‘Lunar New Year around the world’ is a brightly coloured delight. It explains how Lunar New Year is celebrated in different countries around the world in a really accessible way. The text on each page is brief and presented in different sections or boxes. The illustrations are very detailed and there is plenty to look at on each page. There are also a lot of activities mentioned in the book that children could easily do themselves, for example, making a paper lantern or writing a wish on a piece of paper. This book is great to share with any year group or would make a good assembly book.

This picture book provides a beautifully illustrated introduction to Chinese New Year.

The night before the celebrations, Mai-Anne explains that the Lunar New Year is about to arrive and that her family enjoys a special set of traditions. Mai-Anne helps to clean and decorate the house and is excited when her grandmother (Nai Nai) arrives in time for the most important dinner of the year – fish for good luck, noodles for a long life, dumplings for blessings and nian gao for success. After dinner, Mai-Anne and Nai Nai settle down together and Nai Nai recounts the important story of the Great Race. Along with Mai-Anne, the reader learns about the story of the twelve animals who race to cross the river. Then Mai-Anne enjoys a special family Dragon Dance, eats sweet tangerines and wears a special red outfit for luck.

This is a lovely picture book to read at Chinese New Year but also all year round too as a book that celebrates family moments, bonds with grandparents and the joy of special traditions. The illustrations and text are both warm and celebratory in tone. It also features a non-fiction section on the final pages with more information about Chinese New Year and the dragon dance.

Mog the Forgetful Cat is a classic favourite children’s book character and this story was released to celebrate 50 years of Mog stories.

Everybody loves birthday parties – unless you are a cat who prefers peace, quiet and no fuss. Mog isn’t thrilled at the idea of celebrating her birthday (because there will be too many people and strange things in the house) and retreats to the solitude of a garden tree. Initially upset because they can’t find Mog, the children soon track her down and give her a special celebration to remember.

Mog holds a special place in many children’s hearts and this story explores themes of celebrating special days with the ones we love.

‘Eight Nights, Eight Lights’ is a story picture book exploring the celebration of Chanukah (or Hanukkah), the Jewish Festival of Lights. With warm and inviting illustrations, the book brings the celebration to life, as we follow Max and his family, and other members of their Jewish community, through the eight days and nights of the festival.

The colour palette used in the book is really lovely, and the story is full of food, friendships, family, and fun. As a jumping off point in a topic on the Jewish faith and its festivals, this is a super resource and could lead to numerous activities, including making the food and playing the games described in the story. Highly recommended for school libraries and in any classroom for topic work on Judaism.

If you are learning about the Hindu festival of Ganesha Chaturthi or thinking about environmental issues, this book is an ideal read or read aloud, for children in upper KS1 or lower KS2. The illustrations and storyline effectively communicate the community of the main character, avoiding the potential for stereotypes and caricatures when stories are set in countries other than those in the UK.

The story raises the issue of the unintended consequences of traditional practices and celebratory customs. In this story, it is the purchasing of plaster figures of Ganesha to place in the river, which is the focus. This results in the pollution of the river as the colourful dyes and chemicals in the plaster, disperse into the water. The main character, Prema shows the reader how even small, creative and thoughtful acts can make a difference. Prema finds that using the clay from the riverbed is a much more sustainable and environmentally aware approach to the making of Ganesha statues. The story also demonstrates the power of friendship and community, where working together can have a greater impact on the issues that matter, than trying to solve issues on your own.

The book is beautifully illustrated and provides an opportunity to look at the details. The illustrations can be used to prompt discussion and to map what is known and what we might want to find out about temples, rivers used in religious festivals, Ganesha, the variety of clothing worn, religious symbols and festivals.

This is a hopeful story and one worth sharing for the many curricular avenues that could be explored as well as a good read-aloud story for enjoyment.

A colourful and heartwarming picturebook story about celebrating Eid.

Safa is excitedly getting ready for Eid-al-Fitr. The preparations are fun to make and include drawing henna patterns on her hands, putting up decorations and eating delicious foods. She’s also looking forward to her favourite part – the presents. While she celebrates, Safa isn’t keen to share her present of a new bike, but her Mum helps her to learn how Eid is about sharing and to see the wider meaning of celebrating with family and loved ones.

A warm story about Eid that EYFS and KS1 children will love to read all year round.

This picturebook offers an explanation of the way in which many Muslims see the period of Ramadan from the first sighting of the new moon through the full moon and back, as well as giving insight into the ‘month of mercy.’ This book would be a great addition to any school or library as it would help support adults who are less familiar with the experience of Ramadan to explain it to children. The explanation of Ramadan is explained beautifully and sensitively in this book and the accompanying illustrations enhance the text perfectly, presented with a beautiful texturing effect that adds a ‘real-world’ feel to them.

This picture book about the month of Ramadan and the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr is a gentle, light and thought-provoking story of a special time of year. The story begins at bedtime with the rising of the crescent moon and the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Told through the eyes of a young girl, it embraces family and school life as well as – in her Grandma’s words – being ‘thankful for beautiful things’. This book will be of interest to primary school class teachers and leaders – it would work well as a class story, a shared book, an individual library book or for use in assemblies. It is a beautifully illustrated story to accompany the month of Ramadan and bring life to R.E. teaching. Perfect for primary school classes including those with many, few or no Muslim pupils – the story of Ramadan unfolds telling non-Muslim pupils about the delights and significance of Ramadan from a child’s perspective. At the back of the book is an Author’s Note explaining the origins of Ramadan with clarity and simplicity as well as a comprehensive Glossary of terms.

This is the Christian story of Easter as told through the eyes of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem and watched the events of the Easter story unfold. The text is accompanied by beautiful illustrations and would be suitable to use with the whole primary age range as they explore the meaning behind the Christian festival.

If you love Christmas, or would like to know more about how its traditions are celebrated across the world, from Colombia to Ethiopia to Serbia, then this is a must-have book for you. It has something for all ages, and is particularly suitable for EYFS and KS1, with its accessible text and beautiful illustrations.

Traditions are shared with the reader from thirteen countries and my class was surprised by the differences and similarities to their own familiar celebrations, which led to insightful discussions. The countries selected each had an interesting fact and a child-friendly pronunciation guide to new words. This book is very appealing and I believe that all would learn something new about how some countries around the world celebrate Christmas.

We All Celebrate is a brightly coloured non-fiction book about communal festivals and celebrations. The book explores all kinds of celebrations from around the globe, including well known special festivals like Eid-al-Fitr, Diwali and Dia de los Muertos and less well-known traditions, such as Nowruz (the Persian New Year) and Inti Raymi, which is the Winter Solstice festival in Peru.

The author showcases the joyfulness of community celebrations, the comfort of traditions and the excitement of preparing for planned festivities. The last part of the book explains that in many cultures, the way things are celebrated evolves over time, and that there are vast variations in the way people and places acknowledge festivals that to many children may sound familiar (like ‘New Year’).

Jenny Bloomfield’s uplifting illustrations highlight people gathered together and show some of the food, places, musical traditions and clothing associated with each festival.