This compendium of old-fashioned craft projects, recipes and stories was written by a Waldorf kindergarten teacher in Germany and translated for English-speaking countries, though the focus remains European and is not well-suited to the U.S. market.
The text is written for adults to use with children and includes explanations of German holiday traditions, such as setting boots outside the door for St. Nicholas to fill on December 6. Recipes for holiday cookies and candies are included, with measurements given in both grams and ounces. Craft projects include traditional advent wreaths, beeswax candles and Nativity figures made from unspun sheep’s wool. Other selections include holiday legends and the Nativity story from the Books of Luke and Matthew. Poems and lyrics to holiday carols are woven throughout, including selections from Shakespeare, Browning and Longfellow. High-quality photographic illustrations of children and craft projects add to the volume’s appeal. There are no safety warnings about cooking or using knives with adult supervision, and there are two photographs of little girls lighting candles with no adult present, which don’t illustrate proper safety protocol.
Though there aren’t many family holiday books of this sort available, this version is suitable only for large library collections with heavy demand for Christmas activity books. (Nonfiction. 5-9, adults)
