Midwest Book Review on “Holidays With a Tail”

Holidays with a Tail: A Tale of Winter Celebrations” is multicultural holiday story that appeals to culturally diverse juvenile audiences.

Written experienced elementary school teacher, Kelly Bouldin Darmofal, Holidays with a Tail begins the story with Alex on Christmas Eve, after having just moved from the suburbs to the city. Alex had wished for a Christmas gift of a puppy to play with. The next day brings one new surprise after another. Being Episcopalian, Alex celebrated Christian traditions in December, and he was overjoyed to find a puppy-sized box with holes in the lid for his present. Out popped Zipper, his new adorable golden puppy, his special Christmas gift.

The next day, when grandparents came bringing more Christmas gifts, Zipper surprised Alex by running out the door and into the snowy night. This begins a wonderful tale of exploration of ways different folk with different religious traditions celebrate the midwinter time of Solstice.

Zipper leads Alex and his mom, Katy on an exploration and traveling tour of festivities and homes, including four different families celebrating the Jewish Hanukkah, the Hindu Dwali, the Latina las Posadas, and the African American Kwanzaa. Each resident kindly explains the symbols and reasons for their celebrations, along with special foods and candle lighting customs and their significance.

Alex and Katy reclaim Zipper and eventually return to their home to celebrate Christmas dinner with their family and their special foods and gifts.

“Holidays with a Tail: A Tale of Winter Celebrations” is the perfect vehicle to explain to young children the wonderful richness and significance of different holiday celebration traditions for different cultures, peoples, and religions.

Read the original review on MBR


Holidays With a Tail: A Tale of Winter Celebrations
Kelly Bouldin Darmofal, author
Brad A. Calhoun, illustrator
Loving Healing Press
5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
www.LovingHealing.com
9781615996155, $17.95 PB, $29.95 HC, $4.95 Kindle, 34pp

U.P. Reader -- Issue #2 [PB]

SKU 978-1-61599-384-0
$15.95
Paperback
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Product Details
UPC: 978-1-61599-384-0
Brand: Modern History Press
Binding: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Author: Mikel B. Classen

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is blessed with a treasure trove of storytellers, poets, and historians, all seeking to capture a sense of Yooper Life from settler's days to the far-flung future. Now U.P. Reader offers a rich collection of their voices that embraces the U.P.'s natural beauty and way of life, along with a few surprises.

The thirty-six works in this second annual volume take readers on U.P. road and boat trips from the Keweenaw to the Straits of Mackinac. Every page is rich with descriptions of the characters and culture that make the Upper Peninsula worth living in and writing about. U.P. writers span genres from humor to history and from science fiction to poetry. This issue also includes imaginative fiction from the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Award winners, honoring the amazing young writers enrolled in the U.P.'s schools.

Whether you're an ex-pat, a visitor, or a native-born Yooper, you'll love U.P. Reader and want to share it with all your Yooper family and friends.

"U.P. Reader offers a wonderful mix of storytelling, poetry, and Yooper culture. Here's to many future volumes!"
--Sonny Longtine, author of Murder in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

"Share in the bounty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula with those who love it most. The U.P. Reader has something for everyone. Congratulations to my writer and poet peers for a job well done."
--Gretchen Preston, Vice President, Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association

"As readers embark upon this storied landscape, they learn that the people of Michigan's Upper Peninsula offer a unique voice, a tribute to a timeless place too long silent."
--Sue Harrison, international bestselling author of Mother Earth Father Sky

"I was amazed by the variety of voices in this volume. U.P. Reader offers a little of everything, from short stories to nature poetry, fantasy to reality, Yooper lore to humor. I look forward to the next issue."
--Jackie Stark, editor, Marquette Monthly

U.P. Reader is sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation. A portion of proceeds from each copy sold will be donated to the UPPAA for its educational programming.
Learn more at www.UPReader.org

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U.P. Reader -- Issue #2 [PB]

 

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