Whether they're decorating Easter trees or celebrating Wagner's birthday by playing recordings of his Ring cycle operas and incinerating a model of Valhalla on an outdoor barbecue to the closing strains of "Gotterdämerung," Americans know both how to create and how to celebrate holidays. Jack Santino's guide to such frivolity is a wonderfully readable exploration of holidays, periods of festivity, and life-cycle rituals and celebrations. Santino draws on history, anthropology, popular culture, and folklore to show the intricate relationships between holidays and the roles that celebrations and rituals play in people's lives.

All Year Round is brimming with things to make, activities, stories, poems and songs to share with your family. It is full of well-illustrated ideas for fun and celebration: from Candlemas to Christmas and Midsummer's day to the Winter solstice.Observing the round of festivals is an enjoyable way to bring rhythm into children's lives and provide a series of meaningful landmarks to look forward to. Each festival has a special character of its own: participation can deepen our understanding and love of nature and bring a gift to the whole family. All Year Round invites you to start celebrating now!

Follow two friends as they explore the changing seasons through the beauty of each month's iconic shapes and celebrations -- from January to December -- all year round. A world of shapes, twelve months abound, from four-cornered square, to circle, round. Circle round, ready to roll. Add two sticks, a carrot and coal. (January) A sporty diamond, player at bat. Bases loaded, tilt your hat. (June) Triangle treats-pumpkin, peach. Want some pie? Excuse my reach! (November) Poetic text by Susan B. Katz (ABC Baby Me!, My Mama Earth, ABC School's for Me) is paired with debut illustrator Eiko Ojala's intricate cut-paper artwork to bring the months and their shapes to life! Bold colors, adorable characters, and lyrical text fuse together perfectly in this truly creative look at the world around us.

Pictures depict busy people in a town throughout the year.

Two mice describe their love in terms of the special characteristics of each month of the year.

A year in the life of an Australian family told through the eyes of a child and featuring the months of the year.