Festivals Books

My daughter in college is studying anthropology. I gave this to her as a Christmas gift-she loves it. It contains good decriptions of festivals
around the world, time, place, etc. Excellent photos. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves travel and festivals.

This bookis awesome. It turns out the week were going on vacation is the same week as this awesome festival and I probably would have never known until too late without this book. Right now the book is circulating between my party friends and hopefully we will all make bigs plans to party down crucial style!

If travel and partying is of interest, you can't go wrong with WORLD PARTY: THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE WORLD'S BEST FESTIVALS. It covers some of the key party places in the world, from Barbados to New Orleans and Africa, packing in color photos on every page with discussions of festival purpose, atmosphere, amenities, pros and cons. If you want to hone in on some of the best for advance planning, WORLD PARTY is for you - and if you're a public library with a contemporary travel section for lenders, it's a 'must' acquisition.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

If you are like me, and born to travel as much of the world before you die; then this travel book/guide should be number 1 on your list. Page after page in this book is an excuse for you to not just travel, but immerse yourself into the myriad of different cultures throughout the world. From religious ceremonies to balls out parties, each new chapter will delight and fulfill anyone's needs for travel and fun.

Seriously now - what else do you need? Buy this book and book your travel agent. Your new life starts today!

Just when you think the book has ended, and ended wonderfully, it has one more page to warm your heart even more. Lisa has a great feel for story-telling. This book is great, for kids and adults alike. It's a must for the collection.

This is one of my favorite counting books. It has a lot of humor and the art is great.

This is one of Jahn-Clough's best books yet (she also created ABC, YUMMY, MY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOK! and the wonderful ALICIA HAS A BAD DAY). 123, YIPPIE follows one little house that is all alone as two little children enter bringing tea, then three little dogs bark at the door, and so on until ten little monsters bring the dessert and all creatures are displayed in a truly gorgeous double spread and then count back down again to one little house. On the very last page two little children come back again and make the house their home. Once again, Ms. Jahn-Clough creates a splendid array of bursting delight in this ideal counting book.

Written for young readers ages 8 to 12, The Adventures Of Young Santa is an action/adventure novel of a young man who becomes a reluctant hero in an age of sword fighting, dank castles, hidden treasure, fierce Vikings, and a secret elf civilization. The young man destined to become the archetypal symbol of peace, hope and good will, must first experience daring escapes from terrible dangers, all the while dealing with deceit, jealousy, and young romance. Highly recommended for school and community library collections, The Adventures Of Young Santa reveals where Santa was born, who his parents were, the origins of Mrs. Claus, how Santa got his name, -- even why bad kids get coal in their stocking!

"THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG SANTA is a delightful story that puts flesh and blood on the universally loved figure. A Christmas Harry Potter, the book is a fun and exciting adventure which offers an early biography of Santa from birth through his first ride. By answering all of the questions regarding the origins of our Christmas traditions in the context of young Nicky's growth from troubled youth to Santa Claus, the authors have created an invaluable addition to our Christmas lore that is destined to last for generations."

Dr, Carole S. Parham -- Past Maryland School Superintendant of the Year

"THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG SANTA is a delightful story that puts flesh and blood on the universally loved figure. A Christmas Harry Potter, the book is a fun and exciting adventure which offers an early biography of Santa from birth through his first ride. By answering all of the questions regarding the origins of our Christmas traditions in the context of young Nicky's growth from troubled youth to Santa Claus, the authors have created an invaluable addition to our Christmas lore that is destined to last for generations."

Dr, Carole S. Parham -- Past Maryland School Superintendant of the Year

I don't have children of my own, so I read this book to my niece and nephew. They found the book to be an enchanting tale full of excitement and charm.

I think the thing I liked the most about this delightful book, is how interactive and engaging it is. Not only are you telling an excellent story to your child [or a child], they are learning some basics of Wiccan ritual and getting to play a fun and enjoyable "Where's Waldo" with Seamus the Squirrel game throughout the entire book. Which my niece and nephew more than thoroughly enjoyed.

This fictional tale brings the Craft down to a child's level and helps them much better understand its ritual basics, but it does this in a subtle way. It doesn't try to teach them big, strange words like widdershins. It's very enjoyable and would be a valued asset to every Pagan parents library.

In the back of the book is also a very useful glossary of Craft terms used throughout the book (and a handy link for teachers guides for more learning) and the key to the acorn game spread all through the book and its gorgeous illustrations. I cannot wait to read more from W. Lyon Martin!

Well folks, W. Lyon Martin has done it again. Her latest offering for Pagan children is "Aidan's First Full Moon Circle" and a beautiful, sweet offering it is! Full of rich colors, friendly faces, and an adorable story about a little boy's empowerment through his first group ritual, this is another installment in a much-needed genre of books for children. If you enjoyed "An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child", you will love this book. And if you haven't read either, then get them both for the young girls and boys in your life. They will thank you for them!
Kristin Madden
author of Pagan Parenting (Spilled Candy, 2004), Pagan Homeschooling (Spilled Candy, 2002), Magickal Crafts (New Page, 2005), and more

I know this is a sweet children's book, but we Christians who enjoy learning about other relilgions appreciate an author like Martin.
The illustrations are lovely, and the glossary in the back most helpful!

