The Pop-Up Guide Cities Around the World -- Book Review with Crafts, Recipes and More!

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Looking to teach little ones about the world? Today we are sharing a fun pop-up book that takes us around the world. I am also sharing links to crafts, activities, and recipes to go with each city and/or its country. The book is The Pop-Up Guide: Cities Around the World by Maud Poulain and illustrated by Sandra de la Prada. It is recommended for ages 3 to 5. 

Ultimate Food Atlas -- Explore the World through Food with This Book

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When Hazel was younger, we loved exploring the world and participated in a blog group celebrating food from around the world. We did the series Around the World in 12 Dishes. I miss it sometimes because it got us exploring different dishes. Some we loved and others not so much. Today I get to share a book that lets you explore the world through food so basically our series in one book sort of. The book is Ultimate Food Atlas: Maps, Games, and Recipes for Hours of Delicious Fun by Nancy Castaldo and Christy Mihaly. It is from National Geographic Kids and is recommended for ages 8 to 12 but could work with younger kids with adult help.

We Can Talk About Encanto--Encanto-Inspired Craft & Fun Movie Facts

 

It seems like everyone is talking about Encanto and of course the hit song, "We Don't Talk About Bruno." Have you seen the movie yet? How many times? We have watched it a couple of times and love it. I thought it would be fun to make an Encanto-inspired candle since the candle plays such an important part of the movie. I also thought it would be fun to share some fun facts about the movie. So we will start with the fun facts.

Dinner on Domingos -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchanged for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Does your family or did your family have a tradition of Sunday dinner? I remember when I was young, we would gather at my grandparents' house for Sunday dinner. Often it would be a steak dinner or some type of beef I believe, but that is not really a memory, but more information told to me. The memory I have is when my cousin was a baby. I remember his holding my finger with his little hands for hours. I was finally not the baby of the family anymore. The funny thing is I don't remember his younger sister as a baby, but I remember him. Today I get to share with you a story about a Sunday dinner tradition in an Ecuadorian-American family and it has a family recipe to try at the end!! (We tried it and I loved it!!) The book is Dinner on Domingos by Alexandra Katona and illustrated by Claudia Navarro. This book is recommended for ages 5 to 8 and this review is for Multicultural Children's Book Day! Join us here, we are co-hosting, on January 28th for the BIG LINKY of all the Multicultural Children's Books and the celebration. There is more information about it all below!

Latinx Books to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a Focus on Immigration

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Hispanic Heritage Month started September 15th and ends on Friday. I have four Latinx books to share with you this week in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. Each book has its own focus and don't necessarily relate to one another besides having Latinx main characters, so I am going to share two of them today and two later in the week. The two today focus a bit on immigration. One is a more modern picture book and the other is a middle grades novel about a middle schooler immigrating from Cuba in the 1960s. We will start with the picture book. It is I Wish You Knew by Jackie Azúa Kramer and illustrated by Magdalena Mora. It is recommended for ages 4 to 7.

New Multicultural Books Perfect for Women's History Month

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

March is such a funny month. In New England it can be a long month without much to do. The weather is sometimes amazing and often awful. It can be snow or rain and it really depends. Spring begins in March which is always my favorite but it is early spring so it isn't the beautiful part of spring yet. And of course there is Pi Day! One of my favorite holidays!! Mathematicians don't get too many holidays. The other thing that excites me about March is that it is Women's History Month. It is a month for us to discover and learn about the amazing women throughout history that we probably haven't heard of. Most of our history was recorded by men (and around here it was white men) so it is very biased and often doesn't cover the amazing things women have done to support society. I have big plans for this month but to begin I thought I would share two new books that are perfect for Women's History Month. The first is a picture book that shares a favorite story of Dovey Johnson Roundtree liked to tell. Last month I shared a middle grade level book about Dovey but today's book is a perfect way to introduce younger kids to this amazing woman. The book is We Wait for the Sun by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe and illustrated by Raissa Figueroa.

Review of Stories of the Saints -- a Book to Celebrate All Saints Day

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

I grew up Protestant and did not learn about saints. We now go to an Episcopal church which is still Protestant but recognizes the saints. Plus Steve is Catholic so he wants Hazel to know about the saints. With All Saints Day coming up I thought it was the perfect time to share today's book, Stories of the Saints by Carey Wallace and illustrated by Nick Thornborrow. 

