International Children's Book Day

My grandson eating his first book!

Today we are celebrating International Children's Book Day, a yearly event sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People. This day is celebrated to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children's books.

Instilling a love of reading promotes a lifetime of learning and enjoyment. I have created a page Best Children's Books For The Early Years that promotes the books that I enjoyed reading to my children and my grandchildren.
 
 "There is a whole host of fabulous children's books out there waiting to be discovered - not just by children but by adults who are young at heart too!"

To find out more about the day and events happening near you, visit International Childrens Book Day website.

What is your favorite children's book? (or 2 or 3)

Click here for More April Holidays and Celebrations

Happy Saint David's Day For My Welsh Friends

St David. Late 19th Century.

Happy Saint David's Day 

(Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi) to all of the Welsh people who celebrate.

March 1 is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, in remembrance of the death of Saint David in 569. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century, and a public holiday in 2000.

Public celebrations of Saint David's Day are held in Wales with an annual parade, concerts are held in pubs, clubs, and other venues, and food festivals.

The Los Angeles St. David's Day Festival - National Day of Wales is the largest annual event of its kind in the United States. 

For more celebrations see:

March Holidays and Celebrations
Celebrate Everyday

Update 3/3/15
I found a lovely site that I want to share with you here. 
Tuesday Cuppa Tea, St. David's Day, 
Shelley Daffodil Time Teacup, Things Welsh


Image: Stained glass window in Jesus College Chapel, Oxford, showing St David. Late 19th century.
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

A Busy Week For Celebrating

This week is a busy week for celebrating. As this is the midpoint between Winter and Spring, and some of us are suffering from not enough sunlight, spending too much time indoors and sometimes unfriendly weather, the holidays this week come at a good time to lift spirits and help us remember that life is to be celebrated.

Today is the new moon which means that in addition to being the dark time of the year, it's also a dark night. Chinese New Year officially falls on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice.

Holidays we will be observing this week.

Chinese New Year
Celebrated around the world 2013 is the Year of the Yin Black Water Snake - The year of feminine wisdom & renewal. This holiday is also called the Spring Festival  and the the Lunar New Year.

Mardi Gras
Observed by various locales usually historically associated with Catholic populations, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," the day before Ash Wednesday/ It's also called "Shrove Tuesday," or "Pancake Day".


Lincoln's Birthday
Abraham Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in some U.S. states including California, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Indiana.

It is observed on the anniversary of the slain president's birth on February 12, 1809. The day is marked by traditional wreath-laying ceremonies at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

Celebrate Lincoln's birthday by seeing the award winning film Lincoln.

Will you be celebrating one of these Holidays? How will you celebrate?

Paper Cut-Out Art - Chinese Zodiac - Year of the Snake
Mardi Gras Image cc by DoctorWho
Lincoln Image cc by  Jeff Kubina

edited 2/9/16

Celebrate National Pie Day

billy.bebop CC BY 2.0

The American Pie Council promotes January 23 as Celebrate National Pie Day. They say the pie-sibilities are endless! According to them the apple pie is America's favorite (of 231 varieties, not sure where they get these numbers), followed by pumpkin pie which seems to me is a seasonal favorite and coming in third is the pecan pie, which my family only ever ate during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays.

I grew up with sweet potato pie as my favorite until I went to Miami and ate real key lime pie....  mmmm!! Sweet potato pie is probably the healthier choice! 

What is your favorite pie? Leave me a comment!


Image billy.bebop CC BY 2.0)

edited 1/23/17

World War II Memorial Day or V-J Day.

Celebrate the 67th anniversary of the end of World War II when we recognized the World War II generation, both veterans and those on the home front and honor the sacrifices of veterans who fought and were lost in World War II.

Originally known as World War II Memorial Day, the day is now known as Victory over Japan Day or V-J Day.  It was a nationally recognized holiday, but it has since been removed because of the nature of the war's ending, following the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945.  Due to the devastating ending of the war, critics argue the name is insensitive to the Japanese.

WWII officially ended Aug. 15, 1945 when Japan surrendered, but because of the time zone difference, the United States was informed of the victory on Aug. 14. There was quite a celebration all over the country as you can see on this Archive Newsreel August 14, 1945 Newsreel V-J Day 

Photo: 
Each of the 4,048 gold stars represents 100 Americans who died during the war
used with permission by flickr user dbking

To read more click the following links:

Dad's Story August 6th, 1945  60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima

Dad Was In World War 2 US Navy 

Dad Was On The USS PCE 884

Dad And The USS Missouri