We Celebrate the Harvest

L.J. Rouse was a freelance writer in Toronto.

Five earlier titles in the Holidays and Festivals Series celebrated Hallowe’en, Christmas, New Year, Easter, and spring. This second group, designed primarily for use in schools, may be even more useful to teachers and students in that the topics are less well covered by existing school library and classroom materials.

We Celebrate Family Days addresses those special events which honour kinship such as Mother’s Day and birthdays. Less familiar, and all the more interesting, are the girls’ day and boys’ day celebrations of Japan, the Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, the special day of Diwali devoted to brothers and sisters in India, and others. The book also includes some rather unattractive illustrations and doggerel verse.

We Celebrate Hanukkah, as the title indicates, deals exclusively with that most joyous festival of the Jewish year; the symbolism, the fun, the games, and the important underlying message of faith, love and family that gives Hanukkah meaning.

We Celebrate the Harvest presents a collection of special harvest holidays, which includes the familiar Canadian and American Thanksgiving celebrations with the traditional turkey dinner, along with those that are not so familiar such as the Order of Good Cheer, instituted by Champlain to brighten the lonely evenings of the first settlers in New France.

We Celebrate Valentine’s Day presents the legend of St. Valentine, the courting customs of olden days and the beginnings of the modern Valentine’s Day card-giving. In addition, it offers some games and verse appropriate to the occasion.

We Celebrate Winter is a collection of winter festivals and fun, including such disparate occasions as Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Carnival, and the Feast of Fools. It captures the joy of the season — even in the tropics.