MotherReader

I realize I haven't been posting, but it wouldn't feel like the holidays if I didn't update and share my traditional 150 Ways to Give a Book. They are all MotherReader-approved titles — i.e., Good Books. There are a lot more choices for younger kids, as that’s the group we adults most fear disappointing with giving “only” a book. And picture books are kind of easier to do. After the book and gift selections, I’ve also included ways to wrap a book, and book-themed gifts to include for a variety of ages. There are a few new 2015 titles mixed in with older ones — though there aren’t many classics, as I’ve tried to select books that kids would be less likely to have on their shelves. I've also tried to avoid any branded products, which is surprisingly difficult.

Sometimes I choose the hardback when the paperback is also available, so check if that is important to you. I’ve also linked to the fun extras through Amazon, for example, to save you shopping time, and because I get some small credit for your purchases through the Amazon Associates program. But know that you can find cheaper alternatives for some small things — paints, pens, journals, etc. — at a local discount store. On the other hand, doing all your purchases online and having them sent to your door is priceless.

I'm always looking for new ideas, so leave suggestions in the comments. I hope you'll share this link as you promote giving books as gifts for the holidays and that you find some great ideas for your own friends and family. Enjoy!

Multi-Age

1. Give an experience like a trip to a zoo, aquarium, museum, aviary, arena, or city. Put the passes, tickets, or homemade gift certificate with a relevant book to make it feel more tangible.
2. Take a road trip with Ask Me so you can use the driving time to ask each other the interesting questions from the book.
3. Give a book with a movie theater gift card to see the upcoming film.
4. Give a book with a gift card to rent the movie. Include a box of microwave popcorn.

5. Give One Hen — How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference with a loan to Kiva or a donation to Heifer International to buy chicks.
6. Pair any book with another book from the bargain section, maybe something silly or crafty or gimmicky.
7. Pair a detective book with a magnifying glass.
8. Match poetry books with word beads or magnetic poetry.
9. Pair a picture book with a related stuffed animal.
10. Give an interesting, insightful book with a restaurant gift card and a date to discuss the book together over a meal.
11. Honor the book enthusiast with necklace along with a new title.
12. Celebrate writing too with special journals from Tara Books, an independent press based in India.

Picture Books

13. Learn letters with ABC, Baby Me! board book or The Sleepy Little Alphabet and letter links.
14. Or work with numbers (and colors) with 10 Hungry Rabbits and magnetic numbers.
15. Or let them battle it out with 123 vs ABC and bath toys

16. Give The Day the Crayons Quit and the sequel The Day the Crayons Came Homewith a pack of fat crayons and a stack of copy paper from an office supply store.
17. Or go with Art and Max or Blue Chicken with a paint set.
18. Pair Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt and/or The Curious Garden with gardening tools and seeds.
19. It’s almost dessert when you give The Cow Loves Cookies with a cookie counting game.
20. What else can go with Extra Yarn but extra yarn? Well, and knitting needles and instructions.
21. Pair Kite Flying and/or Kite Day with a new kite.
22. Give Bats at the Ballgame with a bat and ball. You can throw in a coupon book for practice sessions.
23. Take a light-hearted bedtime book like Goodnight Already! or A Bedtime for Bear and add a night light.
24. Or choose A Full Moon is Rising or Moonlight with glow-in-the-dark moon and stars — or go high tech with this Moon in my Room.

25. Get moving with Giant Dance Party with Kids Dance Party CD.
26. Keep up the music by giving Drum City with an old-time tin drum.
27. Pair Bubble Trouble with touchable bubbles.
28. Ballet dancers will love the classic Angelina Ballerina or the slightly edgyVampirina Ballerina (or both) with a fancy tutu or two… two.
29. Give little superheroes SuperHero ABC along with a superhero cape.
30. Encourage a future Iron Chef by giving Rainbow Stew or Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon with a cooking set.
31. Silliness ensues with Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure and the Pass the Pigs game.
32. Take it outside with Chalk with 3-D sidewalk chalk.

