Common Thread:

Sub-Category 1: Christmas

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Clifford's Christmas	Norman Bridwell	5-6 Kindergarten	July 1985 Scholastic, Inc.	Clifford celebrates Christmas along with Emily Elizabeth by decorating a tree, making a snow dog, and playing ice hockey. Clifford also meets and helps Santa Clause out in a problem.
	Nine Days to Christmas	Marie Hall Aurora Labastida	6-7 First	October 1991 Penguin Group Inc	Cecil, a little Mexican girl, is excited because now she is old enough to buy a pinata for her first Christmas Pasada.The book explains Mexican Christmas traditions. A pasada is party given before the holiday.
	Let's Celebrate    Christmas:  A Book of Drawing Fun	Roseanna Pistolesi	9-11 Third- Fifth	1988 Troll Communications L.L.C	This book teaches children how to draw pictures ,  and make decorations that are connected to Christmas. It has easy step by step instructions for children.
	Holly, Reindeer, and Colored Lights : The Story of the Christmas Symbols	Edna Barth  Ursula Arndt	10-11 Fourth- Fifth	September 2000 Clarion Books	Tells about some of  the origins of objects related to  Christmas. Describes the origins of Santa Clause, decorations, and other Christmas traditional items.
	The Family Christmas Tree Book	Tomie Paola	6-8 First- Second	1980 Holiday House	Parents of two children discuss the origin of Christmas trees and decorations. They tell the story while decorating their own Christmas Tree.

Sub-Category 2: Thanksgiving

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	A turkey for Thanksgiving	Eve Bunting Diane de Groat	7-10   Fourth-Fifth	1995 Clarion Books	Mr. and Mrs Moose invites all thiner friends for Thanksgiving dinner, however they are missing one thing, a turkey. Mr. Moose goes on a hunt and finds a very fearful turkey.  At the end the turkey realizes that his hosts  wants him  seated at the table not on the table.
	1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving!	W. Nikola-Lisa, Robin Kramer	5-8 Second -Third	1996 Rebound by Sagebrush	A book that counts from one to ten while showing pictures of  a family preparing for Thanksgiving. Each number corresponds with the pictures.
	Twas the Night before  Thanksgiving	Dav Pilkey	7-9 Third	1990 Orchard Books	This book is a modified version of Twas the Night before Christmas. It is a story about Thanksgiving and how some children save turkeys at a farm.
	Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving	Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt Faulkner	5-6 Kindergarten-Third	2002 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers	A story about Sarah Hale and how she save Thanksgiving by convincing President Lincoln to honor Thanksgiving Day by making it a holiday.
	It's Thanksgiving	Jack Prelutsky,  Marylin Hafner	10-12 Fourth- Fifth	1996 HarperTrophy; Reprint edition	Presents many poems about various aspects of Thanksgiving Day. Most of the poems are about traditional American Thanksgiving Day, from the the famous parade to the football games, to carving Turkeys.

Sub-Category 3: Valentine's Day

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	The Valentine Bears	Eve Bunting Jan Brett	8-9 Third	1985 Clarion Books	Mrs. Bear gets up early from hibernation to celebrate Valentine's Day with Mr.Bear.  She cooked, and wrote a poem. Mr. Bear also surprised her with his own Valentine's gift.
	Valentine Fun	Judith Stamper Bari Weissman, T.R. Garcia	5-8 Kindergarten - Second	1997 Troll Communications	A book with various arts and crafts to make on Valentine's Day. The book gives background information about Valentine's Day. It has a lot of easy crafts that can be integrated into a class lesson.
	Mouse First Valentine	Lauren Thompson,  Buket Erdogan	5-6 Kindergarten	2002 Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing	Minka spies on his sister as she gathers materials to make a valentine heart. Minka wonders what she is up to Minka's sister gives him the valentine's heart at the end.
	Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch	Eileen Spinelli, Paul Yalowitz	8-9 Third- Fourth	1996 Aladdin	Mr. Hatch is a boring, uninteresting man, until one day when he receives a secret valentines card. His total persona changes. He later finds out that the heart was delivered by mistake, but that does not change his  new outlook on life.
	The Story of Valentine's Day	Clyde Robert Bulla, Susan Estelle Kwas	9-12 Fourth- Fifth	2000 HarperTrophy	Describes the origins of Valentine's Day. Explains how the Romans celebrated the priests on St. Valentine's Day  more than 2000 years ago.

Sub-Category 4: Easter 

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	Bunny Trouble	Hans Wilhelm	5-6 Kindergarten- First	2001 Scholastic Paperbacks	Ralph, a bunny outcast, is kidnapped by a farmer. The farmer free Ralph after he finds out hes is the Easter Bunny.
	The Great Especially Beautiful Easter Egg	James Stevenson	7-8 Second	1983 Greenwillow Books	Two children ask their grandpa if he ever hunted for eggs on Easter. The grandpa tells them how he hunted for a egg a long time ago. He found a beautiful colorful egg and gave it to the girl he was fond of.
	A Tale for Easter	Tasha Tudor	5-8 Kindergarten- First	2001 Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing	A short story about preparing for Easter. Identifies signs to show that Easter is approaching, such as getting a new dress, cooking fish, and eating cross buns on good Friday.  The story also describes the beautiful dreams about Easter.
	Easter  Egg hunt	Nandine Benard Westcott	5-6 Kindergarten	2002 Simon & Schuster Children's	A pop- up book describing how every year the Easter bunny hides eggs, and how children hunt for the beautiful decorated eggs  that the Easter bunny hides.
	Lent is for Remembering	Donna Rathert	7-10 Third- Fourth	1986 Concordia Publishing House	Describes the origins of Lent and how it is related to Easter. Also has great craft ideas and coloring pages.

Sub-Category 5: 4th of July

Book Cover	Title	Author/ Illustrator	Age/ Grade	Copyright/ Publisher	Abstract
	The Fourth of July Story	Alice Dalgliesh,  Marie Nonnast	8-10 Third-Fifth	1995 Simon & Schuster Children's	Tells the story of the first fourth of July in Philadelphia. The story tells how Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and how it was read in front of the town. Everyone celebrated America's freedom.
	The Littles Give a Party	John Peterson, Roberta Cart Er Clark	9-11 Fourth- Fifth	1993 Scholastic Paperbacks	The littles are off to another adventure. Its the fourth of July and they are throwing a special party for  Granny Little.
	Apple Pie Fourth of July	Janet S. Wong, Margaret Chodos-Irvine	6-7 First- Second	2002 Harcourt Children's Books	The story is told by a Chinese American. The young narrator is frustrated because she insists that her parents close the Chinese restaurant on 4th of July. She thinks that Americans wont eat Chinese food on the 4th of July, but she is pleasantlty surprised at the end when people do show up to eat.
	Hurray for the Fourth of July	Wendy Watson	5-6 Kindergarten	2000   Houghton Mifflin Company	The book is about a family and how they celebrate the 4th of July. They go to their town's parade, the have a picnic, and they watch fireworks. This book also contains songs and rhymes mixed in the story.
	Mailbox Mania, Vol. 9	Beverly Lewis, Janet Huntington	8-10 Fourth- Fifth	1996 Bethany House Publishers	The cul-di-sac kids are at in again! The kids all entered a contest to see who could decorate their mailbox the best for 4th of  July.  The contest causes a lot of arguing among the close friends, but in the end they work everything out and have a great 4th of July.