Sleeping Beauty of Chile - Fairy Tales in Different Cultures

I have been MIA for a couple of weeks. I have decided to put an end to Crafty Weekends since there was not much participation in the link parties, but keep an eye out for all my fun crafts and craft reviews in the future. A few weeks ago I promised to bring back Fairy Tales in Different Cultures and since today is the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month I thought I would share a Hispanic version of a fairy tale. We decided to focus on Sleeping Beauty so today we are sharing a Sleeping Beauty tale from Chile. I have shared various stories, information and crafts related to Chile previously. Including two fairy tales from the same book which I found today's. It is Folktales of Chile edited by Yolando Pino-Saavedra. I took it out of the library, but it available used on Amazon.

Fun Facts about the Tooth Fairy & Lost Tooth Traditions from Around the World

Did you know that August 22nd (and February 28) is National Tooth Fairy Day? In honor of this fun holiday I am sharing some fun facts about the mysterious Tooth Fairy. No one knows what the Tooth Fairy looks like, but often the Tooth Fairy is betrayed as a female with wings.

Fun Facts about Ice Cream Sandwiches -- National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!

Did you know today is Ice Cream Sandwich Day? To celebrate here are some fun facts about ice cream sandwiches and at the end there is a round-up of recipes to try!

New Year Traditions from Around the World

How do you celebrate New Year's? Most of the people I know go to a party or celebrate with their family at home, but have you ever looked at what some of the traditions are from around the world? There are some interesting ones.

Soccer Star -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review #ReadYourWorld

Disclosure: Mina Javaherbin gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am sharing with you a wonderful multicultural book that gives an inside look at life as a child in Brazil. It is Soccer Star by Mina Javaherbin and illustrated by Renato Alarcao. This tale follows Paulo Marcelo Feliciano through his day. His hope is to have time to practice soccer, but first he and his teammates must do their work. 

Christmas Candles in Different Lands

Candle Photo By By Elmar Ersch (Own work)
 [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

This year for Christmas in Different Lands each post is exploring some aspect of Christmas in at least three different continents. Today we are looking at candles. How do you use candles at Christmas time? With electricity there are not as many uses as there once was but some are still used for special events. In New England often there are single candles (and for some multiple candles) in the windows of a house or church. I shared a bit about Christmas in New England last year.

Picture of New England Church during Advent

 Candles are also used in many other ways. Often there is a candlelight service on Christmas Eve at church as well as the Advent wreath candles during Advent. I shared a bit about our Advent wreath a couple of years ago. Many countries especially in Europe use Advent wreaths and/or Advent candles. Countries like Germany, Austria, Croatia, and Belgium often have Advent wreaths as well as the United States. 

When the Slave Esperanca Garcia Wrote a Letter -- Book Review

Disclosure: Groundwood Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Continuing with true stories, here is a story about a courageous slave in Brazil. It is a story I hope more people will become familiar with and this book is the perfect start. When the Slave Esperanca Garcia Wrote a Letter by Sonia Rosa and illustrated by Luciana Justiniani Hees is based on the true story of a Brazilian slave named Esperanca Garcia. It is based on the copy of the letter found in the public archives of Piaui in 1979. As a result September 6 is now Black Consciousness Day in the state. Schools and cultural groups are now named after Esperanca Garcia. The original letter is in Lisbon, Portugal. 

The Incas -- Global Learning for Kids -- Peru

Congratulations to Bernice for winning the DVDs from NCircle Entertainment!!

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring Peru. Since we have explored Peru previously with Around the World in 12 Dishes, I let Hazel have some say in what we focused on. We started by watching two DVDs. One was on Peru and the other on the Incas.

Hazel was fascinated by the one on the Incas, so we focused on them. We have been exploring books about the Incas from the library.

Exploring Argentina with the Tango

This month Global Learning for Kids has been exploring Argentina. In the beginning of the month we shared some of the resources we have looked at and ideas to explore. We decided to look at the National Dance of Argentina, the tango. Tango is a partner dance that started in the 1890's along the River Plate, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. It originated with lower classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. (Source) From the DVDs Hazel and I watched claimed it originated in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina.