33. Pair Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site or Building with Dad with toy construction vehicles.
34. Give The Monstore with the monster game.
35. Who can resist that match-up of Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek with Lincoln Logs?
36. Give your little dragon-lover Have You Seen My Dragon?, Lovabye Dragon or Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood with a cute dragon.
37. Is there a doctor in the house? There will be with picture book Doctor Ted along with a doctor kit.
38. Future firefighter instead? Give Fire! Fuego! along with Firefighters A to Z and firefighter gear.
39. Pair picture book Crafty Chloe with a selection of craft supplies.
40. What else can go with Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum other than lots of bubble gum.
41. Cat lovers can enjoy picture books Here Comes Santa Cat, Katie Loves the Kittens, and A Castle Full of Cats with a cat card game.

42. Or let the dogs out with Dogs, Here Comes Trouble!, and If You Give a Dog a Donut and a dog themed game.
43. Add a car to a child's train set, but include Steam Train, Dream Train or Elisha Cooper's Train.
44. Nature lovers will enjoy Birdsongs along with a guidebook like Backyard Birds and some binoculars.
45. For more nature, pair A Butterfly is Patient and/or Butterfly Park with a butterfly garden kit.
46. Give your favorite girly-girl Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy with dress-up jewelry and/or a fancy poodle.
47. Give your rough little boy Bad Pirate along with genuine pirate gear.
48. Another nighttime choice is Goodnight, Little Monster with an Ugly Doll.
49. Give picture book Flashlight with a special flashlight and a promise for a nighttime walk or two.

50. Or for a different angle with that flashlight, pair with Blackout and prepare for indoor fun with the lights out.
51. Take fun picture book Fold Me a Poem and pair it with an origami kit.
52. Picture books A Sick Day for Amos McGee or Panda-monium at Peek Zoo would be perfect with a zoo animal collection or game.
53. Or head down to the Farm, adding a Lace and Trace Farm Set.
54. 999 Frogs Wake Up goes nicely with Flingin' Frogs game.
55. For a western theme, give A Night on the Range or Rodeo Red with a cowboy hat.
56. Take a special book, like The Lion and the Bird (about a friendship and seeing each other again), and make a recording of you reading it.
57. Pair Duck and Goose with a bright ball.

58. Celebrate the season with the beautiful Dusk and appropriate lights or decorations.
59. The funny wordless book Once Upon a Banana is a perfect fit with a stuffed monkey — but show your sense of humor by throwing a banana into the gift bag.
60. Another wordless book choice is the visually stunning Pool, which begs to be given with googles and a trip to the nearest indoor swimming pool.
61. Give The Snow Globe Family with a snow globe.
62. Pair Lilly’s Big Day with dress-up clothes.
63. Or another dress-up option is the Ladybug Girl books with wings and antennae.
64. Pair Bubble Bath Pirates with a cool rubber duck.
65. Give the wonderful The Day the Babies Crawled Away with a baby doll.
66. Everyone needs Mo Willems’ book Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, maybe adding a toy bus.
67. Pair classic A Bargain For Frances with a tea set.

Early Elementary

67. Pair a nonfiction book about dinosaurs, like Boy! Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs, with a bunch of plastic ones.
68. Give Instructions with a book of classic fairy tales, and make time to read them together.
69. Introduce a folktale with Maneki Neko: the Tale of the Beckoning Cat and giving lucky cat bank.
70. Pair silly beginning reader book The Monster in the Backpack with a cute backpack (monster additional).
71. Give beginning reader books Amazing Sharks! and National Geographic Readers: Sharks! and throw in a shark on a stick.
72. Take to the ice with book choices Katie Kazoo, On Thin Ice and passes to the local ice-skating rink.

