Lighting Our World

Gr 2-4–On each spread, a fictional child introduces one festival, and on the facing page a festival from a different area of the world is described in straight nonfiction. For example, for January readers meet Sophie from Scotland who introduces Up Helly Aa, a fire festival that the Scots participate in memory of their Viking heritage. It faces a description of the Iroquois Midwinter Ceremony in Canada. Each spread is accompanied by a small illustration of the child, a large illustration depicting the festival, and another small picture showing an aspect of the second festival. Some illustrations are more successful than others, mainly due to the color choice. For example, the depiction of the woman participating in the Indian festival of Holi does not portray the vibrant colors associated with it. Overall, 31 festivals are discussed, ranging from the familiar (Christmas) to the less familiar (Tet Trung Thu). Given the limited amount of information present, this is strictly an additional purchase.–Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City