Juneteenth

October 15, 2018
Grades K-3 Let's celebrate! These new books in the Celebrating Holidays series introduce beginning readers to a hodgepodge of religious and cultural holidays. Each book explains the holiday, who celebrates it, its origins and traditions, and when it takes place. Author Grack keeps the explanations simple, though the language is so basic that it occasionally becomes choppy. A helpful sidebar of words for holidays that use non-English vocabulary?including meaning and pronunciation?adds a sense of authenticity. The photos sometimes feel a bit generic, but they appropriately illustrate the celebration of each holiday. Each book also features either instructions to create a holiday decoration or a simple holiday recipe. The books reflect the variety of the holidays presented. In Juneteenth, Grack oddly misses connecting the end of American slavery with the holiday's celebration of African American culture, never noting that African Americans were the ones who were enslaved. Overall, these books are a good beginning for young readers to start learning about diverse holidays.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)