National Holidays

Reviewed with Mari C. Schuh’s Flag Day.

PreS-Gr. 2. Designed for beginning readers, these books in the National Holidays series are useful for presenting basic information to younger children. The texts are quite short, with one or two lines in large typeface on each of the nine double-page spreads. The format is rather small, but the colorful, full-page photographs illustrate each subject clearly, and the inclusion of people from many ethnic backgrounds reflects the diversity of people celebrating American national holidays. Each book briefly explains a holiday, its history, and how it is celebrated. Flag Day includes Truman designating June 14 a holiday, children studying the history of the American flag, and pictures of flags displayed on houses and in a parade. Labor Day tells when the holiday was created, whom it honors, and some of the ways that people relax on the day. Each book ends with a glossary and a short list of recommended books, as well as directions to the publisher’s Internet site, which leads children to appropriate, subject-related sites for each holiday. Carolyn Phelan

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Description

Simple text and photographs describe the history of Labor Day and how this holiday, which honors people who work, is celebrated in the United States.