The Story Behind Kwanzaa

The Story Behind Kwanzaa

Author: Melissa Raé Shofner

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1725300591

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Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival that begins on December 26th and is celebrated until the first of January each year. It celebrates African American culture as well as family and community. Families gather to eat delicious foods, exchange gifts, and honor their heritage and traditions. Using age-appropriate language, this book explores Kwanzaa's roots and the social significance of its founding. Colorful images allow readers to visualize the celebration and make connections with the text. Each day of the holiday focuses on one of seven principles that readers will be able to appreciate in their own life, even if their family doesn't celebrate Kwanzaa.


The Story Behind April Fools' Day

The Story Behind April Fools' Day

Author: Melissa Raé Shofner

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1725300354

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April fools! Whether you're the trickster or the tricked, the first day of April each year is filled with fun pranks and practical jokes. April Fools' Day has been celebrated for hundreds of years, but believe it or not, nobody is really sure how and when it started. Using accessible language, this book explores the stories behind the history of this joke-filled holiday. Readers will love learning about how April Fools' Day has been celebrated in the past and the creative ways people celebrate today. It's never too early to learn about this fun holiday and start planning next year's big prank.


The Story Behind Groundhog Day

The Story Behind Groundhog Day

Author: Jack Reader

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1725300478

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Six more weeks of winter! That's what people shout each year on February 2nd if the famous groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, sees his shadow. An animal might seem like a strange and unreliable way to predict the weather, but people have been consulting critters on this for hundreds of years. With age-appropriate text, this book explores the history of Groundhog Day from its origins as a pagan celebration to today. Full-color images provide an up-close look at these furry little weather predictors. Readers might hope for a sunny start to February and an early start to spring, but what will the groundhog say?


The Story Behind Halloween

The Story Behind Halloween

Author: Melissa Raé Shofner

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1725300516

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Trick or treat! Halloween is one of the most exciting holidays. Dressing up in creative costumes and going door-to-door for candy with friends is something most children look forward to all year. It can also be a pretty spooky holiday full of skeletons, demons, and monsters. This book looks at how Halloween has changed over thousands of years, from the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain to modern-day trick-or-treating. Age-appropriate text and colorful, spooky images will have readers turning the page. Everyone will love this haunting look at the history of Halloween.


African American Folklore

African American Folklore

Author: Anand Prahlad

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2016-08-08

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 1610699300

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African American folklore dates back 240 years and has had a significant impact on American culture from the slavery period to the modern day. This encyclopedia provides accessible entries on key elements of this long history, including folklore originally derived from African cultures that have survived here and those that originated in the United States. Inspired by the author's passion for African American culture and vernacular traditions, African American Folklore: An Encyclopedia for Students thoroughly addresses key elements and motifs in black American folklore-especially those that have influenced American culture. With its alphabetically organized entries that cover a wide range of subjects from the word "conjure" to the dance style of "twerking," this book provides readers with a deeper comprehension of American culture through a greater understanding of the contributions of African American culture and black folk traditions. This book will be useful to general readers as well as students or researchers whose interests include African American culture and folklore or American culture. It offers insight into the histories of African American folklore motifs, their importance within African American groups, and their relevance to the evolution of American culture. The work also provides original materials, such as excepts from folktales and folksongs, and a comprehensive compilation of sources for further research that includes bibliographical citations as well as lists of websites and cultural centers.


The Story of Swahili

The Story of Swahili

Author: John M. Mugane

Publisher: Ohio University Press

Published: 2015-07-15

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0896804895

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Swahili was once an obscure dialect of an East African Bantu language. Today more than one hundred million people use it: Swahili is to eastern and central Africa what English is to the world. From its embrace in the 1960s by the black freedom movement in the United States to its adoption in 2004 as the African Union’s official language, Swahili has become a truly international language. How this came about and why, of all African languages, it happened only to Swahili is the story that John M. Mugane sets out to explore. The remarkable adaptability of Swahili has allowed Africans and others to tailor the language to their needs, extending its influence far beyond its place of origin. Its symbolic as well as its practical power has evolved from its status as a language of contact among diverse cultures, even as it embodies the history of communities in eastern and central Africa and throughout the Indian Ocean world. The Story of Swahili calls for a reevaluation of the widespread assumption that cultural superiority, military conquest, and economic dominance determine a language’s prosperity. This sweeping history gives a vibrant, living language its due, highlighting its nimbleness from its beginnings to its place today in the fast-changing world of global communication.


The Story Behind St. Patrick's Day

The Story Behind St. Patrick's Day

Author: Jack Reader

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 172530063X

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Many people think St. Patrick's Day is all about shamrocks, leprechauns, and green clothing, but there's actually a lot of history behind this popular holiday. This book is packed with fun facts about the origins of St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick, for example, wasn't even Irish! Readers will learn about past and present traditions surrounding this day of celebration. Today, many cities hold parades, and some local rivers are even dyed green. Each spread features colorful images that encourage readers to make connections with the text. This book will help students appreciate the history of St. Patrick's Day as well as its festivities.


The Story Behind Juneteenth

The Story Behind Juneteenth

Author: Jack Reader

Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 26

ISBN-13: 1725300559

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Juneteenth, which is celebrated each year on June 19th, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. This holiday began in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. News spread much slower back then, and when slaves in Texas finally learned of their freedom, the holiday was born. In this book, readers are given an in-depth look at the history of Juneteenth, including the events leading up to its creation. Readers will love learning about how this important moment in U.S. history is celebrated each year.


The Black Power Movement

The Black Power Movement

Author: Peniel E. Joseph

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-08-21

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1136773401

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The Black Power Movement remains an enigma. Often misunderstood and ill-defined, this radical movement is now beginning to receive sustained and serious scholarly attention. Peniel Joseph has collected the freshest and most impressive list of contributors around to write original essays on the Black Power Movement. Taken together they provide a critical and much needed historical overview of the Black Power era. Offering important examples of undocumented histories of black liberation, this volume offers both powerful and poignant examples of 'Black Power Studies' scholarship.