Common Thread: Holidays

Sub-Category 1: Valentine's Day

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Franklin's Valentines	Paulette Bourgeous	Age 5-8	1998/ Scholastic, Inc.	Franklin is excited to participate in his upcoming class Valentine's Day Party. When the day comes, he rushes to the bus and drops all his homemade Valentines in a puddle. He is discouraged when his friends begin giving him valentines and he has none to give to them. In the end, his friends forgive him and he brings them new valentines the next day.
	Junie B. Jones and the Mushy, Gushy Valentine	Barbara Park	Age 6-9	1999/ Random House	Junie is in kindergarten. When the students exchange valentines, Junie discovers she has a secret admirer. She decides to make it her mission to find out who it is. The entire book is about her trying to discover who has a crush on her. It is very cute.
	Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink	Diane deGroat	Age 5-7	1996/ Morrow, William & Company	Gilbert makes nice valentine poems for each of his friends. When they begin to pick on him, he changes the nice rhymes to naughty rhymes and signs other kids'  names to them. He is found out in the end and his friends forgive him and apologize for picking on him also.
	Valentines Day	Gail Gibbons	Age 5-8	1989/ Holiday House, Inc.	This is a non fiction book that explains the origins of Valentines Day. It covers customs and has many colorful pictures as well.
	A Village Full of Valentines	James Stevenson	Age 5-8	1998/ Morrow, William & Company	This book features seven short stories about the animals in a small woodland village. Each story is different and explains how each animal makes and share their valentines with their loved ones.

Sub-Category 2: Independence Day

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Apple Pie Fourth of July	Janet S. Wong	Age/ 5-7	2002/ Harcourt	A Chinese American girl finds out that her parents are preparing Chinese food to sell at the town's Fourth of July celebration. She tries to convince them that on this American holiday, they should try to be more like Americans. It all turns out fine in the end when the family has many customers and they happily celebrates the fourth.
	Hurray for the Fourth of July	Wendy Watson	Age 3-6	2000/ Houghton Mifflin Company	This book is about a Vermont family celebrating the fourth. Their festivities include a parade, a picnic, and fireworks. It is a neat book because flowing through the story are snippets of patriotic songs.
	Hats Off for the Fourth of July	Harriet Ziefert	Age 4-8	2002/ Puffin	This book describes a fictional fourth of July parade. It has a marching band, a stilt walker, motorcycles, and many other exciting spectacles. It  is great because it always leaves the reader wondering what will come next. My mentor teacher read this book in her class and all the children loved it.
	The Fourth of July	Janet McDowell	Age 6-7	1994/ Scholastic	The book follows the story of a little girl named Nina and her puppy. They take part in a fourth of July celebration and learn many things about the holiday and some safety tips. It is a good book to use in a classroom because it includes activities for children to participate in.
	Happy Fourth of July Jenny Sweeney	Leslie Kimmelman	Age 4-8	2003/ Albert Whitman	This is a rhyme type story about a fourth of July celebration. It's a good story because it shows many different ethnic groups in the illustrations. It also gives historical facts about our nation in a fun and interesting way. At the end of the book, there is something like a fact sheet that tells about the Declaration of Independence in a way that young children can understand.

