Holidays Books - Page 12

We Are What We Celebrate: Understanding Holidays and Rituals

Amitai Etzioni, Jared Bloom

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Editorial Review:

How did Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday become a national holiday? Why do we exchange presents on Christmas and Chanukah? What do bunnies have to do with Easter? How did Earth Day become a global holiday? These questions and more are answered in this fascinating exploration into the history and meaning of holidays and rituals. Edited by Amitai Etzioni, one of the most influential social and political thinkers of our time, this collection provides a compelling overview of the impact that holidays and rituals have on our family and communal life.

From community solidarity to ethnic relations to religious traditions, We Are What We Celebrate argues that holidays such as Halloween, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and Valentine's Day play an important role in reinforcing, and sometimes redefining, our values as a society. The collection brings together classic and original essays that, for the first time, offer a comprehensive overview and analysis of the important role such celebrations play in maintaining a moral order as well as in cementing family bonds, building community relations and creating national identity. The essays cover such topics as the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday; the importance of holidays for children; the mainstreaming of Kwanzaa; and the controversy over Columbus Day celebrations.

Compelling and often surprising, this look at holidays and rituals brings new meaning to not just the ways we celebrate but to what those celebrations tell us about ourselves and our communities.

Contributors: Theodore Caplow, Gary Cross, Matthew Dennis, Amitai Etzioni, John R. Gillis, Ellen M. Litwicki, Diana Muir, Francesca Polletta, Elizabeth H. Pleck, David E. Proctor, Mary F. Whiteside, and Anna Day Wilde.

Gifts from the Heart: Simple Ways to Make Your Family's Christmas More Meaningful

Virginia Brucker

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are you overwhelmed by the frantic commercialism of our modern Christmas? Do you long for a more meaningful celebration? Gifts from the Heart contains hundreds of simple ideas that will help you create a warmer, more loving celebration focused on sharing and giving. Parents, grandparents, early childhood educators, teachers, and youth group leaders will love the imaginative ideas in this book. Gifts from the Heart is filled with:

• Time-saving tips for busy families
• Delightful kid-tested craft projects
• Heartwarming ideas for family traditions and capturing memories
• Fun-filled activities that help grandparents connect with their grandchildren
• Terrific suggestions for gifts that develop imagination, creativity, and literacy
• Practical ideas for helping our planet and our animal friends
• Delicious tried-and-true recipes for cooks of all ages
• Presentation tips and fabulous recipes for gifts from the kitchen
• Party and potluck tips and recipes
• Easy-to-do volunteer activities that make a difference to others during the holidays
• Tips for divorced parents and blended families
• Meaningful ways to help friends and family struggling with illness or loss at Christmas

A primary teacher for more than twenty-five years, Virginia Brucker is the recipient of the National Council of the Cancer Society's Community Champion Award for her support of cancer research. She lives and works in beautiful Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island.

Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween

David J. Skal

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From acclaimed cultural critic David J. Skal, an in-depth look at one of the most popular-and perplexing-holidays in America.

Using a mix of personal anecdotes and brilliant social analysis, Skal examines the amazing phenomenon of Halloween, exploring its dark Celtic history and illuminating why it has evolved-in the course of a few short generations-from a quaint, small-scale celebration into the largest seasonal marketing event outside of Christmas.

Traveling the country, Skal profiles a wide cross-section of America-hard-nosed business men who see Halloween in terms of money; fundamentalists who think it is blasphemous; practicing witches who view it as sacred; and more ordinary men and women who go to extraordinary lengths, on this one night only, to transform themselves and their surroundings into elaborate fantasies. Firmly rooted in a deeper cultural and historical analysis, these interviews seek to understand what the various rituals and traditions associated with the holiday have to say about our national psyche.

The Rituals Resource Book: Alternative Weddings, Funerals, Holidays and Other Rites of Passage

Susan Marie Mumm

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Wonderful Tool For Alternative Ceremonies 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

I am surprised that I am the first reviewer of this book since I have found this work to be such a valuable resource in alternative ceremonies.

When my father died earlier this year, I was the one who deliver his eulogy since my dad "did not want anyone to speak over him who did not know him or his life.

That my father had suddenly and unexpectaly died was devastating enough, when coupled with the fact that I had to deliver his eulogy, I was, needless to say, a nervous wreck.

Being that I had for many years subscribe to an alternative spiritual belief (alternative to Christianity) I was lucky enough to have this book on hand. Its contribution in helping me sort out my words were enormous because although I had wonderful memories of my father, I really didn't know what to do with those memories--how to put them into words and how to deliver them in a segued and coherent testimonial to my father's life in front of what turned out to be 135 relatives and friends.

The Rituals Alternative Weddings, Funerals, Holidays and Other Rites of Passage guided me through putting all my memories together. It served as an outline for the eulogy that I wrote. The author not only provided 3 full funeral services, which I modified to my liking, but other practical and knowledgeable information on funerals and dying such as: meditations, the pre-planning of one's funeral, legal information, poems that would be appropriate to read at a funeral (two of which I used), and additional resources.

And for as good as this book is on funeral info, it is equally well written in the other topics that it covers, such as: Marriage, rites-of-passages--love, parenting and adulthood rites, alternative holidays--Winter Solstice, Christmas, Valentines Day, Labor Day, Autumn Equinox, etcetera.

