Harvest Days (World of Celebrations)

by Kate Depalma (Author) Martina Peluso (Illustrator)

Harvest Days (World of Celebrations)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Explore harvest festivals from around the globe!

Lyrical, rhyming text and lush, detailed artwork from Italian artist Martina Peluso immerse young readers in some of the most ancient traditions in the world.

Nine pages of rich, educational endnotes dive deep with more information about the 12 cultures explored in the book and invite young readers to ask questions about food and the labor that produces it.

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$9.99

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School Library Journal

Gr 1-3--This picture book includes the harvest celebrations of 11 countries from around the world. Each page contains four rhyming sentences that introduce a festival to readers. The name of the festival is given in the language of the culture, and then a pronunciation is provided. A window in the bottom corner of each spread provides a detail or fact. The simple style of the illustrations gives cultural uniqueness to each group, while still achieving a unified effect: what the people are wearing, eating, making, and doing is showcased in each selection. Back matter contains a calendar of all the festivals featured, information about harvest season presented in a Q&A format, questions for readers, and more detail about each event. Library shelves are full of books on this topic; this one is different because it discusses celebrations in countries that are not typically represented, such as Iran and Liberia, and the illustrations provide accurate details that will engage young readers and facilitate interesting discussion. VERDICT The combination of harvest celebrations that occur in different countries at different times of the year makes this book distinctive and worth purchasing.--Peggy Henderson Murphy

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

On the initial spread of this whirlwind offering, a look at rituals practiced and food served during harvest holidays globally, a group of children, portrayed with varying skin tones, gather food pending bountiful celebrations. As the pages turn, DePalma uses rigorously rhyming couplets for a tour of varied locations: A spread on Tamil Nadu, India, shows people dressing up their cattle and feeding them treats as thanks for their hard work; another depicts Spanish citizens flooding the streets for La Tomatina, a town-wide tomato food fight, to use up overripe fruit. Pronunciations and sidebars detailing each celebration's significance feature throughout: "At Homowo, the Gã people of Ghana laugh at hunger and remember when they overcame starvation." Peluso's digitally rendered, naïflike illustrations primarily foreground characters rejoicing with their loved ones. Contextualizing back matter provides information about the myriad harvest events discussed. Ages 4-10. (Sept.)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Kate Depalma

Kate DePalma was born and raised outside Nashville, TN, USA. As Senior Editor at Barefoot Books, she has helped develop dozens of picture books, as well as authoring her own, including those published under her pseudonym, Sunny Scribens. She holds an M.A. in Classics from the University of Texas and is also a published poet and scholar. Kate lives with her husband and daughter in Pennsylvania, USA.

Martina Peluso has wanted to be an illustrator ever since she read The BFG by Roald Dahl when she was young. After growing up in Tuscany and Naples, Italy, she studied Art of Printing at the Institute of Art in Naples and has taken illustration courses at Sarmede and Pavia. She has worked in all areas of illustration, including advertising, packaging, editorial and design; her artwork has been exhibited throughout the world. She lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781646866267
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Barefoot Books
Publication date
September 20, 2022
Series
World of Celebrations
BISAC categories
JNF038000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | General
JNF014000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Cooking & Food
JNF052020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Science | Customs, Traditions, Anthropology
JNF026060 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Thanksgiving
JNF069000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Library of Congress categories
Stories in rhyme
Thanksgiving Day
Holidays
Festivals
Harvest festivals
Harvesting time

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