It is a very seductive dance and has become popular throughout the world. To explore the tango, Hazel and I checked some DVDs and a book out of the library. We began to watch one of the DVDs during breakfast. Hazel enjoyed seeing the couple dance in the beginning and then it gave lessons to dance the tango. I got to be the male in our couple and lead, but we didn't really have enough room in the kitchen and never got back to it with the busy September we have had.

Exploring Argentina - Global Learning for Kids

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring Argentina. We always start our exploration with a search at the library network. We started learning about Argentina with two DVDs we found at the library.

DVDs are my favorite way to introduce a country to Hazel. They give a feeling of the culture and views of the country. In these DVDs we learned about La Recoleta Cemetery and all the cats that live there. I thought that would be something fun to investigate, but could not find any resources on it besides on line. La Recoleta is a large and beautiful cemetary and it has a large number of stray cats living in it. Workers and volunteers feed the cats and give them healthcare. We also learned about how tango started in Argentina. We are going to explore tango dancing this month! We found DVDs to teach the tango as well as some music. Stay tuned!!

Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop 28

Please note this is NOT Sharing Saturday!! Sharing Saturday is still available, but this link party is for cultural posts!

Welcome to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! The Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a place where bloggers can share multicultural activities, crafts, recipes, and musings for our creative kids. We can't wait to see what you share this time! Created by Frances of Discovering the World through My Son's Eyes, the blog hop has now found a new home at Multicultural Kid Blogs.

Around the World in 12 Dishes -- Bolivia: Arroz con Leche

 Between Hazel being sick, me being sick, holidays and snow, we have fallen very behind in Around the World in 12 Dishes. However we are going to catch up this week. The group itself seems to be having issues and may be ending, however Hazel LOVES studying a country each month so we are going to keep doing it here and will have link parties in case anyone wants to join in. (I'm in the process of seeing if I can have the codes used in my account instead so the past link parties will be available again.)

La Paz, Bolivia
By Teomancimit (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures: Maria Cinderella a Chilean Cinderella Tale

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we have been sharing fairy tales from Hispanic countries. A couple of weeks ago we shared a Snow White tale from Chile. Today we are sharing Maria Cinderella. This is a Cinderella tale from Chile. I found it translated in English in Folktales of Chile edited by Yolando Pino-Saavedra and translated by Rockwell Gray.

Taruca--National Animal of Chile
Source: Chris Fryer [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Puma
Source: By Ltshears - Trisha M Shears (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Two weeks ago we gave you an overview of Chile.  Today we will share briefly a bit about the wildlife in Chile. A reminder that Chile's climate ranges from desert to alpine tundra. The north is known as the driest area in the world. Chile's geographical isolation (Andes Mountains to the west, desert to the north, ocean to the east and south) there are only a few of South American animals that have migrated there. (Source) There are pumas or cougars, llama-like guanaco, fox-like chilla, minks and a small deer called pudu. There are also rheas, opossums and of course, flamingos. The national bird of Chile is the Andean Condor. There are many species of birds in Chile as well. They also have many marine life like elephant seals, sea lions, Magellanic penguins, sea otters, blue, sperm and humpback whales and dolphins. (Source)

Andean Condor--National Bird of Chile
Source: By Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA (A real Condor moment...)
 [CC-BY-SA-2.0 or CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Magellanic Penguins in Chile
Source: By Liam Quinn from Canada [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 
This story begins like many of the Cinderella stories. There is a widower who lives with his only daughter. Her name is Maria. Like some of the other Cinderella tales, the fire goes out and the father sends Maria to the neighbor's house for some coals. While at the neighbor's house (who happens to be a widow) the neighbor insists on Maria resting and serving her honey soup. After such treatment, Maria begins to wake early and put the fire out, so she can go back to the neighbor's for some fire and honey soup. One day the neighbor suggests to Maria she should tell her father to marry the neighbor so she wouldn't bother her all the time for fire. The father is skeptical, but Maria talks him into it, but he does warn her she will regret it.

The stepmother then has a baby with Maria's father. He names the new baby girl, Maria, in honor of  his first daughter. As the stepsister grows up she becomes meaner. She tells her father to send the first Maria to the field as a shepherdess. He does this. One of the cows died while giving birth to a calf under Maria's care. Maria begins to mother the calf and raise it as her pet. The stepsister gets annoyed and tells her mother that they should make Maria do more work like spinning. The stepmother takes the wool to Maria and tells her to spin it or she will pay with her head.

