It's Christmas Spirit Week here at Debbie's Book Bag! I've done a few Christmas Posts and some Christmas book reviews, but I know that not everyone who reads my blog celebrates Christmas. I don't want to leave anyone out, so I want to spend today focused on other traditional and religious holidays are center around this time of the year.
Hanukkah - Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of the Jewish month, Kislev which corresponds to late November or late December on our calendar. Hanukkah means "dedication". The holiday itself commemorates the re-dedication of the holy temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.
Hanukkah has become a more popular Jewish holiday because of it's proximity to Christmas. It has become more festive and celebratory over the years. Jewish children often receive one gift for each of the eight nights of Hanukkah. Every community has unique Hanukkah traditions. These are only a few examples.
The lighting of the Hanukkiyah, which is a candelabrum with eight candle holders and a ninth set above the rest. Each night during Hanukkah one candle is lit. The ninth candle is lit first and it is used to light all the others. A popular Hanukkah game is the spinning of the dreidel. It's a four sided top with Jewish letters written on each side. Since Hanukkah is a holiday that celebrates oil. Fried foods are on the menu including: Latkes (like pancakes) and sufganiyah (like a jelly filled donut).
Kwanzaa - Kwanzaa is a week long celebration held in the United States honoring universal African American heritage and culture. It is observed from December 26 - January 1 each year. This holiday started in the 1960's and is now celebrated by over 18 million people each year.
Kwanzaa has a special candle holder as well, called a kinara. Which contains seven candles. Each night one candle is lit and a principle of Kwanzaa is discussed. The seven principles are: Umoja=Unity, Kujichagulia=Self Determination, Ujima=Collective work and responsibility, Ujamaa=Collective economics, Nia=Purpose, Kuumba=Creativity, and Imani=Faith. On the 6th night, New Years Eve a large feast is held to commemorate African American heritage and customs.
Publication Date: September 2009 Publisher: Baker Publishing Group Genre: Holiday/Seasonal ISBN-13: 9780800718817 ISBN: 080071881X (From my own collection)
Betty Kowalski isn't looking forward to the holidays. She just can't seem to find Christmas in her heart. Maybe it's because her husband is gone, Maybe it's because she's missing her children. Or maybe it has something to do with her obnoxious new neighbor, who seems to be tearing his house apart and rearranging it on the lawn.
But when a mangy dog appears at her doorstep, the stage is set for Betty to learn what Christmas is really all about.
Thoughts:
I love a good Christmas book and this one really hit the spot. I won it awhile back on blog I was visiting and I was really happy to get it. I love Melody Carlson. I believe she is a wonderful Christian writer for young girls and women. Her books have inspired me, made me think about a lot of things and propelled me to action in some cases. The Christmas Dog is a wonderful story about the true meaning of Christmas and about how things aren't always what they seem.
When a new neighbor moves in next door to Betty Kowalski, she is less than pleased. Nobody knows anything about him. He stays up all night with strange noises coming from the house and he has a mangy little dog. Times are changing for Betty. It's Christmas and her husband is gone, her children have families of their own and she just doesn't seem to be in the Christmas mood this year. When her granddaughter Avery appears out of the blue, Betty is drawn into a family squabble and feels even more defeated for the holidays.
That's when Ralph appears. Ralph is the neighbor, Jack Jones' mangy pooch. Betty can't stand the dog or the man, but Avery is head over heels for the dog. Betty wants to take him to the pound but Avery wants to keep him. Betty feels compelled to keep him and see what happens. God works in mysterious ways and Ralph might just be the answer to all their prayers.
I really enjoyed this book. Melody Carlson is such a versatile author. She can write about young girls, she can write stories for women, devotionals. You name it and she can write it... I was really excited to read this book. I'm a strong believer in the ability of animals and pets to change our lives and I just knew that "Ralph" was going to be a miracle worker. Carlson gives us a story that could be taken from our own lives or those around us. A young girl, struggling to make amends with her mother, an elderly woman who is lamenting days gone by and an old man who is lonely and just needs to be understood.
This book really embodies the Christmas Spirit and what it's all about. The story is fast paced and well written. It is just right for this hectic time of year. It will make you sit down a while and forget about the hustle and bustle and remember that not everyone is having a wonderful Christmas and what we can do to make it better.
The Christmas Dog is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
It's Christmas Spirit Week here at Debbie's Book Bag! I've done a few Christmas posts about the history and legends of some of our Christmas traditions. Wrote a few Christmas book reviews and even put up a paper snowflake demo.
