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| Author: Cherry Gilchrist;
illustrator: Helen Cann |
Did you know that when you go trick-or-treating
on Halloween you are taking part in
an ancient Celtic festival? This intriguing
collection of tales takes us back to
the origins of many festivals which
are celebrated throughout the world
and traces some of the stories that
are connected to them. Each of the tales
in this anthology has an introduction
which explains its origins and its significance
for the people who celebrate it.
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From Booklist
Bright greeting-card colors and patterned borders set the tone for this
compendium of celebrations that covers the year from Jewish Purim in early
March to the Russian Frost King/Snow Maiden in December. "How Krishna
Stole the Butter" and the life of the Buddha lead into the Chinese
and Japanese legend "The Oxherd and the Weaving Maiden" and
the changeling Halloween tale from the west of Ireland. The tales are
lively in the retelling, although they hold no sense of the sacred. The
text is straightforward--the Christian Christmas story comes straight
from the New Testament Gospels--and a fair number of sentences seem to
end in a breathless exclamation point. Useful for looking at the many
ways cultures seek to find an answer to why things are the way they are
and for tracing the universal human impulse toward celebration. Sources
appended.
GraceAnne A. DeCandido
© American Library Association |
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| Ages 8-12 |
$12.99 (softcover)
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