas filled with candy, toys, and, occasionally, money. The piñatas are usually crafted in the form of the Star of Bethlehem, which is said to have guided the three wise men to the newborn Jesus.   Encyclopaedia Britannica

The three wise men also appear in The Legend of Old Befana, and The Story of the Three Wise Kings other Christmas stories by Tomie dePaola.

If your family are fans of eating panettone at Christmas, it is good to also read Tony's Bread to be reminded of why it is that shape and tastes the way it does. 

Just reading Tomie dePaola's Christmas stories will make you extremely knowledgable about Christmas traditions in many parts of the world. See:

16th December A Donkey's Christmas

This morning when I checked in at my friend's blog: Momo Celebrating Time to Read, I saw that she has written about the donkey's view of Christmas because of this lovely book The Little Donkey. This reminded me of the year at school where one of the Year 1 teacher's favourite Christmas book was that version of the nativity told from the point of view of the donkey. It started the library staff on a mission to find other donkey books and other nativity stories told in first person from an animal's point of view. We were surprised to find that we had quite a lot of both, so the Christmas display that year ended up being about the animals at the birth of Jesus. It looked wonderful with all the books and soft animal toys out to accompany them. As well as the many donkeys  there were cows, sheep,  a dog, (Room for a Little One),  a cat (Cat in the Manger), a camel (The Last Straw), a hare (Hare's Christmas Gift), and even birds (The Birds of Bethlehem) and spiders (Spider's Gift: A Christmas Story).

Today I had a catch up with the donkey-mad teacher and her two small girls and we talked about Christmas books as she is doing the 25 days till Christmas with her girls, unwrapping a book to read each night. She said that she had tried to buy the donkey book but it was out of print and then she wanted to know the name of a book to buy about the origin of tinsel and we had a chat about Cobweb Christmas  and the other versions of this story. There are just so many wonderful picture books about Christmas and it does seem such a shame that they only really get an airing (reading) at Christmas. Our school year finishes so early in December that for some books that means they're only read once.

Here's what the library has about donkeys that were present at Christmas:
• The Little Donkey by Gerda Scheidl and Bernadette Watts
• The Lion, the Unicorn and Me by Jeanette Winterson and Rosalind MacCurrach
• Ruby the Christmas Donkey by Mirabel Cecil and Christina Gascoigne
• Father Christmas and the Donkey by Elizabeth Clark and Jan Ormerod
• The Donkey's First Christmas by Susanne T. Schroder
• The Ox and the Donkey by Gunter Spang and Loek Koopmans
• Little Donkey's Wish by Udo Weigelt and Pirkko Vainio
• The Donkey's Dream by Barbara Helen Berger
and some newer ones still available to purchase
• Father Christmas and the Donkey by Elizabeth Clark and Ari Jokinen
(the same story as above but with new illustrations instead of Jan Ormerod's)
• The Christmas Story as Told by Assellus the Christmas Donkey by Janet Duggan and Catherine Robertson
• Mary's Little Donkey by Gunhild Sehlin and Helene Muller

And stories about the spider and the origins of tinsel
• Cobweb Christmas by Shirley Climo and Jane Manning
• The Christmas Spider's Miracle by Trinka Hakes Noble and Stephen Constanza
• The Spider's Gift: A Ukranian Christmas Story by Eric A. Kimmel and Katya Krenina

Christmas books for Over 6s

Now for Advent Books to read to the over 6s. I love sharing these because there are so many opportunities to talk about the 'real meaning of Christmas', to consolidate work that classes have done in history units in class, to hark back to discussions in Circle Time and to draw on travel experiences.

1.  Cat in the Manger by Michael Foreman;  The Witness by Robert Westall;  Room For a Little One by Martin Waddell or any other nativity story where the point of view is changed. These three look at the story from the animals point of view. There are many others as well. The donkey's view also often appears in picture books. It is always interesting to be a bystander and report on an event and I enjoy asking students to do this themselves so these stories give them a starting point to form their own view. I read about a picture book this week that gives Joseph's view. How modern!

2.  Refuge by Anne Booth or Flight by Nadia Wheatley. While these two stories appear to tell the story of the journey to Bethlehem they also allow the reader to broaden the concept of Mary and Joseph's journey to encompass the plights of refugees in their journey in search of a safe place.

3. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola. I have included this as a folktale that explains why poinsettias are part of the Christmas tradition. If you can't find this, look for Cobweb Christmas  by Shirley Climo or  The Spider's Gift by Eric Kimmel  which are folktales explaining why we have tinsel on trees.

4. The Christmas Caravan by Jennifer Beck is a lovely story about Simon who wants to enter a competition. This gives you many opportunities to discuss competitions, decorating homes at Christmas and what is required to really appreciate Christmas. It also looks at Southern hemisphere Christmas traditions. Perhaps pair it with The Boxing Day Test by Sharon Willis.

5. Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and Susan Jeffers. While strictly speaking it is not a Christmas story it has snow and Susan Jeffers has used touches of red and green with the black and white of night and snow to evoke a very special setting in New England in Winter, when it is Christmas. The vellum cover on the book adds to the mystery and gives it the feeling of a present.

6. Silent Night  by Lara Hawthorne is a new book that brings this beautiful carol by Joseph Mohr to life by featuring the world's diversity as it moves through the lyrics. There are other versions though which highlight the origins of the carol. See Silent Night Holy Night which has beautiful Robert Ingpen illustrations and Silent Night which has Susan Jeffers' illustrations.