73. Give a title from the Soccer Cats series with a soccer ball.
74. Pair Toys Go Out with a red bouncy ball, or a plush stingray or buffalo.
75. Pair Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs with a kazoo.
76. Give early chapter book series books Rainbow Fairies or Flower Fairies with lovely little fairies.
77. Blooming fashionistas will appreciate Paper Fashions (Klutz) (all thirty-five Amazon reviews gave five stars!) along with Fashion Kitty.
78. Combine sweet Jenny and the Cat Club with a red scarf (don’t worry if it’s too long — so is Jenny’s) and a black cat.

Elementary

80. Satisfy a sweet tooth with The Candymakers with a candy making kit.
81. Pair Operation YES! with green army men.
82. Be a hero and give Percy Jackson and the Olympians Boxed Set with Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths.
83. Pair fantasy book The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda with a Stars Wars 'Ask the Force' top.
84. Give What the World Eats with a promise for an international dinner out or in.
85. Pair Every Soul a Star with The Kids Book of the Night Sky and plan a date to look at the stars together.
86. For business-minded kids, pair The Lemonade War with a coin counter bank.
87. Expand the idea of giving with The One and Only Ivan with an adopt-an-animal program at your local zoo.
88. All the elementary school kids will love The Invention of Hugo Cabret, but you can pair it with tin wind-up toys for extra flair.
89. Give Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little with um, Stuart Little.

90. You can’t go wrong with the funny poems and outstanding art in Frankenstein Takes the Cake along with a cake-baking session, followed by reading the book together. As a matter of fact, throw in Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich and make a whole day — and meal — of it.
91. Speaking of the amazing Adam Rex, give the hilarious book The True Meaning of Smekday with a the related T-shirt Regarding Stickyfish Teams, I Favor the Bigfield Fighting Koobish.
92. Give Kimchi & Calamari with a promise for a dinner out Korean style, or Italian style, or both.
93. Wrap up A Crooked Kind of Perfect with excellent toe socks.
94. Perhaps Fabulous Hair with a collection of hair accessories will make someone smile.
95. Pair a diary-format book like My Explosive Diary (2nd/3rd grade), Amelia’s Notebook (4th/5th grade), or The Princess Diaries (6th/7th grade) with a journal and fun pens

96. For a boy, how about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School with the Do It Yourself Journal?
97. Have fun with Clarice Bean Spells Trouble and a game of Scrabble.
98. Pair Phineas MacGuire... Erupts! with a science kit, or the next book in the series, Phineas MacGuire... Gets Slimed! with the slime science kit.
99. Look to fantastic nonfiction, giving Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon with a homemade coupon for a visit to the Air and Space Museum (okay, this might only work around Washington, D.C.) or astronaut ice cream.
100. Give a drawing book like Draw 50 Aliens or Draw 50 Animals with a couple of nice sketch pads.
101. Pair a spy-themed book like Harriet the Spy, Spy School (chapter book) or The Real Spy’s Guide to Becoming a Spy (nonfiction) with rear-view sunglasses and/or a fingerprint kit.
102. Bigger girls like stuffed animals, too. How about Hoot with an owl or The World According to Humphrey with a hamster?
103. Select a magic book and fun magic tricks.
104. Pair D.I.Y.: Kids with a gift card to a local craft store, and maybe some shopping and crafting time together.

105. Match the book and the movie, like The Spiderwick Chronicles with the DVD.
106. Pair a theme book like Katie and the Mustang with a horse charm and a satin cord from a craft store.
107. Or maybe Fairy Realm with a charm bracelet.
108. Give the first books of The Series of Unfortunate Events with a brass telescope.
109. Pair The Art Book for Children with watercolor paints or an art set.
110. Give National Geographic's Book of Animal Poetry, Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart or Poetry Speaks to Children with hot chocolate, a mug, and a gift certificate for time to read it together.