Sub-Category 3: Halloween

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Clifford's Halloween	Norman Bridwell	Age 4-7	1973/ Scholastic	This is one of the many books in the Clifford series and one of the several concerning Halloween. These books are easy for young children to understand and they love them. In this particular story, Clifford tries to decide what costume to wear.
	Dem Bones	Bob Barner	Age 5-8	1996/ ChronicleBooks LLC	This book is so cute! It teaches kids how bones are connected using the familiar song. The pages are illustrated with dancing skeletons who sing and show the bones that are being discussed. I loved this book!
	Angelina's Halloween	Katharine Holabird	Age 5-8	2002/ Pleasant Company Publications	Angelina and her friend make beautiful firefly costumes for Halloween. Angelina's younger sister wanted to be a firefly also but she couldn't. The girls set off for the festivities and stop by a "haunted house" on the way. After Angelina and her friend win the costume contest they discover that the baby is missing! Angelina is very scared but the girls later find the child at the haunted house sharing candy with some friends.
	Here Comes Halloween	Becki Ward	Age 5-7	1998 Little, Brown & Company	This is a lift the flap book. Two mice play Halloween tricks on their friends. In the end, all the animals enjoy a party.
	The Halloween Play	Felicia Bond	Age 5-6	1999/ HarperCollins Publishers	Roger is a little mouse. He is excited when he gets a part in the upcoming Halloween play. His part is small but it is important to the other actors. On the night of the performance, Roger really shines. This book reinforces the fact that things are never unimportant no matter how small they are.

Sub-Category 4: Thanksgiving

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	A Turkey for Thanksgiving	Eve Bunting	Age 5-8	1995/ Houghton Mifflin Company	Mrs. Moose is set on having a real turkey at her table for Thanksgiving so her husband goes hunting to get one. Many of his friends join him on the hunt. When the turkey is finally found, they try to explain to it that they just want to have it for Thanksgiving. It is neat when the turkey and the reader's discover that Mrs. Moose wants the bird to be a guest at her table, not the main dish!
	1,2,3 Thanksgiving	W. Nikola- Lisa	Age 3-5	1996/ Albert Whitman	This is a counting book with a Thanksgiving theme. One turkey, two pies, etc.
	What is Thanksgiving?	Harriet Ziefert	Age 4-8	1992/ HarperCollins	This is a lift the flap book. Little Mouse helps her family make the Thanksgiving dinner. The readers explore the holiday along with her.
	Thanksgiving Day	Gail Gibbons	Age 5-8	1983/ Holiday House, Inc.	This is a non fiction book for children discussing the origin of Thanksgiving. It tells of the first Thanksgiving and describes customs involved.
	'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving	Dav Pilkey	Age 5-8	1990/ Orchard Books	This book follows the theme of the familiar "Twas the Night Before Christmas" story.  Eight children go on a field trip to a farm and meet eight turkeys. They feel for the turkeys because they know they could wind up Thanksgiving dinner somewhere. The story ends with each of the children having Thanksgiving with turkeys as their guests and they only eat vegetables, bread, and jelly.

Sub-Category 5: Christmas

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Mr. Williowby's Christmas Tree	Robert Barry	Age 5-8	2000/ Random House	Mr. Willowby chooses the perfect Christmas tree only to find that it is too tall to fit in his home. He has the butler cut off the top and another family uses the top as their tree. Many families and animals get trees from Mr. Willowby's.
	How the Grinch Stole Christmas	Dr. Seuss	Age 4-8	1976/ Random house	The Grinch hates Christmas. One year he decides to ruin it for the village of Who's that live at the foot of  his mountain. He creates a plan to steal their presents and their feast (even the roast beast). In the end, he realizes his wrong and gains a heart.
	Queen of Christmas	Mary Engelbret	Age 4-8	2003/ HarperCollins	The girl in the story creates a wish list for Santa. Each day, she thinks of one more gift she has to have. When Christmas Eve arrives, she feels confident that she didn't leave anything out and that she will have a great Christmas. When the day comes, she realizes she didn't get a single thing on her list! She also realizes that the gifts she got were just right and she is very happy.
	The Christmas Alphabet	Robert Sabuda	Age 5-8	1994/ Orchard Books	This is a pop-up book. The alphabet is presented with a Christmas theme.
	The Light of Christmas	Richard Paul Evans	Age 5-8	2002/ Simon & Schuster	Every year, Alexander and his mother travel to the small town of Noel to watch the tree lighting ceremony. On this particular night, the pair run into an old man lying helpless in the snow. Because Alexander stops to help him,  his good deeds are rewarded and he is allowed to light the tree.

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