Children are excited thatโ๏ธ St. Patrick's Day is approaching, and we are eager to learn about the holiday, traditions, and ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland. We started by ๐ reading about Patrick's life and how the day is celebrated with the St. Patrick's Day book (buy here). The text is easily digestible and concise, and the pages are full of information and colorful artwork, heavily accented with color green. Author's full-page watercolor-and-ink illustrations flow logically from one to the next.
The author covers the salient details of Patrick's life: his boyhood in slavery, his return to Britain, where he was ordained, and his life dedicated to the conversion of the Irish. The author also highlights the symbols (such as shamrocks, leprechauns, and Celtic harps) and at the end, describes some of St. Patrick's miracles.
Do you know why Ireland has no โ ๐ snakes? One of the legends says that St. Patrick got rid of all the snakes by beating his drum, thus frightening them into the sea. ~ St. Patrick's Day book (buy here).
"How to catch a leprechaun?
It's tougher than you think!
He'll turn your whole house upside down.
He's quicker than a wink!"
Another tradition during the St. Patrick's holiday in Ireland is for people to dress in ๐ green to honor an ancient Irish custom. The custom dates back hundreds of years ago when people of Ireland burned branches with green leaves during the month of March and spread the ashes in fields to make them fertile and green. (Excerpt from St. Patrick's Day book ~buy here). So, naturally, the color of St. Patricks's Day is Emerald Isle. As such, we read one of our favorite "green" books ~ called the Green book (buy here), awarded the Best Children's Book of 2012, where the author pays intricate and satisfying homage to a single color – green – the color of Ireland and St. Patrick's Day.
What books are you reading forโ๏ธ St. Patrick's Day?
Please, check out our entire St. Patrick's Day-inspired unit study with lots of fun hands-on fun STEAM activities here in a post โ๏ธSt. Patrick's Day Inspired Unit Study .
3 Comments
I throughly enjoyed read your reflection on the books you and your children read together. Which book did you read about the paragraph in which you discussed th tradition of wearing green snd burning branches that is so neat how it goes along withwith beganning to cultivate the ground for spring planting. Thank you for the time and work you put into your blog, it is appreciated
Melissa
Thank you for your kind comment; please check the link for the book you inquired about https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823411737?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwmon0d2-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=0823411737
Hi Anya,
The link is not working for the St. Patrick’s activities.