For today I want to focus on the legends that surround one of Christmas' most famous characters: Santa Claus!
Whether it's Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, or Father Christmas children all over the world know about him. Where he lives, what he does for a living, what he looks like, what kind of clothes he wears and even his mode of transportation. But where did all this information come from?
There are variations of Santa Claus in almost every culture. The Christian Era Santa Claus is based on Bishop Nicholas of Smyrna who was rich man who was very generous and loving with the children where he lived. He would toss presents in the windows of the poor children of the town.
The Orthodox church eventually made St. Nicholas a miracle-worker. It was in his honor that the great church and cathedral in Russia was given his name. The Roman Catholic church honors him as the patron saint of children and seafarers. In Germany St. Nicholas is known as der Weinachtsmann and in England he is Father Christmas. St. Nicholas made his way to the United States with the Dutch immigrants who called him Santa Claus.
It was in North America that Santa Claus took on the form we generally know him as. Through illustrations and poetry. Twas' The Night Before Christmas, the beloved poem by Clement Clarke Moore depicted Santa Claus as the jolly, round man we know and even named the reindeer who drove his sleigh. Robert May and advertising writer invented Rodolph, the ninth reindeer as a publicity stunt for the Montgomery Ward catalog in 1939.
Santa Claus is a part of growing up for many children whether he is called St. Nick or Father Christmas, children leave him cookies and milk, write him letters at the North Pole and wait faithfully to see what he will bring on Christmas Day....
How does your family explain Santa Claus? Do you have special traditions that surround him? Do you still believe?
One of the most adored children's book characters of all time is the eccentric, forceful, bighearted Grandma Dowdel, star of the Newberry Medal-winning A Year Down Yonder and Newberry Honor-winning A Long Way From Chicago. And it turns out that her story isn't over-not even close.
It's now 1958 and a new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel-a family in desperate need of her help (whether they realize it or not). There's twelve-year-old Bob, shy on courage in a town full of bullies; his Elvis-obsessed older sister, Phyllis, who just might be on the verge of spinning out of control; Bob's little sister Ruth Ann ready and waiting for a larger-than-life role model; and even Bob's two parents, the young minister and his wife, who are amazed to discover that the last house in town might also be the most vital. As Christmas rolls around , the whole family will realize they've found a true home....
Thoughts:
A Season of Gifts by award-winning author, Richard Peck is the third book he's written about the infamous Grandma Dowdel. With superb storytelling and a way with words that really captures the essence of a small town in the 1950's, Peck has another winner on his hands.
Grandma Dowdel has new neighbors. A young minister and his family have moved to town to make the old ramshackle church into a place for the Methodist congregation. But they don't know what they've gotten into and it's to Mrs. Dowdel to show them a few things about life in a small town where bullies reside and legends abound.
The story is told from twelve-year-old Bob's point of view. His family has moved to a new town, where they know no one and their next door neighbor is a woman who carries a shotgun and stirs up concoctions in a big pot in her yard. Bob learns a lot about courage from Mrs. Dowdel and his sister Phyllis learns a lot about love and growing up. Ruth Ann finds a friend and someone to look up to. Bob's parents find out what being a preacher's family is all about.
I really enjoyed the antics of Mrs. Dowdel. I had not had the privilege to read the other two books about Grandma Dowdel but I'm sure I will in the near future. Mrs. Dowdel reminded me so much of my grandmother it wasn't funny. Peck does such a wonderful job of taking us back to what it was like growing up in a small town in the 1950's. His descriptions were wonderful and I could just see Bob hanging up in the out-house trussed up with fishing line, or the surprise on Mrs. Dowdel's face when she realized they had just cut Christmas Tree's from someone's back yard...LOL!
The cast of characters in this book was just a lot of fun to read about. Phyllis who was obsessed with Elvis was a real joy and little Ruth Ann who wanted to be a carbon copy of Mrs. Dowdel was so much fun. The characters were well written and I believe this book would be a great read aloud. It is recommended for ages 12 and up, but it's really a book for the entire family. Mrs. Dowdel, who doesn't "neighbor" and doesn't do "Christmas" showed that the gifts we give those around us all year long matter more than just one day out of the year. In my opinion her Christmas Spirit lived all year long. I loved this one and would recommend it to anyone who wants a great Christmas read or just a book with lots of fun and humor.
