Festivals Books

A missing piece of the Native American literature. So many stories are about the removal, or the myths. But how did the Cherokee actually live? What did they eat? What kind of games did they play? This book expertly deals with these everyday issues.

It is a clearly written book with bright, graceful illustrations. I enjoyed reading it to my daughters several times. And now they are older they enjoy learning Cherokee words.

An excellent book...and one every librarian should consider having.

I was astonished to read of something that pertained to my family history. I am so amazed by Daniel Pennington's writing's. He made me feel like I was there watching this in real life. This will be a great tool to teach my children about my heritage.

From the back of the book:

'Stingy' Jack, the town rogue, is disliked by everyone.
One Halloween night, Jack is met by the Devil, who informs Jack that his soul is to be taken to Hell.

A battle of wits ensues as 'Stingy' Jack tries to keep his soul by outsmarting the Devil. Based on an old Irish folktale, Jack O'Lantern explains the origin of the traditional Halloween symbol that bears the same name.

From the back of the book:

'Stingy' Jack, the town rogue, is disliked by everyone.
One Halloween night, Jack is met by the Devil, who informs Jack that his soul is to be taken to Hell.

A battle of wits ensues as 'Stingy' Jack tries to keep his soul by outsmarting the Devil. Based on an old Irish folktale, Jack O'Lantern explains the origin of the traditional Halloween symbol that bears the same name.

I purchased three copies to give as gifts and the recepients, parents and children alike, were delighted! Jacob & His Magical Flying Bears is the heartwarming story of a child wishing for his famly to be together for Christmas which is so relavent in today's world. The illustrations truly help to bring the characters to life! This is a wonderful story for parents and children to read together!

I plan to send this book to my Goddaughter, and her brother. Although the book is for children, children of all ages will find this a beautiful book with a special message. Jacob has a very special birthday - it is on December 25! Another special person's birthday! Jacob has been sick, so he is very upset he cannot tell Santa at the Mall his special gift request...his Mom says for Jacob to write Santa a letter, but he feels he needs to talk man to man - that night, Mom tucks Jacob into bed, and turns on his favorite mobile, dancing bears that fly all around and help him fall asleep....But tonight, they have a special thing to do, they want to help Jacob get his gift request to Santa!! And so starts a charming story of what Jacob truly wants - and what we all want - and so sweetly written - with illustrations that match the sweet prose.
A beautiful Christmas gift - a beautiful story any time, and it will touch your heart.....

This is a wonderful book for children and fun for grownups as well! It's the perfect story to read aloud. The story is exciting and the illustrations are beautiful with dramatic lighting . Kids will love identifying with the brave little scarecrow. We all love it.

"It's mighty hard work scaring crows all day..." the story begins. By the time it ends you feel like you know good ole, determined Jeb the scarecrow; his heartfelt love of his pumpkins, Mommo and Daddo and even those pesky crows. The story is extremely entertaining with an interesting surprise ending that even I didn't see coming! This is classic storytelling.

JEB SCARECROW'S PUMPKIN PATCH immediately seizes your attention. The illustrations are very colorful and at the same time, highly unique with fantastic highlights and shading. Some pictures are soft and others very bold which adds to the intensity of the story.

I feel that if there were 20+ reviews on this book every single one of them would be 5 stars. There is just nothing you can improve on in this story! Thank you, Jana. You've got a winner here. A wonderful story for the Fall/Halloween season! Highly recommended. 10/10.

My family has been using this book for the past five years and we have found it to be a wonderful family devotional for the Advent season. At first, the kids were just interested in coloring the daily 'leaf' and gluing it onto the paper 'tree'; now the older kids are interested in the readings and actually take part in the discussions while the youngest ones get out the crayons and glue. We have considered giving it up, since it does require purchasing a new book each year (the content does not change with each year, but the pages are colored and cut to make the tree). Our kids would not even consider it! This has become a very enjoyable Advent tradition for our whole family. I have usually had to 'special order' this book, so I would consider purchasing a few books at a time so as not to be caught unprepared when Advent arrives. The book also makes a nice gift.

The Jesse Tree has been an Advent tradition in my family since I was a little girl. I am 26 years old now, and I have still tried to do it on my own every year. It was always something to look forward to, and my mother always saved the leaves I colored. What we did was to pull out the tree itself and have it laminated. Then, we made photocopies of the leaves and we were able to reuse everything for many years. I finally bought another copy when I moved out on my own so that I can start my own family's tradition. There are prayers for each day and I think it's a great way to share the Bible stories with children. You will not be sorry for buying this, especially for the price!

... The recipes are grouped by chapter for each of the Jewish holidays. I've made many of the recipes in this book and they have all been outstanding. These are flavorful recipes that have been handed down in both of the author's families. This book is a treasure.

