It found it incredibly hard to narrow down this list of books for spring! I could make a separate booklist for each holiday listed below, but we will be churning through them as it is.
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Learn about cultural and religious festivals and holidays around the world this spring, from Ireland to India, Guatemala to Japan. Here’s our lineup of reads for the month of March:
Ramadan
Read: The Ramadan Drummer, by Sahtinay Abaza
Ramadan is a religious Islamic holiday that occurs during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. In 2024, Ramadan will be observed from March 10 to April 9, 2024. This beautiful book introduces the customs and traditions surrounding Ramadan, with an emphasis on community.
St. Patrick’s Day: Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland
Read: Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, by Tomie dePaola
St. Patrick’s Day is always on March 17. I know it’s technically before the first day of spring, but I’m still adding it to my list of books for spring. This Catholic holiday is in observance of the feast day of Saint Patrick, a Catholic priest who lived in the 5th century in Ireland. More than just a day to party in green or orange (Catholics and Protestants, respectively), we usually read about the life of Saint Patrick.
Vernal (Spring) Equinox
Read: A New Beginning: Celebrating the Spring Equinox, by Wendy Pfeffer, read it on archive.org
The vernal, or spring, equinox falls on March 19, 2024. It is usually around this date but can vary slightly from year to year. On the vernal equinox, day and night are of equal length. This book takes you on a trip through history and all the ways various cultures celebrated this special day. Especially appreciated is the visual explanation provided through images of the earth and sun. This is such a lovely read to add to your books for spring.
Purim
Read: Purim Play by Roni Schotter, read it on archive.org
Read: Raisel’s Riddle by Erica Silverman, read it on archive.org
Purim is a Jewish holiday. In 2024, it will begin at sundown on March 23 and ends at sundown on March 24. The celebrations stem from the story of Jewish Queen Esther saving her people from annihilation. The book Purim Play tells about the Jewish holiday traditions as well as the historical story. Be sure to try the recipe in the back for “Mama’s Famous, Bet-you-can’t-eat-just-one, Apricot-Orange Hamantaschen”
We are also reading Raisel’s Riddle as part of our Cinderella Stories Around the World study. This Cinderella varation is set in a Jewish community in Poland. The party Raisel wishes to attend is the Purim Play. With the help of her fairy godmother, she attends dressed as Queen Esther and wins the heart of the Rabbi’s son with a riddle.
Holi
Read: Holi Hai, by Chitra Soundar
Holi is a religious festival from India that follows the Hindu calendar. In 2024, Holi falls on March 25. It is known as a colorful festival and celebrates the divine love of the Hindu deities of Radha and Krishna. It is also a celebration of good harvest, and fertility. In the book, the little girl doesn’t get the color she wanted for the festival and must work through her emotions. It’s a very relatable story that also educates about the holiday.
Resurrection Sunday
Read: Sawdust Carpets by Amelia Lau Carling, read it on archive.org
Read: Yosef’s Gift of Many Colors by Cassandre Maxwell
This Christian holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs on or after the vernal equinox. In 2024, Resurrection Sunday is on March 31 according to the Gregorian calendar. For the Eastern Orthodox church following the Julian calendar, this date falls on May 5. Also called Easter, it absorbed many of the symbols and celebrations surrounding the pagan goddess of fertility, Eostre. The following two books describe cultural traditions surrounding Resurrection Sunday. I’m not fond of Easter bunnies or Easter eggs, but these books for spring will still give you a dose of the Easter egg tradition.
Sawdust Carpets takes place in Guatemala and tells of the tradition of making beautiful sawdust carpets in the streets for the religious procession. “Guatemalan and Chinese religious observances, the Goddess Kuan Yin and the Virgen de Guadalupe, Dragon Boat Races and Easter processions, piñatas and baptisms and Chinese tamales all weave in and out of this story that celebrates beauty, religious celebration, and tolerance.” (from Amazon)
Josef’s Egg of Many Colors describes the Ukrainian tradition of decorating pysanky eggs. Orthodox Christians in Ukraine follow the Julian calendar while Catholics follow the Gregorian. They also bring food and gifts to the church, as shown in this story. Pysanky is a pre-Christian handicraft but Christian symbols have since been incorporated into the meaning of pysanky designs.
Hanami
Read: The Falling Flowers by Jennifer Reed, read it on archive.org
Hanami refers to the cherry blossom viewing parties that take place all over Japan every spring. Since the blossoms reach peak viewing at various dates, the date varies from late March to early April. The trees in the southern part of Japan will peak sooner than the trees in the northern part.
This sweet story shows the connection of a little girl with her grandma. They travel through Tokyo to find the perfect grove of trees for their hanami. “With text simple enough for beginning readers, author Jennifer Reed captures the excitement and wonder of a young girl’s day in the big city, while illustrator Dick Cole’s watercolors complement both the serenity and animation of Tokyo in the springtime.” (from Amazon) Your books for spring would not be complete without a book about flowers!
National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.
Read: Eliza’s Cherry Trees by Andrea Zimmerman, read it on archive.org
I have such fond memories of attending the National Cherry Blossom Festival in DC as a kid and then taking my own children. I had to include this book and celebration in my spring list! In 2024, the National Cherry Blossom Festival will take place from March 20 to April 14. This book tells the origin story of the cherry trees and how they arrived from Japan to Washington, D.C.