Product Review: Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas [Hardcover] (PreK-4th Grade)
Celebrate New Year’s Traditions from Around the World with Shanté!
Every New Year’s Eve like clockwork my mom would put a Crockpot full of sauerkraut and pork to simmer all day until midnight for us to eat for good luck. I did not realize that this ‘good luck’ tradition was not an international or even national tradition. This good luck meal is a tradition across states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia or, really, anywhere with a historically prominent Eastern European or German immigrant population. It really wasn’t until I moved to Texas and learned of the tradition of having black eyed peas as an alternate to what I ate growing up that I embraced other ‘good luck’ foods for the New Year. We even made Texas Good Luck Caviar Black-eyed peas our first New Years here. Why not? It’s fun to learn about different cultures and traditions and Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas is a fun book to read around the New Year!
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas is about a young child who loves New Year’s Day and all of the yummy traditional foods for the day. Of course, she has to have the back-eyed peas which are her family’s tradition. It’s bad luck without them! But – uh oh – her Grandma forgets to make them with all the other food she is making for guests so it is up to Shanté to save the day and she sets out to find some peas! What Shanté Keys learns as she talks to her neighbors is that families celebrate the New Year differently around the world and she learns about many multicultural aspects (such as Chinese New Year and Diwali) of the New Years around the world. I love that the author has pages about diverse New Year’s traditions and includes all the special foods people use to celebrate. It’s a great way to broaden our children’s horizon and to learn other culture’s traditions. Plus, it gave my family great ideas on different ‘good luck’ recipes from around the world to make this year for our own family! Hey, it can’t hurt, right?
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About Albert Whitman & Company: The Illinois Albert Whitman & Company has been publishing books to help educate, entertain and encourage children for over 90 years! Wow! Albert Gayne Whitman was a Chicago-born actor in both radio and film between the years 1904-1957. Albert Whitman & Company has always been independently owned and operated and is best known for the classic series The Boxcar Children Mysteries.
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas [Hardcover] (PreK-4th Grade)
List Price: $16.99
Momma's Bacon 