Good evening, to everyone in the LM_NET community!
Thank you so much for your help. I have tried to send a "Thank You" response to
everyone who replied to my Target. If I didn't thank you individually, I would
like to take this opportunity to thank you now.so "Thank you from the bottom of my
heart for your assistance! Below you will find a copy of the hits I received.
Happy Holidays to you all!
Your Friend in Education,
Shannon Kerr, 1st grade teacher & LMS student
Botetourt Elementary School, Gloucester, Virginia
skerr@gc.k12.va.us
Books for Sweden:
ˇ Hanna's Christmas by Melissa Peterson
ˇ For Sweden, the American Girl, Kirsten is Swedish. Kirsten's Surprise is
a Christmas story. You can also use the American Girl dolls as displays. Many
young girls have these dolls. You can get paper dolls of each American Girl,
cookbooks, and activity books. It will bring Sweden to life for your students.
ˇ One of the Kirsten American Girl books (I think it is Meet Kirsten - it
shows her on the front with the wreath of candles on her head) has a chapter about
the St. Lucia celebration that I read to my first graders.
ˇ Annika's Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis. Christmas Fiction/Sweden Fiction.
Reading Level: 3.2 Annika has dreamed for ten years of discovering the almond in
her pudding that would grant her a special wish, but when she discovers the elusive
treat, she has mixed feelings about her wish and trades bowls with her younger
brother.
Books for Germany:
ˇ An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola
ˇ You may also try The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg. There is a
history page in the back explaining how candy canes originated in Germany.
ˇ The Christmas Cobwebs by Odds Bodkin. Having reluctantly parted with
treasured Christmas ornaments, members of a German immigrant family awake on
Christmas morning to find miraculous replacements spun by spiders.
ˇ Christmas in Germany. Chicago: World Book, 1996. Describes in text and
illustrations how Christmas is celebrated in Germany. Also includes stories,
songs, recipes, and craft projects.
Books for Holland:
ˇ Hans Brinker: Inspired by the novel by Bruce Coville. Netherlands History
19th century Fiction. Reading level: 4.5 A Dutch brother and sister work toward
two goals, finding the doctor who can restore their father's memory and winning the
competition for the silver skates.
Books for France:
ˇ Teach me-Joyeux Noel: Learning songs and traditions in French by Judy
Mahoney. Nonfiction Christmas music/carols & France Social life and customs.
Reading Level: 3.4 With text in English and French, this book features an
illustrated selection of Christmas traditions and songs that reflect the culture,
language, and people of France. This book comes with an audio CD.
ˇ Christmas in France. Chicago: World Book, 1996. Christmas customs,
crafts, recipes, and songs.
Books for Mexico:
ˇ Feliz Navidad: two stories celebrating Christmas by José Feliciano.
Presents an illustrated edition of singer/songwriter José Feliciano's well-known
Spanish and English Christmas song, and tells how the holiday is celebrated in his
home country of Puerto Rico.
ˇ Nine Days to Christmas by Marie Hall Ets. Ceci anxiously awaits her first
posada, the special Mexican Christmas party, and the opportunity to select a pinata
for it.
ˇ Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto. Maria tries on her mother's wedding ring
while helping make tamales for a Christmas family get-together. Panic ensues when
hours later, she realizes the ring is missing.
ˇ Ho, ho, Benjamin, Feliz Navidad by Patricia Reilly Giff. Simple Spanish
lessons are incorporated into this story about Benjamin gaining a new understanding
of Christmas through his friendship with his new neighbor.
ˇ Josefina's Surprise: a Christmas story by Valerie Tripp. The second
Christmas after their mother has died, Josefina and her three sisters find that
participating in the traditions of Las Posadas helps keep memories of Mamá alive.
Books for England:
ˇ The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas carol. In this old English
Christmas carol the friendly stable beasts tell of the gifts they have given to the
newborn Jesus.
ˇ Christmas in Britain. Chicago: World Book, 1996. Describes in text and
illustrations how Christmas is celebrated in Britain. Also includes stories,
songs, recipes, and craft projects.
Books for Itlay:
ˇ Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. Big Anthony plans a
surprise Christmas party for Strega Nona.