Teen

110. Buy a tween Better Nate Than Ever and/or Jack & Louise: Act 1along with tickets to a show.
111. Give the companion books Goth Girl Rising and The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl , and throw in How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains.
112. Pair a book that you and a teen can enjoy with a gift card to Starbucks and a promise to talk about the book over coffee. Some suggestions? Liar, Candor, or The Adoration of Jenna Fox have interesting issues.

113. Give Beauty Queens with a small makeup kit, and a healthy dose of irony.
114. Rock out with Beige along with a mix CD of the songs in the chapter titles (or an iTunes gift card).
115. Pair House of Dance with ballroom dance lessons.
116. Give delicious book A La Carte with personal cooking lessons.
117. Match casino gambling themed Drop with a deck of cards and a family game of penny poker or blackjack.
118. Pair King Dork with a CD of The Mr. T Experience.
119. Treat a tween to Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf along with pink nail polish, lipstick, post-it notes, and special bubble bath, as mentioned in the book.
120. Pair The Chicks with Sticks Guide to Knitting with yarn, knitting needles, and a promise for some lessons.
121. Give Ductigami: The Art of Tape with... well, rolls of duct tape.

Adult

122. Give nonfiction book The Beekeeper's Lament with real honey from a whole foods store.

123. Buy two copies of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World  — one for you, one for a friend — and make a lunch date to talk about the book and one’s personal quest for happiness.
124. Pair Life is Sweet with chocolate, any kind.
125. Give This I Believe II with the first book This I Believe and a journal to capture great revelations of inner truth.
126. Recapture that one exciting election year when we had hope with Dreams From My Father and Life’s The American Journey of Barack Obama.
127. Match travel memoir-themed books with the... um, drink of the region. Like In a Sunburned County with Yellow Tail wine from Australia or The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific with coconut rum. (Adults only for this gift, obviously.)
128. Colbert fans and soon-to-be converts need the new book, America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't along with the greatest gift of all, the DVD A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All.
129. Give The Devil Wears Prada, Bitter Is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office, and This Little Piggy Went to Prada in a Prada bag (from eBay! C’mon, a girl can dream...)

Wrap a Book

130. Wrap your book up in solid paper and tie a cool scarf around it. I love this blue and white striped one, which would look great with silver paper for Hannukkah.
131. For just a little something extra, make these headbands the ribbons around your wrapped package.

132. Try reusable shopping bags — wrap in one, attach another in its pouch as a gift. These bags fold up into little strawberries. Cute!
133. Or tuck a book or two in an Peace Love Books tote.
134. Wrap a cookbook in photocopies of your favorite recipes. A knitting book with your own favorite patterns. Or hey, wrap a book about finances in dollar bills.
135. Wrap your book up in a clever Threadless t-shirt. Want a literary theme? The Pictures and Coversations one is particular cool.
136. If you’re going the book gift card route, how about tucking it in a Keep Calm and Read Books coin purse
137. Maybe you just want to attach a little something to the gift for fun. I suggest a keychain, bookmarks, an ornament, bangle-bracelets, locker magnets, or lip gloss. You can find these online, but personally, I go to the very back of Claire’s stores where they often have incredible discounts on such little things.
138. Okay, I listed keychains, but there are also reading-themed ones like this one.
139. And yes I mentioned bookmarks, but not a Reading Ninja bookmark.
140. Don’t have the time or energy to deal with the mall? Find a little booklight to tie on the package. I like the look of this one

Add a Book-Themed, Handmade Gift

141. Give recycled book postcards like these Paris Ladies.
142. Everyone isn’t on GoodReads, so here’s a little reading journal.
143. For home, locker or cubicle cabinets, some reading-themed Bottle Cap Magnets.
144. Bibliophiles don’t need to hide their love of the page with a Bookish necklace.
145. Or proclaim a love of words on your ears with Shakespeare earrings.
146. A sweet art print for people who love to read.
147. Or for another take, a print of a favorite animal on vintage book pages, especially one for book lovers
148. Maybe give a tote to carry those tomes, but one with book club tribute.
149. Maybe give a book loving mugs with literary tea.
150. Send out some love to the ereaders with a special cover of words.