This book is an excellent guide for the newly married Jewish bride or groom. It is not only a cookbook, but it also explains the holidays and traditions. Besides recipes, it also provides sample menus to give you an idea what should be served at a particular holiday. I have had this book for many years and still refer to it every holiday. It would make a great shower present (along with pots and pans) to initiate the Jewish bride or groom (whoever does the cooking!) It's easy to understand and the recipes are very good!

This book was amazing. It's the perfect novel to read even if it isn't Christmas time. It's hilariously funny, with memorable characters and a catchy plot. A must-read for all fans of teen fiction!

Paul Nicholas is sure that this Christmas will be the absolute best. For once he has a great girlfriend, Sarah, who just happens to love Christmas as much as he does, or at least the present part; he's got the job of being the mall Santa Claus, and he's getting the absolute perfect present this year, a jeep. Everything is just fine, beyond fine, until Paul loses his lucky Santa hat, and everything goes wrong. First he finds his girlfriend making out with the mall Santa Claus, who just happens to be the same one who'll be training him for his job next week, his father electrocutes himself while putting up Christmas lights, and almost burns down the house at the same time, and his mother loses her job. Now, the kid who has always been the biggest nut over Christmas, has decided to get even with the holiday, and everything associated with it.

As someone who absolutely LOVES reading books about the Christmas season, I was ecstatic to find JINGLE BOY. Not only is it one of the only teen fiction Christmas books on the market, but it is also one of the funniest I've ever read. Reminiscent of John Grisham's SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, JINGLE BOY is a must for all who love (or hate) the holiday season. It will keep you laughing out loud throughout the entire holiday season. Possibly longer. Don't miss it.

Erika Sorocco

My 20 month old little girl will not put this book down. She chooses it from the bookcase all by herself and wants it read over and over. The rhyming text is wonderful, a true joy to read. The illustrations are magnificant. Thank you Mr Mackall for allowing God to use you to bring my family this wonderful tool for teaching the true meaning of Easter. It has become a true treasure for us and we will certainly be passing it on through gift giving. If you buy one book for Easter this is the one.

Gene Barretta has got to be one of the best illustrators working today. His illustrations are so creative and vivid and detailed. They are breathtaking and add tremendously to the beautiful story.

My son and I have enjoyed this book countless time. He's a middle child, two siblings, all very close together in age. There are not many times that he and I have alone together. This book has brought a smile to his face EVERY SINGLE TIME we have read it together, from age three until now, he's almost five. We only read it when it's just the two of us. I can't recommend it highly enough. The story is sweet, the pictures are marvelous, and just wait till your child looks at you with adoring eyes when you read "Just you and me". It's a keeper.

I really love the illustrations in this book. It is a very nice story for a father to read to a child. It addresses fear of rain storms in a very gentle way. It is sure to result in "again again" from your child, as it did mine.

I just read this to my grandson, who is four, and he absolutely loved it. He made me read it two more times and made me promise to read it again next time I came for a visit. Wonderful story, lovely artwork.

Sadie Rose Weilerstein, born in 1894, was a leading author of Jewish children's stories for more than 50 years. She introduced the tiny character named K'tonton in the September 1930 issue of Outlook magazine.

Isaac Samuel ben Baruch Reuben--whose first name meant laughter--was a late-born miracle. His mother had wanted a child so badly that in her Sukkot prayers, she promised to love even a child "no bigger than a thumb." Sure enough, before a year had passed, she gave birth to a son. And sure enough, he was no bigger than her thumb. She blanketed him in the flax she had used to wrap an etrog--the Israeli citrus fruit used to celebrate Sukkot--and cradled him in a hand-carved etrog box.

This story probably appeared in the first Weilerstein K'tonton collection, The Adventures of K'tonton (1935). It reappeared in The Best of K'tonton, a 1980 compendium of 16 stories from three books.

K'tonton was in the kitchen when a kitten appeared at the door. He asked his mother to give it some milk. At first, she refused, since feeding the kitten would encourage it to come back every day. But she fed it, and it came back a second day. On the third day, K'tonton's mother was preparing taiglach (honey pastries) and set a cup of honey at the edge of the table to fetch the kitten's milk. Then she went to answer the phone.

Just then, K'tonton saw a stream of honey running down the side of the cup, and licked it off. There was more honey on the rim. K'tonton leaned forward to reach it and sent the cup crashing to the floor. His mother asked if K'tonton had done this. He didn't answer. She blamed the kitten, and he did not correct her.

The lesson is very simple and traditional for Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. "For sins against God, God can forgive. For sins against another person, only the person wronged can forgive." But it's told in a way that small children can understand.

How K'tonton achieves atonement is what makes this story special. Alyssa A. Lappen