Happy Holidays! American Girl is a Random House Books American Girl publication and Little Golden Book focused on the Historical Characters and their winter celebrations (often as seen in the Central Series in the winter celebration books).
Contents
The book starts by discussing that as weather gets colder and days shorten, there are many holiday celebrations held in the winter; every family has different ways of celebrating with various decor, meals, gifts, and family traditions. This is followed by briefly focusing on the winter holiday celebrations of several historical characters.
- Felicity Merriman is invited to a ball. She practices her dances, and at the ball can hardly believe the fanciness of the food set out for guests.
- Kaya'aton'my looks forward to the Winter Spirit Dances performed. The family welcomes visitors to the longhouse where they have a feast; afterwards, those who have received their guardian spirits are part of a ceremonial song and dance.
- Maryellen Larkin is delighted with how her Florida home is decorated with bright lights, but dreamed of seeing snow; this dream is fulfilled when her grandparents have her visit and she goes ice-skating for the first time.
- Kirsten Larson surprises her family with celebrating St. Lucia Day as it was done in Sweden, wearing a traditional outfit and serving coffee and holiday bread.
- Rebecca Rubin's favorite Hanukkah tradition is lighting the menorah with the shammash candle--adding a candle for all eight nights. She also plays dreidel with her younger brother, where the winner gets candy.
- At the first snow of the year, Molly McIntire and her siblings play outside in the front yard dressed warmly--it's so fun they don't care about the cold itself.
- Addy Walker and her mother make sweet potato pudding, which they take to the church potluck; Addy then attends a shadow play of the Christmas story.
- Josefina Montoya plays the part of María in Las Posadas, a procession representing the search of María and José to find an inn on la Noche Buena (Christmas Eve). Her papá leads the burro and Josefina sings the special song.
- Nanea Mitchell and her sister practice hula for a holiday performance for the United Service Organization; that evening, they sing carols with the ukulele (and Mele's howls) and wish each other "Mele Kalikimaka."
- Julie Albright celebrates Chinese New Year with her best friend Ivy Ling, where they eat Chinese dishes together with family for luck. They then watch the dragon parade in Chinatown.
The book closes saying that while celebrations differ, what they have in common is spending time together with loved ones and asks the reader what their own traditions are.
Trivia
- Celebrations for Samantha Parkington, Kit Kittredge, Melody Ellison, and Courtney Moore are not seen. Winter celebrations for Caroline Abbott (though she has winter events, no Christmas celebration is seen), Marie-Grace Gardner, and Cécile Rey are not given in books to reference.