SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

June 12, 2013 by Betsy Bird

Kwanzaa in June: When Holidays Fall Out of Favor

June 12, 2013 by Betsy Bird   7 comments

Welcome to mid-June.  That stellar time of year where librarians everywhere try to decide whether or not it’s too early in the season to put on display their five Fourth of July-related picture books (admit it – it’s true).  The way my mind works it logically follows that there’s not better time to start lamenting a strange occurrence that I’ve not seen mentioned much of anywhere.  In short: The (children’s) literary death of the out-of-favor holiday.

A librarian of my acquaintance asked me the other day if I could name a fantastic fictional Kwanzaa picture book published in the last two or three years.  A cursory look at my library collection and certain facts have to be faced.  Aside from Kevin’s Kwanzaa by Lisa Bullard, the number of Kwanzaa books published in the last few years has sunk like a proverbial stone.  There was L’il Rabbit’s Kwanzaa by Donna L. Washington, published in 2010 and Kwanzaa by Sheila Anderson in the same year, but by and large the rush of Kwanzaa books we saw coming out in the 90s has turned from a gush to a trickle.  What gives?

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The fact of the matter is that sometimes holidays stand out and are in the public’s favor, and sometimes they lie forgotten.  Consider Three King’s Day.  Here in New York it can be quite the occasion.  Yet aside from a DVD of Dora Celebrates Three Kings Day produced in 2008 (of which we own one single solitary copy) the most recent book in my system is Three Kings Day: A Celebration at Christmastime by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith from 2004.  Unlike Kwanzaa, Three Kings Day never had a massive cultural push, but it’s hard not to wonder if after producing Day of the Dead books some publishers figure they’ve covered their Latino holidays and don’t have to go any further.

Then there are the Muslim holidays.  We’ve actually been seeing a very nice, slow and steady increase in the number of those holiday books each and every year.  Libraries shelve them in their holiday sections though we wait for some of these holidays to be taught in the schools.

Solstice, a time of year that ties in very nicely with the seasons and other Core Curriculum topics, is a time of year we often field many questions about, but if it weren’t for Wendy Pfeffer’s 2010 The Longest Day: Celebrating the Summer Solstice we wouldn’t have almost anything published in the last 3 years.

So what am I trying to say?  I have no idea!  Mostly I’m interested in what makes a holiday hip one year and utterly forgotten another.  Even as Kwanzaa fell out of favor we started seeing an influx of 100th Day of School titles on our shelves.  Are there only so many holidays a school can handle before it’s accused of just partying all the time?  And where do the Jewish holidays fit in all this?  I can’t be the only library in the States that needs more and more Purim books every year.

Food for thought.

Filed under: Uncategorized

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
holiday books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Announcing the Stinetinglers Winner! The Kettle's Dark Secret by Clara J.

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Bologna Presentations: IBBY Doing the Good Work That Needs to Be Done, Worldwide

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Sydney Taylor Book Blog Award Tour Interview: Featuring Mari Lowe of Aviva Vs. the Dybbuk!

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

The Top Ten Most Disappointing Edibles and Potables of Children's Literature

by Betsy Bird

January 2023

Announcing the 2023 Newbery/Caldecott/YMA Pre-Game Show!

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics

by Lori Henderson

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Don’t Ban Them. Don’t Silence Them. The Importance of Writing About the “Tough Stuff” in Teen Fiction, a guest post by Lila Riesen

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Best Middle Grade Books 2022 | SLJ Best Books

SLJ Book Reviews Editors’ Favorite Books Read in 2021

SLJ’s 2022 Best Books Are Live. Download a PDF of the Complete List.

SLJ Announces Best Books 2020

Best Picture Books 2021 | SLJ Best Books

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melanie Hope Greenberg says

    June 12, 2013 at 7:13 am

    Don’t forget that MERMAIDS ON PARADE celebrates the Summer Solstice.

  2. Amy Sears says

    June 12, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Glad you mentioned the serious lack of Three Kings Day books we have a serious need for more particularly picture books.

  3. Amanda Coppedge Bosky says

    June 12, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    Also New Year’s. I find tons of Chinese New Year, very little non-Chinese New Year when I search for it.

  4. Genevieve says

    June 13, 2013 at 10:39 am

    I think the Purim sections of All-of-a-Kind Family and All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown hold up very well. But agree that it would be great to have more books, especially picture books / early readers, and focused more on a story then on just explaining what the holiday is.

  5. Fran Manushkin says

    June 13, 2013 at 4:13 pm

    For July 4th, I might mention my book, “Red, White, and Blue and Katie Woo,” if I was the type of author to mention it, and I am.

  6. Jennifer Young says

    June 14, 2013 at 9:55 am

    There seems to be a fairly strong corelation between gift -giving holidays and books as well – although that doesn’t explain the bounty of Halloween books.

  7. Myra Zarnowski says

    June 17, 2013 at 6:59 am

    Social studies teachers have long been criticized for following what has been referred to as “the holiday curriculum.” Perhaps the rise and fall of holiday books has some connection to this. The challenge teachers face is how to integrate these books into thoughtful, substantive curriculum, so that holidays are seen as more than parties and food festivals.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023