The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes
by Linda Glaser
As a family prepares for Hanukkah, more guests are due to arrive than expected. The daughter, Rachel, borrows potatoes and eggs from their elderly neighbor to make the latkes, each time hoping that by borrowing food she will convince the woman to join the family for Hanukkah. She can’t make her come over, but in the end comes up with another plan to bring Hanukkah to the woman. Light and bright illustrations complement the tone perfectly. A fun story that doesn’t feel the need to explain either the history or the specific celebration of the holiday. There a sequel, too: Mrs. Greenberg’s Messy Hanukkah.

Hanukkah at Valley Forge
by Stephen Krensky
In the middle of the Revolutionary War, a soldier takes a quiet moment to celebrate Hanukkah. Spotted by General Washington, he explains the religious history of Hanukkah as we see the connection between the fight of the Maccabees and America’s fight with the British. The book has a historical basis, as the author’s note describes. Lovely book too, in its detailed watercolor illustrations.


Chanukah Lights
by Michael Rosen
There’s no need to review this new and spectacular book. I got the promotion piece at Book Expo America and was already sold on this title. Just watch.

My kids aren’t little anymore, and our taste in holiday picture books has changed. These are my favorite books for the season — even when it seems like everyone is too old for picture books. Never, my friends, never.

The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming
by Lemony Snicket

Just hysterical. A latke runs screaming from the frying pan and encounters various Christmas icons along its path. As the latke explains what it is and its significance in the celebration of Hanukkah, it keeps getting compared to Christmas. And so it keeps screaming. Lemony Snicket actually gets in a fair bit about the meaning of Hanukkah, while keeping a wry tone throughout. For instance, as the latke explains in a long paragraph about being fried in oil — as a reference to the oil that was used to rededicate the temple and the miracle that made the oil last for eight nights — the answer it receives is par for the course:

“So you’re basically hash browns,” said the flashing colored lights. “Maybe you can be served alongside a Christmas ham.”

“I’m not hash browns!” cried the latke. “I’m something completely different!”

And then it runs screaming, “AAAHHHHHHHHH!” for two pages. As my kids have grown past the traditional — and too often schmaltzy — Hannukkah stories, this one is our new family classic.

The Lump of Coal
by Lemony Snicket

On the same note, we’ve turned to this title to replace the cute Christmas stories that absorbed us in the past. It contains perhaps one of the most perfect opening sentences of all times:

The holiday season is a time for storytelling, and whether you are hearing the story of a candelabra staying lit for more than a week, or a baby born in a barn without proper medical supervision, these stories often feature miracles.

A humble lump of coal longs to be something more and visits an art gallery and Korean barbecue in hopes of fulfilling his search for meaning. Instead, a drugstore Santa decides the lump will be the perfect thing for his stepson’s stocking — as punishment. But this ill intent goes right, as the coal finds his purpose in an artist’s hand. Wry, funny and odd, this book ends on just the right note for the holidays, and in echoing the first sentence, with miracles.

Robert’s Snowflakes
by Grace Lin

Lest you think I’m all about the wit, my third choice is not about either holiday, but it is about beauty, joy, and hope. The book features dozens of snowflake shapes decorated by famous children’s illustrators and gentle haikus for the winter season. The artwork created is amazing. Some illustrators featured their characters — like Ian Falconer’s Olivia and the dinosaurs of Mark Teague. Others contributed scenes of snow, skating, Santa, and lights. The real story within the book is the dedication of this group in auctioning the original snowflakes to fund cancer research. A lovely book that will be especially enjoyed by those who appreciate children’s book illustrators.

I am probably much prouder of this gift idea than the idea deserves, but just look at how the silver wrapping paper sets off the gray in the scarf. Masterful!

