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.

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:

31st March RIP Tomie dePaola

"In this gorgeous and contemplative New York Times bestselling picture book, legendary author-illustrator Tomie dePaola reminds us that mindfulness--being quiet, still, and present with one another--is a very special thing. Everything is in such a hurry, busy as busy can be.  
The birds are flying so fast, the dragonfly is zooming over the water--even the trees are waving their leaves. 

So what if we sit here, you next to me...and we can just be? "

This is what I did when I heard the sad news about the passing of Tomie dePaola, who was such a 'giant' in the  children's picture book world. Everyone is getting more time to sit, notice things around them and just be at the moment so how fitting that we have this book to remind us of wonder, awe, beauty and the skills of an author illustrator!

Pause and remember his brilliance while you watch and read.

25th October World Pasta Day

World Pasta Day, another good excuse to pull out lots of books in the library and make a display. Nearly all the bird books went this week for Bird Week so I have an empty space. It was Noodle Day on the 6th October and National Pasta Day  on the 17th October and I did nothing for these so I'm going to combine pasta and noodles this week. I was a bit perplexed as to what the difference between noodles and pasta actually was so I went looking. Here tells me that basically pasta is of Italian origin and noodles are of Chinese origin although they are made similarly, but another website summarises it in this way 
1. Egg noodles are typically long flat strips of dough, while pasta comes in a variety of shapes
2. Egg noodles originated in China, while the origin of pasta is not certain.  There is also lots of mention about inclusion of eggs and the type of wheat used in the noodle.

Oh well differences aside, the library has plenty of books to display, without even resorting to cookbooks. Among them these below. and if you don't have many why not revisit all the Strega Nona books and enjoy some Tomie dePaola.

1st November All Saints Day

Year 1 is doing a unit of study on Celebrations and I've had to do a bit of reading this week. Why do teachers think that the librarian knows everything?   T: Why is it called Halloween?  L: Well it comes from the the Eve of All Hallow's.
T: But what is All Hallows? L: Isn't it another name for All Saints Day. 
T: Well what is All Saints Day? L: I think it is the day before All Soul's Day.
So went one conversation I had before I thought I had better do some reading. I found it easy to find books and information about Halloween and its history. The others were harder.

I found this website about All Saints Day helpful and here I read that  it is a day when many Christians remember and honour the saints. Now although I teach at a Christian school it is not a Catholic school and therefore not a lot of emphasis is placed on saints in a religious context. However in a historical context there are many picture books depicting the life of saints. Many of these tell amazing stories and have brilliant illustrations.
Look for these by Demi:
• The Legend of St Nicholas describes the pivotal events in the history and life of the saint who inspired the legend of Santa Claus.
• Mother Teresa  of is a biography of Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, known as Mother Teresa for all her time spent helping the poor in Calcutta, India.
• Joan of Arc
These two by Joyce Denham
• Patrick: Saint of Ireland
• Saint Francis of Assisi
And two by Tomie dePaola
• The Holy Twins: Benedict and Scholastica 
• Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland

Then I looked up All Soul's Day and learned that this is a day for  Christian communities to remember deceased family members and friends. This is more like the idea behind the Mexican/ Latin American Day of the Dead. There are also picture books about this day. Among them are:
• Felipa and the Day of the Dead by Birte Muller
• Maria Molina and the Days of the Dead by Kathleen Krull
• Day of the Dead by Tony Johnston & Jeanette Winter
• Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet  Book by Jeanette Winter
• Ghost Wings by Barbara Joose & Giselle Potter

So this week I have learned quite a bit about Christian celebrations and some of the pagan connections with them.

17th October National Pasta Day

I don't think we have a Pasta Day in Australia but what a good excuse to get out all the great kids cookbooks and cook up a feast. I love Ready, Steady Spaghetti by Lucy Broadhurst and then you can work your way through all the pasta recipes in the back of Everyone Brings Noodles by Norah Dooley. And while you are cooking and eating you can have fun reading from this list:

• Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. Who can resist the concept of a magic pasta pot?

• More Spaghetti, I Say by Rita Golden Gelman

• Basghetti Spaghetti by Susanne Vettiger

• Spaghetti for Suzy by Peter Coplans

• The Spaghetti Tangle by Alexander McCall Smith

• Pino and the Signora's Pasta by Janet Pedersen

Make sure you do it on Wednesday because of

• Wednesday is Spaghetti Day by Maryann Cocca-Leffler!

