St. Patrick's Day

All of her books are wonderful about the origin of holidays and how today's traditions come from those beginnings. Her other holiday books also do a great job in combining religious and secular traditions. I have bought all of her holiday books becuase they teach ME things I never knew about those holidays (and I'm Irish!). I have all her holiday books and as my kids get older, I will buy her books on other subjects if my children show interest in those areas. I really hope she writes a 4th of July book.

I first bought this book over 6 years ago when my older son was 5. We loved reading it together & we shared it with some friends from overseas so that they would know how American's celebrate St Patrick's Day. I'm actually buying the book again for my two younger children this year to give as a gift. They may be a little young for it now but I believe they will grow to love it like their older brother & I love the idea of reading it as part of our family holiday traditions. Really a great Gail Gibbons book. (My two year old really enjoys Gail Gibbons Thanksgiving book.)

Most or many of the stories like his banishing all of the snakes from Ireland are false. They are the evidence of exaggerated storytelling. Actually he was born in Britain in the fourth century. He was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders and transported to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. He was guided by visions to become a missionary to convert the Irish to Christianity. Actually, his family were not deeply religious, but most Irish practiced a pagan religion. This was changed due to the activities and beliefs of this saint. Spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of Irish life. I always thought that my mother, Lettie Lane, was Irish. After seeing the PBS special, I am sure of it, though she did not have the lilting dialect, coming from the mountains of Union County. She died when I was seven. Alec was born on March 17. His brother Eric is a 711 child. It is thought that St. Patrick died on this date.

This is a beautifully illustrated, well written, story about the life of St. Patrick and descriptions of how and why we celebrate this holiday. My daughter is very interested in her Irish heritage and read it to her Kindergarten class this year. It was a hit!

This book gives a thorough, yet simple explanation about St. Patrick's Day. Each page has beautiful illustrations and one to three sentences. It gives a simple 2 page intro, then spends 7 pages about who Saint Patrick was, then 14 pages of all the ways people celebrate/symbols (church, leprechauns, shillelagh, harp, cards, sweets, flowers, plays, meal, parties, and parardes), then two pages on celebrating it in the US, and then 3 pages of legends about Saint Patrick. A great introduction for young children.