A relative I shared the book with (president of her church's youth group) likened the circle to a first communion, and felt it underlined the importance of participating in one's religion instead of just being an observer.

And Seamus the squirrel could have his own book!

B.A. Haeberle

in the deep of british blues with the complete and accurate work made in this book!
Great and rare photos within' an very good analysis of musicians and his music with date concerts over the years make of this book an must for fans and collectors.

There are fans, and there are FANS. And after paying several thousand dollars at a London auction house, a couple of years back, for the Gibson 345 guitar used by Alvin Lee at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival, Massachusetts-based long-time Ten Years After fan, Herb Staehr, has most definitely earned his place in that latter category. But he didn't stop there. For during the last few years Staehr has been meticulously marshalling his extensive collection of TYA and Alvin Lee memorabilia into the production of this mightily impressive book - to the best of my knowledge, the first one ever written about either this seminal British band or its brilliant guitarist frontman. It is - as its title implies - primarily a photographic history of the development of TYA, from its early sixties roots as a three-piece teenage band known as The Jaybirds, to its evolution into the four-piece stadium supergroup of thirty years ago. And what astonishing photographs there are. Staehr has not only unearthed literally scores of rare and previously unseen photos of the band in its glory years, but also fascinating images of the aforementioned pre-TYA Jaybirds. Following the break-up of the band in the mid-seventies, he has produced here a comprehensive catalogue of pictures detailing the development of Alvin Lee's solo career right up to the present day. Photos of the various TYA comebacks and reformations are also included, as well as images relating to the solo careers of other band members. So, if its photos you want, there will never be a better place to come, or a better book to buy. They include not only the examples listed above, but concert posters, album sleeves, ticket stubs, magazine covers - you name it, it's here. But Staehr has also provided a wealth of literary information too. There is a band biography, an impressively researched and massively detailed "concert chronology", album and gig reviews, extracts from interviews with band members and associates, all concluding with a comprehensive discography, a listing of T.V., film and video appearances, and finally an extensive biography. It goes without saying that this superb book is a "must buy" for all fans of Ten Years After and Alvin Lee. Yet its appeal should go wider than that. Anyone who was a fan of late sixties and early seventies blues-rock, or who counts themselves a member of the "Woodstock generation", or who just likes a darn good rock and roll read, will find themselves glad they purchased this book. No band rocked the blues like Ten Years After. No-one has recorded and written about that fact as well as Herb Staehr has done here.

I've been a TYA fan for 25 years. I own every album TYA and Alvin Lee has produced including seeing them when possible. All these years, it's been a search for more info on the band. Herb Staehr did an incredible job documenting the band and writing this book. It is certainly a must. The info you can pick up is priceless and really gets you "behind the scenes". You'll appreciate how hard the band worked, touring constantly and still produced some of the greatest rockin blues ever. Thank you Herb. Many links have spawned from the excellent book which have led to many live show recordings and web sites out there.

American Dreaming: And Other Stories is an eccentric collection of seven stories depicting the modern pursuit of the American Dream from the perspective of Doris Iarovici who is herself an immigrant from Romania. Iarovici's unique writing style is enigmatic and tenacious, filled with enticing and engaging plots of intricate characters with individualistic ideals and aspirations, giving the reader a vivid and enrapturing concept of the enrapturing stories sure to engage them, making American Dreaming a very highly recommended read, perfect for the general fiction reader, particularly those with an interest in the alienating culture of modern America.

Doris Iarovici captures the essence of American life in her short stories. The blend of experiences defined in American Dreaming outline the struggles of families living in a multicultural world. It is a beautiful collection of work.

There are so many things to love about this wonderful collection of stories. Each one is a delight, beginning in the most ordinary of ways and ending with a genuine epiphany. These stories sneak up on you, drawing you in with simple dialogue and spare but eloquent prose, yet leaving you almost breathless at the end from all the emotions you've experienced along the way. The aspirations and conflicts of new immigrants; the age-old and universal conflicts that are a part of love, marriage, and family; the questions we all have about who we are and who we want to become- these are some of the recurrent themes in these loosely related tales. And the titles! Some just one word, others two- each one an exquisite metaphor.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good story, and even more to those who enjoy discussing a good story with others as much as they love reading the story itself.

The beautiful illustrations in this book only enhance the simple story of how the Amish celebrate the Christmas holiday. Narrated by a young Amish boy, readers are quickly transported into the Amish world and the Christmas season. Great for readers of all ages.

This book is filled with the details of how Christmas is celebrated in the Amish community. It traces the actions of a boy and his younger sister, during Christmas Eve, the two days of Christmas, and the following day. We meet the boy's family and learn about their Christmas customs. Interspersed in the text are Pennsylvania Dutch phrases, together with their meanings. The book both satisfies and develops curiosity about cultural differences. It shows children an example of how people do things differently, yet deep-down, many of the beliefs are the same. The book is suitable for older kids, with about 2000 words.

