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 April Pinata Day

Piñata Day is a celebration that honours the history and artistry of piñatas. Piñatas, which are traditionally made of papier-mâché and filled with sweets or gifts, originated in ancient China and were later brought to Mexico. They appear at children's birthday parties, even here in Australia.

The word piñata is thought to be from the Italian word 'pignatta' which means 'clay pot'.Piñatas were brought to Italy by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century and came into favor there during the following century. Following their rise in Italy, piñatas gained popularity in Spain, where they were commonly used during Lent.

In the sixteenth century, friars introduced piñatas to Mexico—the country they are most associated with today—where they became steeped in religious symbolism. They were formed into the shape of a seven-coned star, with each cone standing for one of the deadly sins. Their bright colors represented the temptation to fall into those sins. Blindfolding represented faith, as someone swinging a stick had to blindly do so and have faith they would be successful. Those gathered around could encourage or deceive the person behind the blindfold. 

Piñatas are extremely popular in Mexico as part of Las Posadas or the Twelve Days of Christmas.

• P is for Piñata: A Mexico Alphabet   by Tony Johnston & John Parra

• One is a Piñata by Roseanne Greenfield Thong & John Parra

There is a great reading here that was made for the San Francisco Symphony Adventures in Music program.

• The Piñata Story by Lisa and Michel Zajur

See Lisa read this book here.

• Hooray, a Pinata by Elisa Kleven

• The Piñata that the Farm Maiden Hung  by Samantha Vamos & Sebastian Serra

a companion to the award-winning The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred.

• A Piñata in a Pine Tree by Pat Mora & Magaly Morales

• How to Stuff a Piñata  by Naibe Reynoso & Ana Varela

• Piñata!  by Rebecca Emberley

This is read in Spanish here, but you can see the wonderful artwork and read the English text.

• Make a Piñata! by Michelle Freeman

This book is old and there are others to buy now, but Youtube has so many film clip tutorials to help you make one of your own.

There's even a 1975 edition of a book by Jack Kent, The Christmas Piñata!

 

2nd November Day of the Dead All Souls' Day

Day of the Dead combines the ancient Aztec custom of celebrating ancestors with All Souls' Day, a holiday that Spanish invaders brought to Mexico starting in the early 1500s.

Occasionally I get asked for books in Spanish because we have some Spanish speaking families and because Spanish is taught in the primary classes. 

Some Roman Catholics celebrate All Souls' Day, the day after All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day)which is the day after All Hallows' Eve (or Halloween). The Year 1s at my school used to do a unit of inquiry which looked at celebrations and festivals around the world. For this reason I purchased these books for the library.  We already had some general celebrations books where these days  were mentioned but these added some  stories.

• The Day of the Dead  by Bob Barner (English and Spanish)

• Barrette: A Kite for the Day of the Dead  by Elisa Armado Our version is in English)

• Felipa and the Day of the Dead by Birte Muller 

• Gustavo, the Shy Ghost  by Flavia Z. Drago

• Clatter Bash! A Day of the Dead Celebration by Richard Keep

You could also add this new book

• Our Day of the Dead Celebration by Ana Aranda

or the one Duncan Tonatiuh has doing for publication next year 

• Dia de Muertos: Numeros: A Day of the Dead Counting Book

4th October International Taco Day

The 4th of October celebrates the traditional Mexican icon known as a taco. The taco has travelled far and wide becoming a fast food staple all over the world.

A traditional Mexican version of the sandwich, a taco is a tortilla stuffed with filling. Usually made of corn or wheat, the tortilla can be filled with beef, chicken, vegetables, pork or seafood and served with cheese, cilantro or onions as garnish. 

Do we need a day to celebrate tacos? There won't be many books about tacos in the library. Wrong. There are more than sufficient for a taco display.

Just recently in a library lesson with a Year 1 class, we had a vote...which do you prefer, tacos or pizza? It was very close. Both were popular. This vote came about because my Year 1 students are besotted with the Pizza and Taco series of books. They are always OUT of the library and this annoys students who just have to read the next one and can't find it instantly. The students 'sell' them to each other. I didn't need to do anything, just make sure the next one arrived as soon as it was available.

There are currently four titles and the next is due early next year.

They are an hilarious young graphic novel series about Pizza and Taco, two best friends, with lots of toppings. They are by Stephen Shaskan. They are a sure-fire success with newly independent readers!

Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri have two picture books which feature tacos and they too are popular in the library. They come with toys which is always a bonus for my students because they love to take home a book and toy together.

Then there are several stand alone picture book titles too.

• It's Raining Tacos! by Parry Gripp and Peter Emmerich

• This is a Taco! by Andrew Congelose and Josh Shipley

• Little Taco Truck by Tanya Valentine and Jorge Martin

Some nonfiction procedural texts

•  How to Fold a Taco  by   Naibe Reynoso and Ana Varela   

• Tacos! An Interactive Recipe Book  by Lotta Nieminen

• Tacos by Golriz Golfer

And then these two chapter books that are from popular series

• Stick Dog Gets the Tacos  by Tom Watson

• Max Meow Taco Time Machine by John Gallagher

20th November Christmas Folktales

I have been having so much fun reading with my Kindergarten classes this term. We have been studying folktales and for the last four weeks we have looked closely at folktales that are set at Christmas. They are perfect for teaching students to make text-to-text connections. We started by looking at the Ukrainian tales which tell why spiders are hung on Christmas trees in the Ukraine and then compared it to the German Cobweb Christmas where we found out about the origins of tinsel. Next we looked at gift-bearers in Italy and Russia by comparing Old Befana and Baboushka and then to finish off we went to Mexico to learn why poinsettias abound as Christmas decorations.

These books are in my school library so they were the ones I used, but I am sure there are others.

•  The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola
• The Tale of Baboushka: A Traditional Christmas Story by Elena Pasquali
• Baboushka by Arthur Scholey (we have two versions, same words different illustrations)
• Babushka by Sandra Ann Horn
• Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo
• A Christmas Spider's Miracle by Trinka Hakes Noble
• The Spider's Gift: A Ukranian Christmas Story by Eric A. Kimmel
• The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
• The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story by Joanne Oppenheim