December 2022
Tis the Season!
Gear up for the holidays by starting at your library. Resources on holiday traditions, special recipes, decorating ideas, and much more can help make your next celebration truly memorable. The library has a variety of resources for the holiday season, from history, symbols, and traditions, to crafts, decorations, and favorite children’s stories.
You might begin with Jennifer Trainer Thompson’s The Joy of Family Traditions, which offers more than 400 fresh ideas and creative approaches to cultivating birthday, anniversary, holiday, and other seasonal traditions that reflect a family's individual style and values. To learn about holidays in other lands, check out Heather Moehn’s World Holidays: A Watts Guide for Children. Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary is reference guide to popular, ethnic, religious, national, and ancient holidays, offering insight into more than 3,000 observances from all 50 states and more than 100 nations.
COOKING & CRAFTS
To add some tasty sensations to your celebrations, try Holiday Cooking Around the World. This expanded edition includes new, low-fat and vegetarian recipes, menu suggestions, and a cultural section highlighting each country or region’s people, customs, holidays, and food. Baking for the Holidays: 50+ Treats for a Festive Season, written by Sarah Kieffer, includes recipes for brunches, parties, cookie swaps, and gift-giving.
Looking for some fun crafts to do during the holidays? Try Holiday Crafting and Baking with Kids, by Jessica Strand. This book offers creative and straightforward craft projects and baking recipes to celebrate Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa, and the fall/winter seasons. Discover how to fold napkins for a decorative touch to your festive table settings in Jill Stovall’s Fabrigami.
FBCL staff have compiled some fun, crafty, how-to videos on YouTube for children and adults over the past few years. Click here for FBCL’s Youth Arts & Crafts and here for the Adult Arts & Crafts playlist.
MUSIC
From the traditional sounds of Bach, Vivaldi, or Handel, to more eclectic renditions by Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé, Pentatonix, or Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, FBCL has a variety of musical selections on CD and digitally on hoopla to add to the holiday spirit. Classics such as Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker can be enjoyed on DVD, CD, or as a book to be read on a quiet winter’s evening.
MOVIES
Looking for some holiday movies to watch with the kids? FBCL has digital selections on hoopla and Access Video on Demand (or Access Video: Just for Kids) that can be accessed at any time of the day or night!
Whether your family observes Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Chinese New Year, or one of the many other celebrations around the world, Fort Bend County Libraries wishes you a safe and joyous holiday season.