As our world gets smaller and people from different cultures find themselves sharing one same country, traditions once thought to belong to a particular group are bound to mix with others and acquire new flavors. Sometimes quite literally, as it happens in Duck for Turkey Day.

Written by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Kathryn Mitter, Duck for Turkey Day is about Tuyet, a young girl who wants to celebrate Thanksgiving the “right way.” Her excitement about making turkey crafts and singing turkey songs at school is damped when grandma reminds her that they will be having duck, not turkey, for Thanksgiving because “Our family likes duck better.”

When mealtime comes, the wonderful smells of grandma’s special duck recipe fill the house. At the table they take turns expressing their gratitude: for their home, their food, the country where they live… The main menu? Not duck, but family love.

A good time was had by all, but the idea of “sharing time” at school the following Monday has Tuyet worried. “What will Mrs. Cook say about eating duck on Turkey Day?”. When the day comes and she finally tells her classmates about her Thanksgiving meal, they join in with menus of their own: from enchiladas to lamb to tofu turkey to chicken with noddles. Their non-turkey meals remind Tuyet that, even though Turkey Day revolves around food, it’s having a thankful heart and sharing a meal together with those you love that matter the most.

You can watch the book trailer of Duck for Turkey Day here, and for more books on the various aspects of Thanksgiving, check out Colorin Colorado’s reading list.

PaperTigers wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all who may be celebrating the day!

Solstice, Yule, Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Zagmuk, Saturnalia… Throughout the world, numerous celebrations happen this time of the year, based on religious beliefs, tradition, newness, or a mixture of them all.

The Winter Book, a title I came across recently, does a great job of representing the diversity of the season in the northern hemisphere—where the cold weather evokes the secular images of snowflakes, candles and evergreen trees… Illustrated by renowned German artist Rotraut Susanne Berner, with poems/text by Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Thoreau, Italo Calvino, Alberto Moravia, Adwoa Badoe and others, this book is a treat that can be best enjoyed if shared with others—preferably under the covers.

And speaking of diversity and treats to be shared, “Memories of Holidays Past,” a snapshot by writers and illustrators put together specially for PaperTigers, highlights a range of experiences: from full-blown Christmas trees to a turkey meal that gets outstaged by a Vietnamese one… Not to be missed!

Our ongoing conversation about Naming Maya is yielding a variety of insights and observations that are bringing out new layers and perspectives–for me, at least!

Aline discusses the way that Maya’s “tradition of the two-gift (one to give, one to keep) that she and her friend followed when bringing souvenirs from their trips” shows how ” her identity was also formed by the two cultures–Indian and American–that were part of her life. I think by the end she came to understand that when it comes to cultural and family traditions, you keep some, you let go of some, you reinvent some…”

Katia agrees and also points out the wonderful phrase “What will four people say?” Since living in India, she has discovered that minding “what any four people around might say” is very much part of the country’s culture, and wonders if that particular expression is “only in Tamil or also in Hindi?” (Can anyone answer her question? I’m curious as well.)

Katia also brings up the problem of communication that lies between Maya and her mother, “with the weight of things never said that permeates everything between them,” which is a problem I remember from the Dark Ages of my own adolescence.

Discussing this book with my own mother when I was thirteen could have helped with some bridge-building, and both Aline and Katia agree that this would be “a great mother and daughter book,” particularly if the daughter is rooted in a bilingual, bi-cultural upbringing. Aline says of sharing Naming Maya with her daughter, it “will help us in our lifelong journey of building respect for and understanding of each other’s experiences–and reading it together might just be the way to get the most out of it.”

Certainly this discussion is helping me to “get the most out of it.” More food for thought can be found by going to thecomment section below each post for Naming Maya, and by reading the Papertigers interviewwith Uma Krishnaswami. And then let us hear your voice in this ongoing conversation!