Finally, throughout the book (as opposed to at the end of the book) the author list many relevant resources one may want to refer to for further information on the subject at hand. The Rituals Alternative Weddings, Funerals, Holidays and Other Rites of Passage is a truly wonderful "tool" for anyone who is looking for information on alternative rites.

Editorial Review:

Susan Mumm helps us to see the important role that rituals can play in our lives. The Rituals Resource book will leave no doubt in the reader's mind that if we want to "change the world", we must start by changing the rituals we practice in our own living rooms and communities. This practical guide, filled with valuable how to's and sample rituals gives readers the information they need to create rites of passage and holiday celebrations which truly touch the soul. 3rd. Edition

Christmas Past: A Collectors' Guide to Its History and Decorations

Robert Brenner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

excellent resource for collecting true vintage ornaments 5 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.

I found this book most helpful in identifying true vintage ornaments as well as their value. It covers in great detail why specific materials were used for a given time including the color variations. It also contains stories and cuts from celebrations long ago which I found very informative. I came away with a great deal of knowledge and will carry this with me on all my hunts. Highly recommend!

Editorial Review:

The historical importance, makers, materials, and rarity of Christmas trees, decorations, and ornaments of all kinds are discussed in detail, including glass ornaments, all types of lighting from candles to electricity, cotton and paper ornaments, and Dresdens. All the major manufacturers are identified and much personal information is given about the families that developed the Christmas ornament industry into big business internationally. Christmas Past includes beautiful color pictures of extremely rare, exquisite glass balls and figurals and early electric lamps.

Shamrocks, Harps, and Shillelaghs: The Story of the St. Patrick's Day Symbols

Edna Barth

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Irish Traditions and Legends Simplified 4 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

What a wonderful book for adults and children alike. I found this book to be a terrific help in understanding some of the legends and history of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day. It was also invaluable in explaining these to my younger children, both at home and in Sunday School classes.

Both the writing and the illustrations work to offer a better understanding of Irish traditions. All in all, not only an educational read, but a pleasant one, too!

Editorial Review:

Explores the origin and meaning of the symbols and legends associated with St. Patrick's Day.

Unwrapping Christmas (Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)

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Editorial Review:

In an age of secularization and the decline of ritual, Christmas has emerged as the most promising candidate for the first global festival. It is celebrated in the Christian West as well as in many countries with either a minority or no Christian population. How is it that Christmas is not merely surviving, but actually gaining in importance?

Unwrapping Christmas is the first comparative study of the Christmas phenomenon, based on direct observation of how the festival is actually celebrated in diverse social contexts. It begins by presenting general theories of Christmas and includes the first full English translation of "Father Christmas Executed" by Claude Levi-Strauss. The focus then turns to two controversial issues: the relationship between Christmas and materialism, and the debate over the place of the family in Christmas celebrations. Both of these issues are examined and interpreted in a variety of cultural contexts; including the USA, Japan, Britain, Sweden, and Trinidad.

Christmas is rapidly becoming the focus for a constellation of activities including gift-giving, the marking of the seasons, and the celebration of extended family networks. This collection, the first systematic analysis of Christmas, represents a fascinating and significant contribution to understanding how and why this holiday has developed into the global festival celebrated today.

An Hallowe'en Anthology: Literary and Historical Writers over the Centuries

Lisa Morton

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Editorial Review:

This unique anthology gathers together some of the most intriguing and useful works on the history of Halloween. Ranging from pre-Christian Celtic myths to early 20th century articles, the book's 27 entries include poems, short stories, sections from 19th and 20th century folklore books, a one-act play, Irish and Scottish folk tales, and the first book on the holiday ever published.

Noted works contained in the anthology include William Wells Newell's 1904 study of the history of Jack-o'-lantern legends in "The Ignis Fatuus" and Alexander Montgomerie's oft-quoted 1584 poem "Flyting Against Polwart." Organized chronologically, most works are presented in their entirety and many include extensive annotations designed to make the original source materials more meaningful for modern readers. The book also includes 34 vintage photographs and illustrations.

Celebrating Thanksgiving

Joel Kupperstein

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Texas and Christmas: A Collection of Traditions, Memories, and Folklore

Judy Alter

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Editorial Review:

Throughout the world, Christmas is probably the most special day of the year. And everywhere from Maine to California and beyond the ocean, it is different in each community, each home. Yet those of us who like to think Texas is special believe that Christmas here is bigger, better, and more treasured than anywhere else. This collection, first published in 1983, grew out of that conviction. Most of these pieces bring the past into the present, reviving traditions and memories of Christmases long gone. Others reflect the diversity of our Texas people, and still others describe customs that are even today setting new traditions for the future. Want to make syllabub? The recipe is here. Curious about the way African Americans in East Texas or the Germans in South Central Texas celebrated? Helen Green and Minetta Goyne capture those special customs. Elmer Kelton and Joyce Gibson Roach recall the joy and sadness of Christmases during World War II. When it was first published in 1983, this small book enchanted readers young and old. Now it has been revised and expanded - new memories have been added, new activities suggested, new traditions explored. A perfect stocking stuffer!