For the Hanukkah gathering at my aunt’s house, I get gifts for six girls — including my own — and I like them to be coordinated somehow. This year I had the books ready, but not the theme. Not until I ran across the scarves in six colors at Old Navy. Honestly, I am holding myself back from buying twenty more and using this idea for everyone I know.

Here’s the gift list, in case it will help your last minute shopping.

For the college freshman: Everything You Want, by Barbara Shoup
While starting off at college, Emma’s family wins the lottery. Suddenly, with everything a possibility, the choices become too much for Emma — especially with a unresolved friendship and a new crush on the horizon. With family and identity crisis taking the forefront, money is part of the problem. Or a chance to grow up. Or both. Interesting book about finding your own way.

For the tenth grader: Angel, by Cliff McNish
Angel is darker than I usually go in my own reading, but it really gripped me and held on fast. It’s the story of a girl who is so obsessed with angels as a girl that she goes crazy. As a teen, she’s making her way back into the world, only to be confronted with a dark angel, a strange new girl, and her own ultimate destiny. A haunting book that stays with you. Take a look at the Editorial Reviews. Stunning.

For the eighth grader: Beige, by Cecil Castellucci
Nice, orderly Katy is forced to stay with her former-punk-rocker father while her mother goes on a trip. Katy, nicknamed Beige for her bland personality by a new friend, finds herself able to shed some of her self-imposed rules and insecurities as she crashes into the music scene. Fun, fresh, and well-done. Can’t go wrong with Castellucci.

For the seventh grader: Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer
Okay, this was for my daughter, who has been bugging me to get it from the library — but it’s never there. All her friends have read it. Peer pressure rules.

For the sixth grader: The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex
For an essay contest, Gratuity Tucci recounts the story of Earth’s takeover and occupation by the Boov from a personal point of view, which includes her own unlikely friendship, wild cross-country trip, and the eventual saving of mankind. Simply one of the best, funniest books ever written.

For the fourth grader: Jenny and the Cat Club, by Esther Averill
I love this classic book so very much. I gave it to my daughter with a red scarf like Jenny’s and a stuffed black cat. The gentle story follows Jenny, a shy house cat, and her adventures with the neighbor cat club. Absolutely adorable.

And in case you need an adult book, I highly recommend The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, by Eric Weiner
Part travel diary, part self-help book on happiness, and all humor, Eric Weiner takes the reader all over the world to apply the tenets of happiness. Wonderfully done, and would be a perfect gift for any adult. Strangely, it’s only available at Amazon for the paperback pre-order, so I’m linking to Barnes & Noble.

Oh, come back tomorrow for the Annual Airing of the Grievances at Festivus. The things you can’t bitch about on your site because the people involved might read it? You can bitch about it here. Tomorrow.

I know that some of you are starting your vacations for the holidays. Me, I’ll be here, adding a few posts in the next two weeks — including the Annual Airing of the Grievances on Festivus, December 23rd. Do stop by and vent freely. For now, what better way to start off the holiday vacations than with videos from Stephen Colbert?

The first is clearly a song — a duet, in fact — but there is so much poetry in it that I’m making it my Poetry Friday entry.

There are cynics, there are skeptics
There are legions of dispassionate dyspeptics
Who regard this time of year as a maudlin insincere
Cheezy crass commercial travesty of all that we hold dear

When they think that, well, I can hear it
But I pity them their lack of Christmas spirit
For in a world like ours, take it from Stephen
There are much worse things to believe in

A redeemer and a savior
An obese man giving toys for good behavior
The faith in what might be
And the hope that we might see
The answer to all sorrow in a box beneath the tree

Find them foolish, sentimental
Well you’re clearly none too bright, so we’ll be gentle
Don’t even try to start vaguely conceivin’
Of all much worse things to believe in

Believe in the judgment, believe in Jihad
Believe in a thousand variations on a dark and spiteful god
You’ve got your money, you’ve got your power
You’ve got your science saying the planet’s going to end within the hour
You’ve got your dreams that don’t come true
You’ve got the ones that do

Then you’ve got your nothing
Some folks believe in nothing
But if you believe in nothing
Then what’s to keep the nothing from coming for you?

