Christmas

Author / Title / Type* / Difficulty** / Type of Celebration / Place of Celebration / Origin of Celebration / Other
Hamilton, Virginia / Bells of Christmas, The / Picture, Historical
Fiction / Medium / Christmas / 1890’s,
Farmlands of Ohio / An African-American family's celebration
Rylant, Cynthia / Children of Christmas / FIC, Bilingual / Easy / Christmas / Various / Collection of short stories
Jimenez, Francisco / Christmas Gift, The / Picture, FIC, BIO, Bilingual / Easy / Christmas / California / Christmas
story of a migrant family in California
McKissack, Patricia & McKissack, Frederick / Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters / Picture, Historical FIC / Medium / Christmas / Southern United States in the 1800s / Christmas season during slavery
Cohn, Janice / Christmas Menorahs, The / Picture, FIC / Easy / Christmas, Hanukkah / Billings, Montana, in 1993 / Families in a community decided to stand together to combat bigotry
Polacco, Patricia / Christmas Tapestry / Picture, Fiction / Medium / Christmas, Hanukkah / Detroit, Michigan / A minister and his son help reunite a Jewish couple separated in World War II.
Jordan, Sandra / Christmas Tree Farm / Picture, NF / Easy / Christmas / Christmas tree farm in Rhode Island / A year at the farm
Bunting, Eve / Day Before Christmas, The / Picture, FIC / Easy / Christmas / California / Contains excerpts from "The Nutcracker"
Bunting, Eve / December / Picture, FIC / Easy / Christmas / Somewhere in the U.S. / Christmas “magic”
Smalls, Irene / Irene Jennie and the Christmas Masquerade / Picture, FIC / Medium / Christmas / United States (Slave Era)
Thomas, Jane Resh / Lights on the River / Picture, FIC / Medium / Christmas / United States / Mexican immigration
Paterson, Katherine / Midnight Clear: Stories for the Christmas Season, A / YA, Short Story / Medium / Christmas / Various / Short stories
Rylant, Cynthia / Silver Packages / Picture, FIC / Easy / Christmas / Appalachia / A man returns to Appalachia
Foreman, Michael / War Game / Picture, FIC / Medium / Christmas / WWI Era / Soldiers on opposing sides play soccer

Hanukkah

Cohn, Janice / Christmas Menorahs, The / Picture, FIC / Easy / Christmas, Hanukkah / Billings, Montana, in 1993 / Families in a community decided to stand together to combat bigotry
Polacco, Patricia / Christmas Tapestry / Picture, Fiction / Medium / Christmas, Hanukkah / Detroit, Michigan / A minister and his son help reunite a Jewish couple separated in World War II.
Adler, David / One Yellow Daffodil: A Hanukkah Story / Picture, FIC / Easy / Hanukkah / Somewhere in the U.S. / Holocaust survivor who hasn't celebrated Hanukkah since his childhood
Hesse, Karen / Stone Lamp, The / Picture, NF / Medium / Hanukkah / Various / History and poetry

Thanksgiving

Bunting, Eve / How Many Days to America? / Picture, FIC / Easy / Thanksgiving / The Caribbean & The US / A child from a Caribbean island gives thanks with his family
Rylant, Cynthia / In November / Picture, NF / Easy / Thanksgiving / Somewhere in the U.S.
San Souci, Robert / N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims / Picture, NF / Medium / Thanksgiving / United States, Plymouth Rock / X / Pilgrims & immigration
Koller, Jackie / Nickommoh! A Thanksgiving Celebration / Picture, FIC / Easy / Thanksgiving / United States / X / Native American harvest celebration
Anderson, Laurie / Thank You, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving / Picture, NF / Medium / X / Thanksgiving as an official holiday

Junteenth

Author / Title / Type* / Difficulty** / Type of Celebration / Place of Celebration / Origin
Of Celebration / Other
Wesley, Valery / Freedom's Gifts / Picture, Fiction / Medium / Juneteenth / Texas / X / History of Juneteenth, the day for celebrating freedom from slavery.
Branch, Muriel Miller / Juneteenth / Picture, NF / Medium / Juneteenth / United States / X

Kwanzaa

Mazer, Anne / America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories / FIC, Short Story / Medium / Black History month, Kwanzaa / America / People from different ethnic back-grounds.

New Year

Bouchard, David / Dragon New Year, The / Picture, Folk Tale / Medium / New Year / China / X / Why the Chinese celebrate New Year with firecrackers

Everyday

Ancona, George / Barrio / Picture, NF, Bio / Medium / Everyday / San Francisco / Life in a barrio or Hispanic neighbor-hood
Baylor, Byrd / I’m In Charge of Celebrations / Picture, Fic / Easy / Everyday / Southwest US / X / Native American

* P = Picture book** Easy = Level 1 & 2

YA = Young adult book Medium = Level 3 & 4

BIO = Biography Difficult = GED-level

FIC = Fiction

NF = Nonfiction