Holiday Season Resources at SUNY Broome

A great introduction to the customs of Lunar New Year.This interactive lift-the-flap book is perfect for parents and early readers to enjoy together! It's Lunar New Year and there are so many fun things to do! Shopping at the outdoor market for fresh flowers, eating New Year's dinner with the whole family, receiving red envelopes from Grandma and Grandpa, and best of all-watching the spectacular Lunar New Year's parade! Illustrated by Benrei Huang.

Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu. Sam must decide how to spend the lucky money he's received for Chinese New Year.

A wonderful look at Japanese culture and family life, Japanese Traditions is an intricately illustrated romp through the childhood reminiscences of author/illustrator Setsu Broderick. Told via a series of short text blocks and lighthearted illustrations based on cats, Japanese Traditions displays seasonal festivals and activities such as O-Bon (Festival of the Souls), O-hanami (cherry blossom viewing) and preparing for the New Year.

Among the world's myriad cultures and their associated calendars, the idea of a "New Year" is relative and hardly specifies a universal celebration or even a universal point in time. Ways of celebrating the New Year range from the observances of religious rituals and superstitions to social gatherings featuring particular foods, music, dancing, noisemaking, fireworks and drinking. This first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the New Year includes 320 entries that give a global perspective on the New Year, beyond its traditional Western associations with Christmas. National or regional entries detail the principal traditions and customs of 130 countries, while 27 entries discuss major calendar systems in current use or of significant historical interest.

Tibet is a less-explored region in China. Its traditional New Year is mysterious and less known to the rest of the world, yet 'The Tibetan Calendar New Year' is the most important festival for the Tibetan people. This book introduces the origin, development, dissemination, and traditions of this festival. Written in an English-Chinese bilingual text, the book introduces the traditions of Tibetan people's New Year, and it offers a new image of their unique celebration.

Every New Year's Day since 1901, the Philadelphia Mummers have presented a spectacular show of shows that raucously snakes and shimmies its way through city streets. The Mummers Parade features music, dance, comedy, and mime, along with dazzling costumes and floats. Although the lavish event is now televised to a wide audience, it is still rooted in the same neighborhoods where it began. This book explores the community created and annually reaffirmed by the Philadelphia Mummers. The author spent more than five years with the Mummers, observing their lives and rituals as she took part in their preparations and parades.

In Auld Lang Syne: A Song and its Culture, M. J. Grant explores the history of this iconic song, demonstrating how its association with ideas of fellowship, friendship and sociality has enabled it to become so significant for such a wide range of individuals and communities around the world. This engaging study traces different stages in the journey of Auld Lang Syne, from the precursors to the song made famous by Robert Burns to the traditions and rituals that emerged around the song in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including its use as a song of parting, and as a song of New Year. Grant's painstaking study investigates the origins of these varied traditions, and their impact on the transmission of the song right up to the present day.

For centuries fireworks have been a source of delight and amazement in cultures around the world. But what produces their dazzling array of effects? This book takes you behind the scenes to explore the chemistry and physics behind the art of pyrotechnics. Topics covered include history and characteristics of gunpowder; principles behind each of the most popular firework types: rockets, shells, fountains, sparklers, bangers, roman candles and wheels; special effects, including sound effects, coloured smokes and electrical firing; firework safety for private use and displays; and firework legislation.

"Uncorked" quenches our curiosity about the inner workings of one of the world's most prized beverages. Esteemed for its freshness, vitality, and sensuality, champagne is a wine of great complexity. Mysteries aplenty gush forth with the popping of that cork. Just what is that fizz? Can you judge champagne quality by how big the bubbles are, how long they last, or how they behave before they fade? And why does serving champagne in a long-stemmed flute prolong its chill and effervescence? Through lively prose and a wealth of state-of-the-art photos, this revised edition of "Uncorked" unlocks the door to what champagne is all about. Providing an unprecedented close-up view of the beauty in the bubbles, Gerard Liger-Belair presents images that look surprisingly like lovely flowers, geometric patterns, even galaxies as the bubbles rise through the glass and burst forth on the surface. He illustrates how bubbles form not on the glass itself but are "born" out of debris stuck on the glass wall, how they rise, and how they pop. Offering a colorful history of champagne, Liger-Belair tells us how it is made and he asks if global warming could spell champagne's demise. In a brand-new afterword, he updates the reader on new developments in the world of bubble science and delves even more deeply into the processes that give champagne its unique and beautiful character. Bubbly may tickle the nose, but "Uncorked" tackles what the nose and the naked eye cannot--the spectacular science that gives champagne its charm and champagne drinkers immeasurable pleasure."