Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

This is the third week of the Hispanic Heritage Month. We are participating in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. You can enter the giveaway here by scrolling down as well. We are sharing something we have done to celebrate or learn about Hispanic cultures each week during the month. Today we are sharing the story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe. We discovered this story by reading The Beautiful Lady: Our Lady of Guadalupe by Pat Mora. There are however many books that discuss the story and the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We also have enjoyed thus far Tomie de Paolo's Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here are some other books we found at the library that share some part of the story or how the festivals are celebrated.

Picture Books Review

With the start of December and Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Holy on Window with Angels and Elfie Hanging on Tree

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am going to share with you five wonderful picture books that help grow imaginations and wonder. These books will help the reader learn about the world and use their imaginations. We had so much fun exploring this five books and highly recommend them. I also shared some round-ups of crafts to go with three of the books. First I am going to start with a wordless book.

Multicultural Monday: Learning about Kenya

Another part of learning acceptance of differences is understanding them. As such it is important to look at other cultures. In doing so you will find the similarities and differences between yourself and them and understand the people in the culture a bit better. Today we are looking at Kenya. Why Kenya, you may ask. Well, Hazel received a wonderful postcard from Kenya about a month ago.

Postcard from Kenya for Hazel

 Hazel and the children of Andrea of Ziezo Designs and Ziezo Kenya have been exchanging postcards so we could learn about another part of the world. I discovered Ziezo through Sharing Saturday (which is still open if you would like to share with us your child-oriented craft or activity). Looking through her wonderful blog, I discovered her children go to a Waldorf School and I thought it would be neat for Hazel to learn a bit about Kenya from other Waldorf students. So we added her second pen pal (her first being from Australia--Kelly's from Happy Whimsical Hearts son). (On a side note if you are interested in having your child exchange postcards with Hazel, please drop me an email.)

Kenya's Flag: Source

Map of Kenya: Source

For the flag and map as well as some more information I went to http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2962.htm, the official page of the Kenyan Government. Kenya is 224,080 square miles which is just a bit smaller than the state of Texas. The official language of Kenya is English. The population is about 39 million (as of August 2010) and is very diverse. The majority of the population is Christian. They also have very different climates within the country although the equator passes through just about the center of Kenya.

Our first activity came from this book on Food and Festivals of Kenya by Wambui Kairi. We made kaimati, a small doughnut coated with sugar or coconut. They are eaten in Mombasa at a party at the Makadara Muslim Grounds to celebrate Id-ul-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month where Muslims fast during daylight hours. Therefore this festival is at night so it is dark.

To make kaimati we took one cup lukewarm milk (ok I microwaved it since didn't realize it needed to be lukewarm until we needed it), one teaspoon dried yeast and a pinch of sugar and put them all in a bowl and let it sit for 10 minutes. I should add that our dough did not really rise so I think this may have been due to the wrong temperature for the milk and another little mistake we made.

Next Hazel beat an egg and added it to the yeast mixture. Hazel was a bit sloppy in her mixing and spilled a bit of the liquid (this was another minor mistake).

Then we mixed together 1 cup of flour and a teaspoon of salt (ok this is our second mistake. It was suppose to be 3 and 3/4 cups of flour!) Then we added the liquid and realized our mistake and added more flour. Then you get to mix with your hands and kneed a bit.

After adding the flour I found the mixture to be too dry (and would not mix in), so I added some more milk. It still was dry, but at least it was all mixed. Then you let it rise for two hours. (I went to church while it was rising.) Then you deep-fry it in oil by dropping spoonfuls into the oil. I used  canola oil in my large saute pan and ours was so dry I formed balls and dropped them in. When they came out you rolled them in sugar or grated coconut. I gave Steve the job of rolling. He actually liked them in both, but the coconut I bought was not fine enough for this.

Even with our mistakes, they were quite tasty. However I think I would try one of the recipes I found on line the next time. From Food Buzz. From the blog Kenyan Food. From Susan Kamau's Kenyan Kitchen (this one is most similar to the recipe I followed, but adds cardamom). I should add that we did go through the book and read the pages about Kenya's people and food and looked at all the different pictures throughout it. Hazel enjoyed this as well. (We did this during the ten minutes of letting the yeast turn frothy.)

Next we took a craft from Around-the-World Art & Activities by Judy Press. I was actually hoping to get two crafts from this book in today, but it didn't happen. Hazel was a bit tired and cranky between being sick and getting up early. We did however talk about the second craft which was to make zebras out of envelopes. I told her how Kenya was one of the places zebras live.

We made Masai "Beaded" Necklaces out of paper plates. This is a very easy craft. you cut a hole in the center of the plate trying to leave a wide brim. Then you are suppose to use the back of a paintbrush to make different color dots all over it. We did this in our family room so we used crayons on one and her dot markers on another. Hazel even let me get some pictures of her with them on. She hates when I take her picture unless I say it is for one of her grandparents.

Source

The book did a nice job of saying the Masai men and women wear this very beautiful but very heavy jewelry. It also shows that the Masai live in Kenya and North central Tanzania. For more information about the Masai people please visit The Masai of Kenya site. To see pictures of these beautiful necklaces visit the Maasai Art and Beads Association site.

The final piece of information I will share with you today from Kenya comes from Hands Around the World by Susan Milord. This book has a different activity for each of the 365 days of the year to learn about different cultures. On January 14th it discusses the different customs in naming babies. Among some Kenyan groups a firstborn daughter is always named after her father's mother. A second daughter would be named after her mother's mother. I just found that interesting. It discusses many different cultures traditions. Most of it is for older children and this was the only mention of Kenya in the book, but definitely an interesting book.

What do you do to teach your child about different cultures and to be more accepting of diversity?

This is where I share...

Rigoberta Menchu

Back in August I had the pleasure of sharing She Takes a Stand: 16 Fearless Activists Who Have Changed the World by Michael Elsohn Ross. One of the amazing 16 women I read about was Rigoberta Menchú. I decided then to focus on Rigoberta for Hispanic Heritage Month (there is a giveaway below). I wanted to share her story with Hazel (though she got bored--I guess I'll have to wait a few more years) and you.  Rigoberta is an indigenous woman from Guatemala. She has dedicated her life to promoting indigenous rights in Guatemala. She received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

Rigoberta with other Human Rights Activists in 1992 By Moya110 (Own work) 
[GFDL or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Last Cherry Blossom -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #ReadYourWorld

Disclosure: Kathleen Burkinshaw gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

It is January and that means Multicultural Children's Book Day is approaching. This year it is January 27th and I am co-hosting, so be sure to check back to see the amazing array of books reviewed for this great day.

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Exploring Egypt Part 2

Last week we shared our first Egyptian cooking, which was Date Cake. Today we are going to share our Egyptian Dinner recipes. Our dinner recipes came from Foods of Egypt by Barbara Sheen.

Gift Bringers Around the World

So the other day Hazel came home from school and told me she had been arguing with some of her friends at school about whether Santa Claus is real or not. She asked who was right. In the past (maybe November) I told her Santa Clause only brings gifts to children who believe in him. She grew very concerned that one of her friends at school did not believe in him so she wouldn't get any gifts. At almost six I didn't want to ruin the magic for her, but I was not going to lie to her face. We had a discussion of how she learned about St. Nicholas in her old Waldorf School and how Santa Claus came from his stories. However since St. Nicholas is no longer alive there really is not a Santa Claus alive, so Mommy and Daddy buy the gifts from him since the spirit of Santa Claus is really part of the holiday spirit. She took this information and decided she was right--there is a Santa Claus. The next day she wanted to get her picture with Santa again at the mall when we were there (though she did tell this Santa that she already told the Santa at the other mall what she wanted for Christmas and he did not know what to say to that).

Of course I should add that the two Santas looked very different from each other. Having just written the history of Christmas trees and Christmas tree traditions around the world post, I was curious as to the Santa Clauses or Gift Bringers from around the world. I of course turned to two of my favorite sources for information, Multicultural Kid Blogs bloggers and the library!

Quinceanera -- Exploring Hispanic Heritage

Congratulations to Sara S. for winning the WordWorld Kooky Spooky Halloween DVD!

Since Hazel loves birthday parties, I thought reading some books about a quinceañera would be right up her alley. A quinceañera is a fiesta for a Latina girl who turns fifteen. The fifteenth year is traditionally when girls turn into women in Latin American cultures. The traditional celebration differs from country to country. Most include a special dress for the quinceañera and a dance with her father (often a waltz) followed by a meal, dancing and a cake. Often there is a mass before the fiesta to honor the girl. In some countries the quinceañera has a court of friends ranging from 7-14 of each gender. (Source)

Multicultural Children's Books -- Mutlicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Scholastic gave me a copies of these books free of charge for this review in return for an honest review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

 Today I get to share with you three books from one of the Platinum Sponsors of Multicultural Children's Book Day. We have had so much fun with these books. We will start with The Granddaughter Necklace by Sharon Dennis Wyeth and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. 

Native American Heritage Month Series & Giveaway -- Review of Some of the Prizes

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Have you seen the amazing prizes we have put together for Multicultural Kid Blogs' Native American Heritage Month Series & Giveaway? If not, scroll down!! I helped find some of them and have some copies of them to review for you. I am going to do it by publisher but also go in order of the prizes. We will start with the Grand Prize and Quarto Knows. 

Mahalia Jackson -- Black History Month Blog Series and Giveaway

This post is part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Black History Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. More details below. 

While reading the books written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s relatives this year I kept seeing mention of Mahalia Jackson. I had read the book Martin & Mahalia by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, but did not really see the connection to them besides she was a gospel singer and he was a preacher.

Reading stories about how Martin asked Mahalia to get the people in Washington in the right frame of mind for his speech and her whispering to him to tell them about his dream, made me want to learn more. Of course with any musician one of the first things I do is look for a CD at the library so we can hear the music.

Fun Facts About Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds -- Who's In the Backyard? Series

 

I may be on a staycation, but the birds in my yard are not! Today we will still have our Who's In the Backyard? Post. This week we are featuring the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. We are lucky to have a couple of bushes that hummingbirds like to feed off so we have some in our yard. Since the only type of hummingbird that breeds on the Eastern coast is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, we know that is what we have. Plus I will be sharing some photos from my uncle's feeder that he was kind enough to share with me. Here is a fun one he shared. (All of our photos seem to be of females or juvenile males, so I found one on-line of a male for the photo above.)

Origami for Geometry Class with Marbled Patterns Origami Paper

  

Disclosure: I was sent a pack of this origami paper in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As I mentioned I am returning to the high school math classroom in the fall! One of my goals is to bring more hands-on activities as well as projects to the class. One of the classes I am pretty sure I will be teaching is geometry. I am so excited to be back in the geometry classroom. I am hoping to use origami in the classroom and definitely want to have an origami project in the geometry class. This year's teacher did this, so I am working off her idea and adding my own spin. Today I am going to share two origami tutorials all using a beautiful pack of Origami Paper 500 Sheets Marbled Patterns 6-inch paper. This particular pack of paper is being released in July 2022, but there is a similar pack of 200 sheets already available. 

Books about Poetry and More

Disclosure: Candlewick Press sent me a copy of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Did you know April is National Poetry Month? In honor of that I thought I would share three books that involve poetry. All three books are from Candlewick Press. Have you discovered them yet? I love their books. They are always amazing quality in product as well as the writing. I have never been disappointed by one of their books.  The first book is What is Poetry: The Essential Guide to Reading & Writing Poems by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Jill Calder. 

Queen Goharshad -- Brave with Beauty -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever heard of Queen Goharshad? She was queen of Khorashan back in the 1400s. Khorashan was in present day Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. She is remembered for the buildings she built including the Goharshad Mosque (in present day Iran) and for supporting the arts. Today I get to share with you a wonderful picture book based on this amazing woman and her accomplishments. The book is called Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan by Maxine Rose Schur with art by Patricia Grush, Robin Dewitt, and Golsa Yaghoobi. It is recommended for ages 7 to 9.

My Garden Birthday Party Ideas

So Penguin Kids challenged me (and you) to come up with some birthday party ideas based on favorite books this month. They will be sending me some books to do this with and also wanted us to use our own favorites. I decided our first party idea would be to the theme of the book My Garden by Kevin Henkes. This is one of my favorite books and Hazel loves reading it still. We shared it a couple years ago with a few different crafts and ideas as part of the Virtual Book Club for Children. This story is about a girl telling us how her garden would be different than her mother's. The girl is very imaginative and it includes things like growing jelly bean buses and shells and having only chocolate bunnies. We decided to start with the table settings.

Guess How Much I Love You Coloring Book -- a Relaxing Friday Review

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

This has been anything but a Relaxing Friday for me. We have yet another snow storm starting here. March came in like a lion, treated me like a lion and is leaving like a lion. Where is the going out like a lamb part? I am personally glad to see March 2017 ending. Anyway, since I ran all my errands for the weekend this morning to avoid the snow and storm crowds, I am writing this post later than usual. Today however I have the perfect coloring book to share with you a couple of weeks prior to Easter. It is perfect because I know the classic book that it was inspired by is a book that will find its way into some Easter baskets. The coloring book today is Guess How Much I Love You Coloring Book by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram. 

Home and Maps Activity Book Reviews for Multicultural Monday

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me copies of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

For Multicultural Monday I am sharing two fun books that you may not realize right away they are multicultural. The first is an activity book to accompany the book called Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. The book we are reviewing is Maps Activity Book also by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski.

Advent Wreaths

Advent is one of my favorite times of the year. Advent in Western Christianity is the time to prepare oneself for the birth of Christ or for Christmas. It is a time I think we need to do less and spend more time with friends, family and God. However our society is one of making it all about the parties, the sales and the things that must be done and often one does not enjoy or prepare as well as we should.

In the church Advent starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas, December 25th. So Sunday is the first day of Advent. An Advent wreath is often used in churches as well as homes to help with the celebration of Advent. Each week a new candle is lit to represent different parts of the coming of Christ. The first candle is a purple one and is hope, the second also purple is peace, the third is pink and is for joy, and the fourth is purple and is for love. The candle in the middle is white and is for Christ. It is traditionally lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Typically the Advent wreath is made with evergreens. I remember my mother always having one with greens. She actually had a pottery wreath holder that held water for the greens with holes for the greens around it and the four candle holders built in. I bought the metal one pictured above and do not add the greens since we do not have a real tree. However there are many simple ones you can make as well. For example, pictured below is an Advent wreath we made at church during the Advent Workshop a few years ago. It is a Styrofoam wreath wrapped in green crepe paper and then with fake greens and berries glued on and the candles just pushed into the wreath.

The evergreens symbolize everlasting life and the circle symbolizes God's love with no beginning and no ending. (Source) Purple of Advent represents penance in the church. (Source) The pink candle represents joy. The tradition of the pink or rose colored candle for the third Sunday comes from the Catholic Church when the Pope was known to give a rose at this mass to help break the solemn mood of Advent. (Source)

There are many crafts for children having to do with Advent and Advent wreaths. Here are a few I found.

• Advent Wreath Craft in two sizes from First School (See above)
• Coloring Pages of Advent Wreaths and Bible Stories from First School
• Advent Wreath Coloring page from Catholic Mom
• Advent Paper Chain (with different activities for each day in Advent for a child to do) from Catholic Mom (See links on the bottom of Resource List)
• An adorable paper hand print Advent Wreath from The Catholic Toolbox
• Loyola Press has a great  hand-out tutorial for a wreath as well as history, readings, etc.
• Activity Village has an activity wreath where you can color or print in color and add the candles each week.

Another favorite part of Advent is the Advent Calendar. I will share more about this tomorrow. The calendar starts on December 1st. Hazel opened hers today and got a Mary story stone. I have all the Nativity story stones in hers. I try to give her something to play with as we tell the story.

Exploring Australian Animals with Books

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

We have been exploring the Australian Outback with two great books from Candlewick Press. The first book is Bilby: Secrets of an Australian Marsupial by Edel Wignell and illustrated by Mark Jackson.