"An Amish Christmas" combines an informative text by Richard Ammon with illutrations by Pamela Patrick. The text is the first-person narration of an Amish boy who tells about his life and the way his family celebrates Christmas.

The text captures many interesting details of Amish life. Particularly interesting is the presentation of the bilingual culture of this Amish community, whose members speak both Pennsylvania Dutch (which is actually a dialect of German) and English. Ammon includes a number of Pennsylvania Dutch words and phrases, with translations, in the text. Example: "Siss am schneea" ("It's snowing").

Ammon's intelligent text is wonderfully complemented by Patrick's beautiful illustrations. Her style is realistic and colorful, and she superbly captures the facial expressions of the Amish children. There are many wonderful images and details: a horse's breath visible on a frosty December day, a colorful patterned quilt, a friendly snowball "fight," and more. Simply marvelous.

Review of Katherine Paterson 1979 Angels and Other Strangers: Family Christmas Stories. New York:Harper Trophy By Pamela Wright, Ph.D. This book contains moving stories that might be a nice accompaniment to Christmas family devotionals. Some stories also might be a good selection for a mother-daughter reading group, provided the daughters are mature. Paterson's characters, though set in seventies America, pull us into their worlds: a confounded minister, a mother who has recently suffered bearing a dead baby, a young girl who isn't sure she likes her new baby brother, and Woodrow Kennington (child theologian), all exist like gameboard characters in various positions in relation to God. All are listening; it turns out, for that voice, that song, that metaphor which will draw them into His light. Unlike much of today's TV fare Paterson's stories do not always have pat resolutions. Instead, they teach those infinitesimally small movements in which God reworks human souls. Many characters are awkward Christians, doing good but not always knowing how to accomplish it without danger or distress. One minister's mother comes to babysit in the place of a young girl who is to play Mary in the annual church play. Her efforts at tending the young baby in the house initially provoke rage in the baby's mother. Yet this rage is smoothed out as are other difficulties of Paterson's characters, even though the total context which challenges their Christianity is not transformed. My favorite story "Tidings of Joy" is a story of a mother who struggles to explain to herself and her son the reason for her baby being born dead. It is her encounter with a creche that brings her some illumination which frees her from her agonized search for blame to a new understanding of how pain, death, and suffering touch us all. Smiles, in addition to these pictures of pain, also abound in "Angels". We warm to tough foster kids and a little girl named Elizabeth who's afraid she's going to be jailed for punching out her new baby brother. Paterson lived in Japan for many years asa missionary. She moves us Eastward to Japan in one story to remind us that the Christmas story can be told with love anywhere in the world, even in the face of persecution. Love rings round all these stories - in one story a father hunts for a lost son with the indefatigability of love to find the lost son is beginning responsible love himself. In another of these stories, a minister abandons the safe world of a mundane Christmas to search for a lost soul in a den of despair, even though his Christmas schedule is scuttled. To find this book you may end up in the juvenile section of your library or bookstore, which is where I found my copy. However this book is not for adolescent Christians but those for who mature enough to know Christmas is an unfinished gift. For these Christians we must not only receive the gift but accept the dilemma and hope that we incur in giving to others as we are given.

Once again Katherine Paterson wrote a book that's full of life and feeling and that fills your heart with warmth, love and care.

This book was a very funny and distinguished. It had a whole bunch of bad language so I wouldn't share it with your younger children. It is a christmas book so it will have a whole bunch of little stories in it. The titles incluede Maggies gift and a lot of others. I really enjoyed this book, hope you do to!

This bright and brilliant book won much acclaim in the book world when it was first published. The paintings are nothing less than a celebration themselves, simply bursting with joy with their rich, colorful folk art. This book goes through the alphabet, using each letter to focus on some aspect of the birth of Jesus, and the celebration surrounding it. Wonderful fun to look at, and to read.

Delightful and thoroughly biblical telling of the Nativity. Engaging pictures. Highly recommended.

I was a media specialist/librarian for 12 years and enjoyed using this book with young students. I purchased it in board book format for my young grand daughter and I was very pleased. Wonderful illustrations/wonderful text.

Lornia has been my children's favorite author forever and I know enjoy reading her stories to my grandson. Lecia's artwork is beautiful! I have an original which was illustrated by Lornia. What a wonderfully artist family!

I have been searching for this book! My children and I used to check this out of the library every Christmas for over 5 years! My daughter, Nicole, would laugh about the big brother--and her big brother, Rob, would act just like him. Nicole and Rob were excited about me trying to find this book, even though they are going to be 21 and 25 respectively. These books are for everyone, children and adults alike. Buy it for all your favorite people!

This was a gift and became my first Lorna Ballian book. She is my favorite children's author. I read it to my children many, many times and now have to read it to my second graders. Just like my own children, they say, " Read it again!". Like many of Lorna Ballian's books, another story is going on in the illustrations.Watch that bear! Children love those tricks she plays in the illustrations!