7. The Story Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden. This story can just be read from the novel version, but I love the picture book edition illustrated by Barbara Cooney. I serialise it with my year 1 classes and right from the first sentence, 'This is a story about wishing.' they are hooked.

8. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P.J Lynch is another picture book which draws readers in, allows them to empathise with the characters and be surprised by the ending. The students love the foreshadowing and the lightening of the illustrations as the story progresses and Jonathan's demeanour changes.

9. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston and Barbara Cooney. I usually read this book to Year 2 in the week of  Remembrance Day in November. This makes the discussion of World War 1 and Ruthie's father's absence very pertinent. This is the nativity play story for older students. They revisit their nativity plays, the standing on chairs and the carol singing.

10. In Flander's Fields by Brian Harrison-Lever  and Norman Jorgenson tells the story of Christmas in the trenches during World War 1 when the fighting stopped, a robin is rescued and the soldiers sing Silent Night in English and German.


11. Fair's Fair  by Leon Garfield. This short chapter book has been published in many formats and with various illustrations. If you can't find the picture book version illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain read it to students without pictures and make them visualise for themselves because hers are so evocative that the rest pale to not be worth sharing.  This story about Jackson, an orphan is set in Victorian times and is told with such suspense that it is a bit scary but the ending is just what student readers require. A good friend found me a new copy of this at the Lifeline Book Fair, so you too could be lucky.

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Quentin Blake. I recommend this to parents of avid readers because when they share it their children make comparisons with Fair's Fair and other books they have read at school and they bring it back saying what great discussions the family had. I grew up with this story as my father had a record of someone reading it that we listened to every Christmas.

Others not to be missed:
Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo; The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg; Manger by Lee Bennett Hopkins; and Cat on the Hill by Michael Foreman.

Merry Christmas and happy reading.

Christmas Books for Under 6s

I have been really enjoying following quite a few bloggers who have been highlighting an advent book each day in the lead up to Christmas. Some have done one a day since the beginning of December. Others such as my friend at Momo Celebrating Time to Read have chosen twelve books. Two teacher friends with young children and another with grandchildren have been enjoying opening a book parcel each day during advent for a shared reading experience. This got me thinking about which books I would put on an advent list or wrap for my advent reading. As the teacher librarian in a school I find myself constantly thinking about what to read to whom. When I read to my preschool and Kindergarten classes in Term 4 as a lead up to Christmas, I read from these books. All have been very successful. You will notice how many of them are either very well known or are by authors who write prolifically for this age group.




1. The Christmas Book by Dick Bruna. I chose this one because it tells the Nativity story chronologically and simply but uses lovely language and is illustrated in the typical Bruna manner, that the children recognise from the Miffy books.

2. How Many Sleeps Till Christmas? by Mark Sperring and Sebastien Braun. This is about waiting patiently, not something children find easy to do at this time of the year. The title question is one that children ask every day as they are counting down.

3. What Do You Wish For? by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker. This book is especially pertinent to Australian children as it depicts a summer Christmas and a typical Australian child's street. Ruby needs to write a wish, but she struggles to decide upon one. Such a good thing to be talking to children about at this time of giving as well as receiving.

4. Max's Christmas by Rosemary Wells. I chose this one because I am the mother of a Max and a Ruby. My children loved this and all the Max and Ruby stories. Max's droll questions make everyone laugh. I also like this story because Santa appears in it, but without a huge emphasis on presents.

5. Angel Mae and the Christmas Baby by Shirley Hughes. This is the story of many children under six. Mae's mother is pregnant and tired. Her brother wants the baby to be a boy and Mae wants a girl, so squabbles ensue. It also features the school nativity play which is something most children will experience at some point in their schooling.

6. The Gift of Christmas  by Christine Leeson and Gaby Hansen. I have two copies of this story in the library. They have different titles, but are the same text and illustrations. The Very Special Christmas came with flashing fairy lights on the tree in the book, so you can imagine how much the children like it when we get to the decorated tree at the end. Molly Mouse collects a variety of decorations for the tree and the lights finish it beautifully.

7. Jingle Bells by Nick Butterworth. This is not the Christmas carol. Lottie and Jack are mice and they are having problems with the cat. The bell is part of the solution. When I bought this book for the library it was tied closed by beautiful red satin ribbon which had two bells on the ends, which is extremely fitting when you know what Mrs Mackie finds addressed to the cat.

8. Threadbear by Mick Inkpen. A story about a well-loved toy bear whose squeaker does not work. The bear thinks Santa will be able to help him. It has large fold out pages that the children love, even if they don't wear well.

9. Baboushka (various available) or The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie DePaola. I would choose one of these because they are folktales specific to either the Russian or Italian Christmas tradition that relate the story of the Three Kings going to Bethlehem.

10. Dream Snow by Eric Carle. This one because none of the other stories have snow and as with many of Carle's books it has paper engineering and music, a novelty which will keep everyone interested.


Then 11. and 12. would come from:
Wombat Divine by Mem Fox and Kerry Argent; Doing Christmas by Sarah Garland; The Snowman (show the filmclip) by Raymond Briggs; The Silver Christmas Tree by Pat Hutchins and Summer by June Factor and Alison Lester.