Celebrate! Connections Among Cultures

Review
By Booklist

Far from a generic view of ‘primitive’ peoples, this photo-essay draws on Reynolds’ experiences while she lived with a variety of families around the world. Beautiful color photos show how indigenous peoples everywhere ‘mark changes, express thanks, and honor important people and events,’ with feasts, costumes, music, and more - from the Tibetans in the Himalayas, the Tuareg in the Sahara, and the Yanomami in the Amazon rain forest to families across the U.S. With each photo, Reynolds includes a brief explanation of the source of the tradition and how it is celebrated now. It’s a lot for one small book to handle, but the lively photos and the connections Reynolds makes will encourage children to go on to the titles in the appended bibliography and to the books in Reynolds’ Vanishing Culture series. A world map establishes the general location of the communities introduced.