A Season of Giftsis available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
Enquiring Minds Want To Know is a weekly meme created by Dollycas' Thoughts. How well do you know your favorite bloggers? Dollycas' asks a few weekly questions so that we can learn more about each other a little bit each week. A Mr. Linky is provided so we can keep up with what we're learning. Give it a try... it's a lot of fun!
It's week 17! Here is this weeks question and my answer:
Only one this week due to Christmas!
1.) Share with us a favorite childhood holiday moment.
When I was growing up my favorite part of Christmas was going to pick out the Christmas Tree... One of my dad's friends had a farm in the middle of nowhere where he kept a bunch of cattle. Every year on Christmas Eve we would tramp through the woods to cut a tree. We would usually end up there right before dark for some reason and we ended up cutting the tree and dragging it out with the stars shining overhead and usually snow falling. And of course me being my mischievous self would hope my sister fell into a cow pie or I'd inevitably push her just for the fun of it every year... LOL...
We didn't have much money back in those days and Christmas was one of those rare times when we got presents and it was just full of lots of great memories for me... I love the holiday season and everything it represents....
It's Christmas Spirit Week here at Debbie's Book Bag! I've been doing some posts with a Christmas theme, from Christmas Carols to Christmas Tree's. I hope to continue this the rest of the week... but it's about to get hectic, soooo I'm not making any promises.
Tonight's Christmas Spirit focus is on.... Snow!
I love snow! I love to watch it fall, play in it, sled through it... I just don't like to have to get on the main road in it. But, snow is definitely something this family really gets into...
So I thought in the interest of snow and the fact that my daughters always love to make snowflakes cut from paper... I'll offer you a little demo... on making your very own one of a kind snowflake... Enjoy!
Click HERE for directions... and Watch the great internet Demo!
Publication Date: October 2010 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Genre: Christmas/Seasonal ISBN-13: 9780312613723 ISBN: 0312613725 (Received for review from St. Martin's Press)
Excerpt from The Christmas Journey: Click HERE! Book Trailer:
Synopsis (Donna's Website):
The eighty-mile journey of a common carpenter and a simple peasant girl is one of the most powerful stories in history. As books go out of print and stories fade from memory, the journey of Joseph and Mary and her delivery inside a common barn continues to bless and inspire hope in people around the world.
Accompanied by moving and beautifully rendered watercolor illustrations throughout, Donna's signature voice retelling shows that the story of the nativity is alive in our modern world.
Thoughts:
Donna VanLiere's name has become synonymous with great Christmas stories. Her Christmas Hope series has thrilled readers around the world with great heartwarming novels and now she brings us a retelling of Christmas story in a way most of us haven't considered before.
How was that journey possible? Weren't they cold in the stable? Didn't Mary suffer any pain as she bore, Jesus? Christmas has become so commercialized, with stores putting out Christmas decorations even before Thanksgiving. Lights staying up on houses all year long. The real essence of Christmas has been forgotten as we rush around trying to find that perfect gift. Donna VanLiere reminds us that, that Christmas long ago was nothing like it is portrayed today. Donna VanLiere helps us again find the "wonderment" of Christmas. She reminds us of what Mary and Joseph and Jesus went through to make it possible. The reason it was necessary.
This is a very beautiful little hardcover of just over 60 pages. It's a short, perfect read for the hectic season. VanLiere seems to have thought of some of the aspects of the Christmas story that we never think about. Mary had to travel over 70 miles to Bethlehem. She was nine months pregnant. The stable was barely more than a hut. There were animals all around them. It must have been cold and dirty. Yet a miracle happened there! VanLiere's interpretation is heartwarming and very vivid.
Watercolor illustrations provided by Michael Storrings give the tale an almost storybook quality. With beautiful colors that bring the story to life these illustrations are just gorgeous. Donna VanLiere originally wrote this retelling of the Christmas story to be read as a narrative for a Christmas Banquet. It is everything one would expect from a bestselling author with a heart for Christmas.
The Christmas Journey is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
Both movies from The Christmas Hope series will be airing on LifeTime on Christmas Day, December 25th.
The Christmas Hope at 1 PM and The Christmas Blessing at 3 PM. (EST)
It's Christmas Spirit Week here at Debbie's Book Bag! I've done a few Christmas Posts and some Christmas book reviews, but I know that not everyone who reads my blog celebrates Christmas. I don't want to leave anyone out, so I want to spend today focused on other traditional and religious holidays are center around this time of the year.