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
Now if you’ll forgive me there’s a lot to do here
There are stockings still unhung
Colored lights I haven’t strung
And a one-man four-part Christmas carol waiting to be sung

Call me silly, call me sappy
Call me many things, the first of which is happy

You doubt, but you’re sad
I don’t, but I’m glad
I guess we’re even
At least that’s what I believe in
And there are much worse things

And with Hanukkah starting this weekend, let’s hear a little bit from Jon Stewart. My favorite part can’t be called poetry, but it makes me laugh every time.

Jon: I can’t interest you in Hanukkah?
   Just a little bit?

Stephen: No thanks, I’ll pass.
   I’ll keep Jesus, you keep your potato pancakes.
   But I hope that you enjoy ’em
   On behalf of all of the goyim

Jon: Be sure to tell the Pontiff
   My people say Good Yontif

Stephen: That’s exactly what I’ll do

Both: Happy holidays, you...

Jon: ...too!      Stephen: ...Jew!

I’ve noticed that a post I did in 2006 about Christmas Around the World is getting a lot of hits, so I’m reposting it today, figuring that it must be useful.

---

In our school system, the first graders study winter holidays around the world. As I recall, there is a special focus on India (Diwali), Israel (Hanukkah), Mexico (Christmas), and Germany (Christmas). Over the years, I’ve collected a few favorites to share in the classroom along with this theme.

The Magic Maguey, by Tony Johnson
A large maguey plant sits in the middle of a Mexican village providing many resources to the people of the town, as well as a gathering spot. As Christmas approaches, a rich man who owns that land says that he will get rid of the maguey and build a house there. Miguel, with the help of the other children, decorate the maguey so beautifully for Christmas that the rich man realizes his error and doesn’t cut it down. A great story about resourcefulness with a little bit of Christmas tradition and a smattering of Spanish words.

What’s Cooking, Jamela? by Niki Daly
Jamela’s family gets a chicken to fatten up for Christmas dinner, but Jamela gets attached to the chicken as a pet. Tension builds as a woman comes to prepare the chicken dinner, but in the end, Jamela’s mother finds something else for the Christmas dinner and gives the chicken to Jamela as a present. A fun story of a South African Christmas,conveying a sense of the culture along with a few words of the country.

A Kenya Christmas, by Tony Johnson
Juma’s Christmas wish is to see Father Christmas, and his special aunt brings a red and white suit to the village. She tells Juma to find someone to wear the suit so that the whole village can see Father Christmas for the first time. He does so and Father Christmas surprises the village with his arrival. But it is Juma who is surprised later when he finds out that the man who was supposed to play the part didn’t do so after all. Who was that man on the elephant? A very different picture of Christmas in Africa with amazing pictures by Leonard Jenkins.

Cobweb Christmas: The Traditon of Tinsel, by Shirley Climo
In Germany, a old woman sets up a Christmas tree and some curious spiders “decorate” it with their cobwebs. Kris Kringle turns the webs into silver, making the first tinsel. A sweet story about the Christmas tree tradition.

The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes, by Linda Glaser
As a family prepares for Hanukkah, more guests are due to arrive than expected. The daughter, Rachel, borrows potatoes and eggs from their elderly neighbor to make the latkes, each time hoping that by borrowing food she will convince the woman to join the family for Hanukkah. She can’t make her come over, but in the end comes up with another plan to bring Hanukkah to the woman. While not a story of Israel, it is my favorite Hanukkah story, so I kind of cheat and use it anyway.

I have yet to find a Diwali story that isn’t just, “This is what happens during Diwali,” so if anyone has one, I’d be happy to hear about it. If anyone wants to write a good Diwali story, I’d say you’d have a pretty open market.