Holiday! Celebration Days Around the World by Deborah Chancellor

(Book that addresses diversity #1)

This book a DK level 2 reader, meaning it is designed for children that are just beginning to read alone. It has slightly longer sentences and increased vocabulary from the level one books.

This book addresses diversity by talking about different holidays that are celebrated around the world. It includes American holidays as well, giving the child the opportunity to relate his or her own culture to the culture of others.

Along with the traditional American holidays, some of the holidays mentioned in the book are Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hina Matsuri, Holi, and Hanukkah.

In each case, the book tells what people traditionally do on these holidays, but for some of them, it also tells the history and where the tradition began. It helped me learn a little bit about my own culture. I did not know, for example, that April Fool’s day originated when the Pope changed New Year’s Day in France from April first to January first. Some people, not remembering the change, were laughed at and called “April Fools.”

 

Chancellor, Deborah (2000). Holiday! celebration days around the world. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc.