Mommy, Why Don't We Celebrate Halloween? by Linda Hacon Winwood is part of the "Mommy Why?" series. Whether or not to celebrate Halloween is a debate in Christian homes across America. This book uses a dialog between a mother and her two children to explain the history of the holiday and how that history is still relevant today. The children, a boy and a girl, ask great questions forcing their mom to come up with real answers. What's wrong with "dressing up and getting candy?" If holidays are to honor something, "what do we honor at Halloween?" "What about pumpkins?" "If Halloween is so evil, why do so many Christian schools and churches still go trick-or-treating, march in parades and have Halloween parties?" If we don't believe those things, can we still participate just for fun?Al Berg served as illustrator for this book. His drawings feature a loving family. A few scenes of history are also depicted. The back of the book includes a "suggested lesson plan" of five different activities for use at home or in schools.
What I Like: I learned a lot from this book! My family has never celebrated Halloween, but now as a parent, I've had difficulty understanding and explaining why. I knew I didn't like it, but couldn't decipher if it was just me or something more spiritual. This book does a fantastic job presenting the facts, comparing them to Scripture and leaving the decision up to us.
What I Dislike: While marketed as a book for children, this really is not. This is a book for parents. The text far outweighs the illustrations. There is an illustration for each page of text, but they are completely colorless and not very appealing to children. Rather than read this book to their kids, I recommend parents read the book themselves then use the information they gain to start a conversation of their own.
Overall Rating: Poor as a children's book; Very Good as a resource for parents.
Age Appeal: 4-8 (according to the publisher)
Publisher Info: Destiny Image, 1995; ISBN: 1560438231; Paperback; $5.99
Buy it Now at Christianbook.com for $4.99!
1 comment:
Great review. I, too, found this book to be overloaded with information. It wasn't a "story" rather the children are being "told" why they choose not to celebrate Halloween. I was drawn to the title because we do not celebrate Halloween and I hoped it would be great for our family library. I opted out... just didn't meet my needs.
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