19th March National Quilting Day

National Quilting Day is celebrated on the th
ird Saturday in March in America. I'm not sure we have an equivalent here in Australia, but as there is a keen quilter working in the library with me, we have a wonderful collection of books that feature quilts and we often use her quilts as part of our displays. The stories that accompany the quilt books usually celebrate themes such as community, family, memories, sharing, kindness and giving so they make ideal discussion starters and often lead to a myriad of craft activities. Among the 'quilt' books in our library are the following picture books:

• The Quiltmaker's Gift and The Quiltmaker's Journey by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail DeMarcken

• The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy and Jerry Pinkney

• Granny's Quilt by Penny Ives

• The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and Tomie dePaola

• The Quilt by Ann Jonas

• The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

• The Patchwork Path by Bettye Stroud and Erin Susanne Bennett

• The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

And of course there are all those beautiful books of poems where the illustrations are quilts made by author/ illustrator Anna Grossnickle Hines. Her newest is poetry about peace called Peaceful Pieces.

5th January La Befana

La Befana is part of traditional Italian Epiphany celebrations. I have borrowed this from Anthony Parente to explain what it means. "La Befana is one of Italy's oldest and most celebrated legends. Each year on January 6 the children of Italy awaken in hopes that La Befana has made a visit to their house. This is a significant day to Italians because it marks the end of the Christmas season and the day that the three Wise Men arrived at the manger of the Christ child. Over the years the Epiphany has been a more celebrated holiday for the children of Italy than even Christmas.

As legend has it the three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small house to ask for directions. Upon knocking, an old woman holding a broom opened the door slightly to see who was there. Standing at her doorstep were three colorfully dressed men who were in need of directions to find the Christ child. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. Prior to the three men leaving they kindly asked the old woman to join them on their journey. She declined because she had much housework to do. After they left she felt as though she had made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with the kind men. After many hours of searching she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hope that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child's house to leave those who were good treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal." This story is told beautifully by Tomie dePaola in The Legend of Old Befana. We can always rely on Tomie to have a picture book about any Italian tradition!

Interestingly, the Russians also have a folktale about an old woman who is also visited by three wise men who are on their way to visit a new baby. She is known as Baboushka. If you cannot find the dePaola book, look for one of the Russian folktales. My library has these three, but there are others:

• Babushka by Sandra Ann Horn & Sophie Fatus

• Baboushka by Arthur Scholey & Helen Cann

• The Tale of Baboushka by Elena Pasquali & Lucia Mongioj

12th December Poinsettia Day

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 honor 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.

15th September Robert McCloskey (1914 - 2003) Tomie dePaola (1934)

Robert McCloskey is the author of the children's book that has brought me the most pleasure during my thirty year teaching career. That book is Make Way For Ducklings which won the 1942 Caldecott Medal. I love sharing it with each new Kindergarten class, most of whom nowadays have not ever seen it. They comment upon the lack of colour in the illustrations and say that it is not a book that they would be interested in, but once I read it to them, there is total awe and the lack of colour seems irrelevant. The setting does not mean much to Australian children either, but they follow Mr and Mrs Mallard and their ducklings closely as you read. Many of the children make connections with Pamela Allen's Alexander's Outing and the Botanical Gardens in Sydney. The names of the ducklings roll off their tongues when they are retelling the story. Not many of McCloskey's other books have stood the test of time in Australia, probably because of their Maine setting. Last year I finally got to go to Boston as you can see from my photo and see Nancy Schon's wonderful bronze statues in the Public Garden. I was amazed at how many children were there squabbling over who was going to sit on which duckling. Obviously there are other readers out there who love them too.

The other pleasure I had while in Boston was a visit to the Eric Carle Museum and while I was there there was an exhibition of Tomie dePaola's work. What a bonus! I would have gone there no matter what was on display, but to see so much original Tomie dePaola was special. I particularly like his artwork and had seen him draw when he visited Australia a very long time ago. One of my treasured teaching resources is an autographed edition of his book Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose. Tomie dePaola has published so many books(about four a year) it is so hard to say which are my favourites, but I do enjoy reading The Legend of the Poinsettia and Tony's Bread at Christmas. These two books explain to children why poinsettias and panettones are popular during the festive season. There is a very interesting interview with him at Reading Rockets.