Maria begins to cry, but the calf tells her not to and offers to spin the wool. They arrange the spindle over the calf's horns and the calf is able to spin the wool for Maria. The stepmother continues to give Maria wool to spin and the calf continues to spin it for her. The stepsister begins to get suspicious and goes to spy on Maria and the calf. She gets angry to see the calf doing all the work and tells her mother they must kill the calf.

The stepsister pretends to be sick and won't get better without eating the meat of Maria's calf. The father kills the calf. The stepmother takes the intestines and cuts them into even slices. She tells Maria to take them to the stream to wash them and not to lose one bit of them. She has measured and counted them. A eagle takes off with a piece of it and now Maria is sure she is done for and cries even harder than she was with grief over the loss of her calf. She tries to follow the eagle and comes to a cottage where a woman is coming out. The woman asks Maria why she is crying. Maria tells her about the eagle who is now in the treetop near the house. The woman tells Maria to care for her children and to do some cleaning while she goes to mass and she will help her when she returns. Maria does as asked and more. The woman is very happy when she returns and gives Maria some intestine that she has plus a magic wand that will grant her anything she wants, but she is to show it to no one. Then she gives her instructions for the way home to look up and down at certain animal sounds. When Maria arrives home there is a gold star on her forehead. Maria does not know it and her stepmother tells her she is a dirty disgrace and covers her head in dirty rags.

The stepsister is jealous of the beautiful gold star and schemes to get one of her own. So she and her mother put together a plan to have the stepsister do the same things. The stepmother pretends to be sick and will not get better without eating the stepsister's calf. The father kills it. The stepmother takes the intestines and has her daughter go wash them with the same instructions. An eagle takes a piece again and she follows the eagle to the cottage. The woman is walking out and they have a similar conversation though the instructions are very different to do while she is at mass. She tells the stepsister to beat her children and to gather all the junk around the house to be burned in the oven. The woman comes home and asks if it is all done. Then she gives the stepsister a piece of intestine and the opposite instructions about going home. The stepsister ends up with a big hunk of burro dung on her head. The mother is upset when she gets home with it and wraps her daughter's head in beautiful silks.

The stepmother always went to church with her daughter on Sunday. Maria wondered why she could never go. She used her magic wand to have a fine coach, horse and coachman as well as a new dress to wear to mass. Maria knelt down near her stepmother and sister and the stepsister thought she recognized her, but her mother told her she was being silly. Maria left right at the end of mass and waved the wand to have everything back to normal before the stepmother and stepsister returned home. The next Sunday was the same except that Maria caught the eye of prince as she was leaving the church.

The following week the prince ordered his servants to stand guard and to stop Maria before she left. One of guards caught her foot, but all he got was her golden slipper and Maria rode off home. The guards combed the town looking for a noblewoman that the slipper fit, but could not find anyone. The prince set out to the country to find her. The stepmother dressed her daughter in her finery and told Maria to hide in the corner since she was in no condition to receive a prince. She told her to get inside the oven while the visitors were there.

The stepsister happened to have the same size foot as Maria, so the slipper went on easily. The prince was ready to marry her when a dog began to bark a rhyme about the burro dung on her head and the gold star was the one he wanted. One of the servants caught what the dog said and mentioned it to the prince. The stepmother tried to chase the dog away and explain it was just a nuisance, but the prince insisted on searching the house and finally found Maria in the oven. Maria told the prince the slipper was hers and that her stepsister and she have identical feet, but asked if her stepsister could produce the companion slipper. Maria went to wash up and used her wand again to be dressed the same as last Sunday and brought the companion slipper to the prince. He now knew she was his wife. The servants pulled the other Maria from the prince's saddle and beat her a bit.

The prince asked Maria to climb into his saddle and she refused since burro dung had sat there. The prince took Maria and her father on other horses for a beautiful wedding. 

This story reminds me of the Spanish American Cinderella tale called, Little Gold Star. I am sure they have the same source at some point. One of the things I have noticed about the Hispanic fairy tales is the importance of the church, God and Holy Family. One of the three seem to play an important part in each one.