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.

12th December Candle Lighting Day

We light candles for birthdays, special religious festivals, such as now during advent, when there's a blackout or just to create ambience, but I was surprised to see how few books we had in the library that featured candles either in their title or on their front cover.

Worldwide Candle Lighting Day, however is not to commemorate any of the reasons above. It is instead, a celebration of solidarity and memory. It’s a day on which people around the world gather to light candles for children who have died and to show that they will always be loved and never forgotten.

The candles are lit at the same time in every time zone, meaning that a consistent warm glow passes around the planet for a full 24-hour day. Everyone lights their candles at 7.00 pm in their local time zone. This results in a beautiful wave of light, travelling around the globe from time zone to time zone. It is believed that this is the biggest mass candle lighting in the world.

If you are looking for books that feature candle lighting, then these are the pick, I think:

• Burn: Michael Faraday's Candle  by Darcy Pattison and Peter Willis

Discover the secrets of fire and candles. Solid wax is somehow changed into light and heat. But how? Travel back in time to December 28, 1848 in London, England to one of the most famous juvenile science Christmas lectures at the Royal Institution. British scientist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) encouraged kids to carefully observe a candle and to try to figure out how it burned. Known as one of the best science experimenters ever, Faraday's passion was always to answer the basic questions of science: "What is the cause? Why does it occur?" 

Since Faraday's lecture, "The Chemical History of a Candle," was published in 1861, it's never been out of print. Oddly, till now, it's never been published as a children's picture book. Faraday originally gave seven lectures on how a candle burns. Pattison has adapted the first 6000-word lecture to about 650 words for  elementary students in this picture book.

• The Storyteller's Candle by Lucia Gonzales and Lulu Delacre

The winter of 1929 feels especially cold to cousins Hildamar and Santiago--they arrived in New York City from sunny Puerto Rico only months before. Their island home feels very far away indeed, especially with Three Kings' Day rapidly approaching. But then a magical thing happened. A visitor appears in their class, a gifted storyteller and librarian by the name of Pura Belpré. She opens the children's eyes to the public library and its potential to be the living, breathing heart of the community. The library, after all, belongs to everyone--whether you speak Spanish, English, or both. 

• Eight Candles for Counting by Jonny Zucker and Jan Barger Cohen

This is a  simple introduction to Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light. Follow a family as they light the menorah, open presents and eat latkes, to celebrate the great miracle that happened over 2,000 years ago. 

Any picture book about Hanukkah will show children the significance of the eight candles.

• The Great Candle Scandal by Jean Chapman and Roland Harvey

A rhyming tale of Dan, a candlemaker apprentice who decides to build a giant candle, foe Easter that is as high as a cathedral. Lots of fun but long out of print.

• Blackout by John Rocco

On a hot night in the city, everyone in the family is busy with their own activities-too busy to play with the young girl hoping for a partner in a board game. When the electricity suddenly goes out, however, the busy family slows down; at first "huddled around flashlights and candles" together, they're then driven by the heat to the apartment-building roof, where they discover a power-free block party.