Ammon, Richard. An Amish Christmas. Illustrated by Pamela Patrick. New York: Scholastic, 1996.

This is about an Amish brother and sister and how their family celebrates Christmas. This story tells us a little of their Christmas tradition. The illustrations depict the simple lifestyle of the Amish people including their clothing, and farm life. We are introduced to Christmas traditions such as simple gift giving, and the length of the Christmas celebration. Although this book is a little bland, it is an informative story about some of the characteristics of Amish life. Submitted by Laura Fitzgibbon

De Paola, Tomie. Fin M'Coul The Giant of Knockmany Hill. New York: Scholastic, 1981.

This story has been passed through many generations in Ireland and is retold by Tomie DePaola in this book. This is one of the many stories about Fin M'Coul, the Irish giant. Fin M'Coul and his wife Oonagh, live on top of Knockmany Hill. Life was good until Fin heard that Cucullin, the strongest giant in Ireland, was looking to give Fin a good beating. Fin ran home to his wife to tell her of the bad news. Oonagh calmed her husband and devised a plan to beat Cucullin. The plan worked and Cucullin was never to bother anyone again! This is a fun story that I think many children may enjoy and it is a good way to introduce folklore. Submitted by Laura Fitzgibbon

Hoestlandt. Star of Fear, Star of Hope. Illustrated by Johanna Kang. New York: Walker, 1993.

This story takes place in France during the Nazi occupation. It is about the friendship of two young girls, Helen and Lydia. Helen and Lydia are best friends and love to spend all of their time together. The only difference between these children is that Lydia is Jewish and must wear a yellow star to identify herself as a Jew. On Helen's ninth birthday the girls are celebrating but Lydia decides she must go warn her parents that the soldiers are rounding up the Jews. Helen becomes angry that her best friend leaves her birthday celebration. Helen expresses her dissatisfaction with hurtful words towards Lydia. From that moment forward Helen has never seen her friend Lydia ever again and so she wrote this book in hope that Lydia would see this book one day. This describes the seriousness of the Nazi occupation without going into a lot of gory detail. An adult may wish to describe as little or as much of the war as they deem appropriate depending on the age or maturity of the child who is reading it. Submitted by Laura Fitzgibbon

Polacco, Patricia. Chicken Sunday. New York: Philomel Books, 1992.

This is a heart-warming story about extended family, childhood friends and family traditions. Stewart, Winston and Patricia have their heart set on surprising their grandmother with a beautiful hat that she admires. In order to make money, the children set out looking for odd jobs in the neighborhood. During their search, the children are accused of throwing eggs at the hat maker's shop door. The children make amends by offering the hat maker a gift. In the end, the children are able to purchase the hat and befriend the hat maker. Ms. Polacco's illustrations are marvelous. The detail of her illustrations gives the reader a lot of information and enriches the reading experience. You can't help but join in and celebrate the difference of culture and religion in this book. Submitted by Laura Fitzgibbon

Spier, Peter. PEOPLE. New York: Doubleday, 1980.

In this picture book, Peter Spier addresses people from all over the word. He discusses and illustrates our differences and similarities, from eye shape to skin color. He looks at noses, ears and hairstyles too! In a diverse world such as ours, Spier's illustrates different cultures as well as individual differences in our world. He tells how what is beautiful in one culture may be unacceptable in another culture. The book's final message is that without all of these differences, our world would be a bland and unexciting place to live. Submitted by Laura Fitzgibbon

• An Amish Christmas and The Streets Are Free: These books can be used to compare different cultures. The children could divide into groups and list qualities that they learned from the text and/or illustrations of these books. After making a list you can discuss the differences between the cultures represented in these books or compare our culture with one or both of these cultures. Laura Fitzgibbon
• Uses for Chicken Sunday and Star of Fear, Star of Hope: Both of these books can be used either separately or together to illustrate the Holocaust. If used together I would read Star of Fear, Star of Hope first. This book would be useful in introducing the Nazi occupation and the results it had on the Jewish people. In Chicken Sunday, Mr. Kodinski, the hat maker, is Jewish and in one picture you can see the concentration camp numbers tattooed to his arm. You can discuss the effects of the Holocaust many years after it was over. Laura Fitzgibbon
• Spier, Peter. PEOPLE. New York: Doubleday, 1980. This book would be good to use when teaching the importance of diversity and or discussing different cultures or geographic regions. Children could use this book (to get ideas) to make their own culture. They can decide what the people will look like, where they will live, what they where they will live, will wear, what they will eat, etc. This could be a fun way for children to see how differences make our world an interesting place to live! Laura Fitzgibbon