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Christmas Around the World

Mary D. Lankford,

Karen Dugan (Illustrations),

Irene Norman (Illustrations)

3.78 · Rating details · 116 ratings · 18 reviews

A holiday celebration of diversity!

From Ethiopian fringed umbrellas and star-shaped Filipino parol lanterns to candlelit Swedish St. Lucia crowns, Christmas Around the World brings together Christmas traditions from twelve different lands, like decorations on a splendid tree.

"A visually attractive and thoughtful presentation for those seasonal school assignments," praised ...more

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Paperback, 48 pages

Published October 19th 1998 by HarperCollins (first published October 1st 1995)

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Average rating 3.78 ·

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· 116 ratings · 18 reviews

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Nov 08, 2018 Manybooks rated it did not like it

Shelves: celebrations-rituals, childrens-history-nonfiction, four-seasons-winter, picture-books, too-many-errors, book-reviews

While the general set-up of Mary D. Lankford's Christmas Around the World sure does look tempting enough and actually even massively so (twelve featured countries from diverse areas of the world, accompanied by Karen Dugan's colourfully enchanting full page illustrative spreads, and with back materials that include a section by Irene Norman on a number of Christmas-based crafts, as well as glossaries, pronunciation guides and a nicely detailed bibliography), I am sorry, but the rather annoying n While the general set-up of Mary D. Lankford's Christmas Around the World sure does look tempting enough and actually even massively so (twelve featured countries from diverse areas of the world, accompanied by Karen Dugan's colourfully enchanting full page illustrative spreads, and with back materials that include a section by Irene Norman on a number of Christmas-based crafts, as well as glossaries, pronunciation guides and a nicely detailed bibliography), I am sorry, but the rather annoying number of factual errors I personally have encountered in just too many of the presented and featured Christmas in a specific country mini-chapters, they are simply not only too numerous in scope but also often quite mind-boggling and therefore more than ample reason for me to only consider but a one star maximum rating for Christmas Around the World.

For honestly, unless author Mary D. Lankford is totally a geographic zero, she really ought to know that Canada is NOT by any stretch of the imagination the largest country in the world (that even after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Russia is still and likely always will be the world's largest landmass, and by a long shot at that). And in fact, that the author has gotten this so very wrong does tend to make me both despair and actually also causes me to wonder a bit, seeing that Mary D. Lankford has also completely chosen to ignore any and all Eastern Orthodox, read Russian, Ukrainian, Slavic in general Christmas traditions and culture, whether this "error" might actually have been a deliberate specifically anti-Russian oversight. Furthermore, and as a person of German background, who does know the historical background of her Lebkuchen, the standard Nuremberg Elisenlebkuchen do NOT as a rule contain (like the author claims in her Christmas in Germany section) flour and eggs (since they were originally prepared in the time of Advent which was considered a fasting period, and thus, flour was replaced by hazelnuts and eggs were simply omitted). Now while indeed, there are of course other types of German gingerbread recipes that do make use of eggs and flour, Nuremberg's globally known and famous Elisenlebkuchen, if they are made according to the original and traditional recipe, DO NOT (and by the way, Ms. Lankford, the tradition of First Footing which you explain as an English, as a British Christmas tradition is for one generally considered Scottish and Irish and for two and more importantly, it is associated with New Year's Day celebrations and NOT Christmas).

So therefore, with all of the above mentioned errors and omissions I have found in Christmas Around the World (and there are actually considerably more than my above detailed examples, but I did not and do not want to overwhelm potential readers of my review), they really have made me not at ALL enjoy this book and to not recommend Christmas Around the World except perhaps very very grudgingly for the included bibliography (but then again, if the author, if Mary D. Lankford, has in fact and actually obtained her erroneous information from the secondary resource books she has listed, then even the bibliography needs to be approached with serious caution and prudent reservations). ...more

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Dec 26, 2016 Mark rated it did not like it

Shallowly researched (apparently, Canada is the largest country in the world). Little actual info about Christmas traditions padded with general history and geography cribbed from the encyclopedia and inflated with excessive use of the passive voice.

