Celebrate Kwanzaa with Boots and Her Kittens
Celebra Kwanzaa con Botitas y sus gatitos
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Story:
An African-American family gets together to celebrate Kwanzaa, but will the celebration be spoiled because their beloved cat, Boots, is missing? The family sets off on a quest to find Boots by putting the seven values celebrated in Kwanzaa into practice.
Non-fiction:
An overview of the history of Kawanzaa and a description of the different aspects of its celebration. Illustrated with numerous informative photographs.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Each of the twenty four books in this collection dedicated to some of the most important holidays and festivities celebrated in the United States is the combination of two books in one. The first part is an engaging realistic fiction story beautifully illustrated by a diversity of illustrators. The second part is a non-fiction piece that explains the history and significance of the holiday or celebration. This second part is illustrated with bright and unique photographs that will allow children to witness the celebration.
The festivities addressed include:
- Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Celebrate PowWow
- Celebrate Chinese New Year
- Celebrate Halloween & Day of the Dead
- Celebrate Mardi Gras
- Celebrate Thanksgiving
- Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
- Celebrate Hannukah
- Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
- Celebrate Kwanzaa
- Celebrate Fourth of July
- Celebrate Christmas & Three Kings Day
For more details in the series and the values it presents see the series description: Series Stories to Celebrate / Cuentos para celebrar. There is also an individual page, like this, for each of the books in the series.
Lesson plans and questions to guide the Creative Reading Dialogue can be found on the SantillanaUSA website: www.santillanausa.com/cuentosparacelebrar.htm
CDS DESCRIPTION
There are two CDs with the readings of the twelve stories in English and two CDs with the readings of the twelve stories in Spanish.
The CDs will allow children to follow a professional reading aloud individually or in groups.
They can be beneficial to children learning a second language, whether English or Spanish, since they will be able to read the book in their stronger language and then listen to the recording in the second language, or vice versa.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Each of the values celebrated in Kwanzaa: Unity, Self-determination, solidarity, working together to achieve goals, creativity and the belief in one’s own dreams are values that I hold dear. It was a wonderful challenge to create a story that could demonstrate these values to children without appearing like a lesson, and holding the interest of the story.
Isabel and I brainstormed quite a bit to come up with this story, and I believe we succeeded. We were very pleased with the result and with the charming illustrations by Valeria Docampo.
Since I am only one of the authors of this book. You can visit www.isabelcampoy.com to read what the other author has to say.
Many readers are intrigued about how two authors collaborate to write a book. If you share this curiosity you may enjoy reading how Isabel Campoy explains this experience in the chapter authored by her “Writing in Collaboration: One plus One is One or Two” in the book Alma Flor Ada and You, volume II published by Libraries Unlimited.
READERS’ RESPONSES
If you have enjoyed reading or sharing this book, I would very much like to hear from you. Please click here to send your comments.
