My Family Celebrates Kwanzaa

September 1, 2018
Grades K-2 This Holiday Time subset of the Early Bird Stories series mixes simple fictional scenarios with recall questions at the end of each chapter. Kwanzaa shows the meaning and traditions of this relatively new holiday, centered on African American culture. The texts are simple, only several lines on each spread. Sometimes, questions arise from the brevity. For instance, when sugar skulls are mentioned in Day of the Dead, kids may be confused unless they read the helpful fact page at the conclusion, where more cogent explanations are found. At each book's end is a page of critical-thinking and text feature questions, although some skew very basic, for example, What chapter starts on page 8? The full-color digital art features wide-eyed characters who give the pages a lively feel. Libraries needing books for their youngest readers may want these, especially the titles that cover lesser-known holidays.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)