Christmas Traditions Around the World

Sixteen countries, sixteen Christmas traditions, and a cast of creatures and customs most readers have never heard of.In Iceland, books are given on Christmas Eve and everyone spends the night reading: the Jolabokaflod, the Christmas book flood. In Norway, families hide their brooms before bed so witches cannot steal them. In Greece, the Kallikantzaroi crawl up from underground for twelve nights and have to be kept out with a burning log. In Portugal, an extra place is laid at the Consoda for those who are no longer at the table.The sixteen chapters:Switzerland (Krampus), France (Pere Noel and the Reveillon), Greece (Kallikantzaroi), Sweden (the Gnome Tomte), Basque Country (Olentzero), Portugal (Consoda), Norway (hiding the brooms), Philippines (the Giant Lantern Festival), Iceland (Jolabokaflod), Turkey (St. Nicholas and the hanging socks), Mexico (the Christmas flower), Greenland (Santa's reindeer), Germany (the fir tree), Italy (La Befana), Denmark (Julekatten) and Austria (the Christmas wreath).Told as stories, not as a list of facts. Each chapter is written to be read aloud, with the tradition carried inside a short narrative rather than explained from outside it. The result is a book children ask for again rather than consult once, and one that leaves them knowing why Icelanders buy books in December and where the poinsettia comes from.Illustrated in full colour throughout, one country at a time, so the settings stay as distinct as the customs: Alpine snow, Filipino lanterns, Mexican courtyards, the Arctic dark.The traditions nobody else covers. Most Christmas-around-the-world books for children stop at the countries everyone already knows. This one spends its chapters on the Danish Julekatten, the Portuguese Consoda, the Basque charcoal-maker Olentzero and the Greek goblins who come up for twelve nights. Readers finish it knowing things their classmates do not, which is most of the appeal at this age.Well suited to classrooms and libraries assembling a multicultural holiday collection, to geography and social studies units on customs and celebrations, and to families who like the idea of adopting one new tradition each December: light a candle for the Consoda, hide the brooms, or hand out books on the twenty-fourth and read until midnight.98 pages, printed in full colour.