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Nov 29, 2019 Anjanabiswa added it

Shelves: diverse-books

By Mary D. Lankford, Illustrated by Karen Dugan
Summary: This is diverse book because its talks about how other countries celebrate Christmas. This book talks about different countries including Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, The Philippines, Sweden, and United States, Alaska.
Evaluation of Illustrations/Text: The illustrations are at the side or bottom of the pages. The illustrations depend on the country being explained. The illustrations ar ...more

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Dec 13, 2017 Nikki rated it really liked it

Shelves: byl-level-1, childrens-books, byl-winter-holidays, didn-t-finish

We started this book too late & the amount of information in it stopped us from finishing it this year but I'll plan to check it out again in the future. It is fun and interesting to read about the different winter holidays/christmas traditions in different countries around the world! ...more

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Oct 25, 2018 Emily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: picture-books

Best for older children. Includes Christmas crafts.

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Dec 07, 2011 Tam rated it really liked it

Shelves: christmas, educational

This is a book for older children. I thought it was perfect to read with my 8-year-old to teach him about Christmas around the world.

It begins with a brief "Christmas Chronology" that starts with 6 BC being the approximate date for the birth of Jesus and ends with 1962 when the first Christmas postage stamp was issued.

It talks about the traditions in the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, and Sweden. It also ta ...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Shamilah Gillani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: multicultural-cultural-holidays

“Christmas Around the World” by Mary D. Lankford and illustrated by Karen Dugan and Irene Norman is a classroom staple during Christmas time. The authors and illustrators did a terrific job of compiling the Christmas stories and going through the traditions that most families observe in many countries and putting them into one book. The book begins with a Christmas timeline which gives a basic overview the history of Christmas and some important Christmas-related events that have become a part o ...more

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Oct 26, 2014 Latifa Awad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: multicultural-text-set

Genre: Informational, Non- fiction

Christmas around the World begins by explaining the beginning of Christmas and the way it celebrated around the world. The different countries described in the book include: Australia, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, and Sweden. Displaying such a variety of countries and cultures revolving around the same Holiday, makes this book a great source for teaching about multicultural and celebrations around the ...more

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Mar 04, 2013 Katherine Moses added it

Shelves: texts-on-christmas-around-the-world

Christmas Around the World looks at the Christmas traditions in 12 countries all over the world. This book would be considered non-fiction.

This book gives a good, short overview of the Christmas traditions for each country. It is very appropriate. The book can be read a country at a time. The book includes vocabulary, crafts and song the children can use during the unit.

The author included symbols, greetings, and weather for each country. It will be easy for the children to compare different Chr ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Eva Kelly rated it liked it

I wanted to get this one even though Julie [librarian] said it might be too hard, and she was right. It WAS too hard with more words than anything. But when Mama read it to me it had good facts. Like all the stuff about Christmas in Australia which is where they have kangaroos and bandicoots. But they didn't have anything about them in here because this is a Christmas book, not an animal book.
I couldn't read it so I need to get it out again when I'm in seventh grade.

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Feb 29, 2020 Lauren Anderson added it

Shelves: diversity, holidays, nonfiction, multicultural

This story would be a good read aloud to primary students. The book tells of Christmas traditions from 12 different countries. It includes craft ideas to go with the different country's traditions. This would be a good book to read aloud to a class during December when talking about diversity and how the same holiday can be celebrated in different ways based on the country's traditions.

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Apr 23, 2015 Natalie Flanagan added it

I had the opportunity to read this book to a 5th grade classroom and they seem to love this book! I love how you were able to learn about 12 other centuries Christmas traditions. It was very interesting to be able to see how others celebrate Christmas.

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Dec 28, 2012 Faith Hough rated it really liked it

Shelves: homeschooling

We really liked the content and format of this book, but wished a few more countries' traditions had been included.

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Jan 07, 2009 Doree Burt rated it liked it

Shelves: christmas-books-to-read-and-display

This is a fun exploration of Christmas around the world. There's a pronunciation guide, which I love, and some cool historical and craft stuff. Twelve countries are explored.

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Dec 30, 2016 D rated it really liked it

An especially delightful book that enabled me to teach my young children how Christmas is celebrated differently in other countries:)

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Dec 08, 2011 Jan rated it really liked it

I have been reading this out loud to my four boys at breakfast. Each morning one boy chooses a country and we explore their Christmas traditions. It has been quite a fun journey.

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