14th January International Kite Day

The 14th of January is International Kite Day. A kite is a toy consisting of a light frame flying in the wind that a person holds by the end of a long string. Kites are very popular! That's why there are so many kite festivals worldwide: in India, Bali, China, Guatemala, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and more. Kites were probably invented about 3,000 years ago in China, and they are part of the traditional culture in several countries. In Bali, from June to August it is the kite season as the wind picks up and blows consistently at that time of the year. Traditionally, the Balinese used to fly kites over the rice fields to ask the gods for an abundant harvest.

International Kite Day originated in India, in the state of Gujarat. The kite festival, called Uttarayan in Hindi, commemorates the transition from winter to summer, as well as the upcoming harvest season. In addition, the kites are meant to symbolize the spirits of the gods that are awaking from their deep winter sleep.

The Aussie Childcare Network has provided a very useful page to help celebrate this day. It includes activities, a book list and some amazing posters which you could use to start discussion. I have written about kites before, but not recently and there are so many fun books on this topic worth exploring, starting with a favourite:

• The Sea-Breeze Hotel by Marcia Vaughan and Patricia Mullins

and then

• Kite Flying by Grace Lin

• Kites by Simon Mole and Oamul Lu

• The Warlord's Kites  by Virginia Pilegard and Nicolas Debon

• Kite Day  by Will Hillenbrand

• Un Barrilette by Elisa Armando and Toya Hairs

• King for a Day  by Christiane Kramer and Rukhsana Khan

• The Best Winds  by Laura Williams and Eujin Kim

• The Dream Kite  by Grace Hallworth and Sophie Bass

• Chinese Kite Festival by Richard Lo

• What the Kite Saw  by Anne Laurel Carter and Akin Duzakin

• Daniel's Good Day by Micha Archer

9th March to 8th April Ramadan

In the ninth month of the year, when the first crescent moon rises in the sky, it’s time to celebrate Ramadan!

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and it is one of the most sacred times for Muslims. Muslims are expected to refrain, which is one of the five pillars of their faith. To demonstrate this they abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset each day of this month. After the sunset prayer, Muslims gather in their homes or mosques to break their fast with a meal called ifṭār that is often shared with friends and extended family. The ifṭār usually begins with dates, as was the custom of Muhammad, or apricots and water or sweetened milk.

There are very few muslim students at the school I work at, but it is a multicultural school and lots of other festivals are celebrated and so because of this we do have books in the library that allow students to see what happens at Ramadan.

Start with 

• The Great Night Journey  by Anita Ganeri. This is a brief story in the Hopscotch series of beginning readers where Muhammed is given a message and he must go on an incredible journey through the heavens and then deliver the word of Allah to the people.

• The Great Night Journey and Other Stories  by Anita Ganeri.

• Ramadan  by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi

• Ramadan and Id-ul-Fitr by Nancy Dickmann

• Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr by Sara Khan and Nadiyah Suyatna 

• Ramadan Kareem  by M.O. Yuksel

• Sweet Dates to Eat  by Jonny Zucker

• The Month that Makes the Year by Inda Ahmad Zahri

Then stories

• Ramadan Moon by Robert B. Na'ima and Sharon Adl

• The Gift of Ramadan  by Rabiah York Lombard and Laura Horton

• Under the Ramadan Moon  by Sylvia Whitman

• The Blessed Pomegranates  by A. Helwa 

• Lailah's Lunchbox  by Reem Faruqi and Lea Lyon 

• The Very Best Doughnut  by Randa Abdel-Fattah

• The Little Green Drum  by Taghreed Najjar

• My Grandma and Me  by Mina Javaherbin and Lindsey Yankey

• Maymoona's Moon  by Razeena Omar Gutta and Zayneb Haleem

• Salat in Secret  by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Hatem Aly

• Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

• Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns  by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

• One Sun and Countless Stars  by Hena Khan and Mehrdokht Armini   

For more books that are set in the Middle East and which may help in your quest for Ramadan books see this Pinterest.

5th February Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival called Shangyuan Festival is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. It marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles that are written on the lanterns. Everyone—regardless of age or gender—goes out onto the streets to celebrate. Some of the children at school told me they were looking forward to going to Chatswood to celebrate.

Many of the books about Chinese New Year have already been borrowed from the library. Here's some that are specifically about lanterns.

• Lanterns and Firecrackers  by Jonny Zucker and Jan Barger Cohen

• Playing With Lanterns by Wang Yage and Zhu Chengliang

• Paper Lanterns  by Stefan Czernecki

• Chinese New Year Colors  by Richard Lo

• Celebrating the Lantern Festival by Sanmu Tang

• Lin Yi's Lantern  by Brenda Williams and Benjamin Lacombe

• The Most Beautiful Lantern by Sally Heinrich

7th November Diwali

Today Diwali is being celebrated in Australia. This is the festival of lights, one of the most celebrated festivals in India. It has many beautiful traditions attached to it it and the children in Year 1 at school who are celebrating festivals this term enjoy this one immensely. They make lamps, design rangoon with coloured chalk on the playground and enjoy Indian sweets. For this reason the library now has a good collection of books to spread among the four classes. Among them are these: