A Year Full of Holidays By Susan Middleton Elya

"A Year Full of Holidays" is a terrific tool for parents, caregivers, and teachers alike to teach kids (and help them remember!) the months of the year, and holidays attributed to them. Nell, the main character, celebrates her 5th birthday at the start of the story. Wondering (already) when her birthday will return again, Nell's mother suggests that they follow the passage of time by tracking the months and holidays that go by within them.... until she reaches her 6th birthday at the end of the story. I remember when I was young, we had to learn the months of the year by rote memorization. Everyday at school in both kindergarten and first grade, a student in the class was picked by the teacher to stand up in front, point at the calendar with a sort of big fancy fairy wand, and recite the months on the calendar one by one, while the rest of the students followed along. After the excitement of getting picked to hold the fancy wand wore off (within a few short weeks), it got real boring, real fast. However, it's easy to see where a book like this, set to a galloping rhyme, has its place on a classroom bookshelf and would be really fun to read aloud at story-time. The arrangement of this picture book conveniently covers (98% of the time) one month on each page, so it lends itself to a perfect opportunity: Teachers or parents could make a game out of it, by cueing children to guess the upcoming month (and/or holiday) that is to be found on the next page, before turning it. That would be a much more fun way to reinforce the learning, compared to what I grew up with. The artwork is colorful and cheerful. The characters are depicted in varying ages, generations and skin tones, but without categorizing or stereotyping. They also freely relate to each other in warm and welcoming ways. Readers will also discover another nice touch: small changes in the characters are seen in the art, to mark the passage of time over the year. A pregnant adult female (aunt?) is later seen holding a newborn in her arms.... Another baby pictured at the start of the story grows into a toddler learning to walk at the end.... Even Nell's face matures, her neck and limbs lengthen -- nice observations of what happens when a child grows. A few celebrated holidays in America were not included in the book, with the premise of it being learning the months of the year, and some popular (secular) holidays within them. I bet many will find this book an asset to a children's book collection.

At six years old, my daughter could never keep the order of the holidays straight. Her whole life revolved around which holiday came next. How long until her birthday was gauged by how many holidays came before. That's a lot to keep track of when you're six. And it doesn't help that some months have two holidays, and one month has no holidays! If only her birthday had been in August like Nell's in the book . . . Some of the lesser celebrated holidays that are important to kids are mentioned -- Mother's Day, Father's Day, St. Patrick's Day, New Year's Eve, Memorial Day, Labor Day -- try keeping those last two straight when you're six!