ˇ Christmas in Italy. Chicago: World Book, 1996. Describes in text and
illustrations how Christmas is celebrated in Italy. Also includes stories, songs,
recipes, and craft projects.
Holiday Books in General:
ˇ There is a great set of non-fiction books by Cheryl L. Enderlein. The
series title is: Christmas Around the World. They have individual informational
books on England, Mexico, the Philippines, Sweden. There are additional ones on
Italy, Germany, and France by a different author-can't remember the name right now.
They are published by Hilltop Books, a subsidiary of Franklin Watts Publishers.
ˇ Try Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani. It very briefly touches on the countries
you mentioned. Nonfiction Christmas music. Reading level: 4.2 An illustrated
version of the familiar Christmas song that adds new verses about Christmas customs
in Mexico, Sweden, the Philippines, Poland, Italy, and Kenya.
ˇ I know this is not a stand-alone title but I always found the Childcraft
article very good on this topic. Good luck!
ˇ I wasn't able to hit the nail on the head, but I've sent a short Titlewave
list to the inbox of your Titlewave account. I hope these titles might be helpful.
I was really surprised not to be able to find anything to help with Holland's
Christmas celebration. There's a Babar book about Christmas, but I couldn't find
it in English. Best of luck to you!
o Annika's Secret Wish by Beverly Lewis
o Christmas Around the World by Emily Kelley
o Hans Brinker: inspired by the novel by Bruce Coville
o Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani
o Teach me--Joyeux Noel: learning songs & traditions in French by Judy Mahoney
ˇ Christmas Around the World by Emily Kelley. Christmas nonfiction.
Reading level: 3.9 Describes Christmas traditions in Mexico, Ethiopia, China,
Germany, Lebanon, Sweden, Australia, and Russia.
ˇ Christmas Traditions Around the World -
http://www.caslt.org/research/christmas4.htm
An annotated guide to numerous sites detailing international Christmas
traditions. Teachers and librarians may especially be inspired by an
elementary school's internet scavenger hunts. *This website took a long time to
load but it was worth it.
ˇ Golden Book of Christmas Tales: legends from many lands by Lillian
Lewicki. Features the cherry tree, the talking animals, mantle of fire, the
nightingale, the robin, the miraculous harvest, the fly and the spider, Herod and
the cock, Saint Christopher, the Glastonbury thorn, Saint Nicholas, the
Callicantzari, the Jule-nisse, Saint Francis, La Befana, the three kings, Angel's
gift, the little stranger, and the Christmas rose.
ˇ Christmas by Cass R. Sandak. Traces the pre-Christian origins of the
Christmas celebration and discusses the customs associated with this holiday since
the birth of Christ.
ˇ Christmas Cooking Around the World by Susan Gold Purdy. Features
thirty-two traditional recipes for holiday dishes from the British Isles, France,
Italy, Scandinavia, and elsewhere. Includes an introduction to basic cooking
skills, descriptions of international Christmas customs, and seven decorative craft
projects.
ˇ The Twelve Days of Christmas: a celebration and history by Leigh Grant.
Presents the traditional carol, with text that explains the old customs of year-end
celebrations, some which date back to Greek and Roman times.
ˇ An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola. The inhabitants of a New
England village never make much fuss about Christmas until a new family moves in
and celebrates the holiday in a special way.
ˇ Gareth-Stevens has a set of books called Festivals of the World which is
very good for learning about holidays. Holland is listed as The Netherlands.
Books for Students Who Do Not Celebrate Christmas:
ˇ Not all students celebrate Christmas! A good one to use is Patircia
Polacco's The Tree of the Dancing Goats which is about neighbors helping the other
of different faiths ( Christian & Jewish) celebrate their holidays during a scarlet
fever epidemic in the neighborhood.
Lights for Gita is a wonderful one about the festival of lights ,
I read books about various weddings in different cultures rather than focus on the
holidays. I just purchased Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding by Lenore Look
this year and will be reading Gary Soto's Snapshots of a Wedding (Mexican American
wedding) and Nadia's Hands (a Pakistani American wedding) by Karen English.
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