Easter Traditions around the World the around Traditions Easter Easter Traditions around the World READ ABOUT TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD: Birthday Traditions around the World Christmas Traditions around the World Easter Traditions around the World Halloween and Day of the Dead Traditions around the World National Day Traditions around the World New Year Traditions around the World Tooth Traditions around the World COSSON Wishing Traditions around the World • CHAVARRI www.childsworld.com THE CHILD’S WORLD ® by M. J. Cosson • illustrated by Elisa Chavarri Page intentionally blank Easter Traditions around the World by M. J. Cosson • illustrated by Elisa Chavarri Published by The Child’s World® About the Author 1980 Lookout Drive • Mankato, MN 56003-1705 M. J. Cosson has written many books 800-599-READ • www.childsworld.com for children. She lives in the Texas hill Acknowledgments country with her husband, two dogs, The Child’s World®: Mary Berendes, Publishing Director Red Line Editorial: Editorial direction and one cat. Easter has always been her The Design Lab: Design favorite holiday. As a child, it brought new Amnet: Production clothes for church, Easter-egg cakes from Design elements: Loskutnikov/Shutterstock Images a friend’s bakery, and a special coconut- filled chocolate egg. Photographs ©: Shutterstock Images, Cover, Title, 5, 29; Timothy Craig Lubcke/Shutterstock Images, 9; Stephane Bidouze/Shutterstock Images, 11; LiliGraphie/Shutterstock Images, 13; Gabriel Nardelli Araujo/Shutterstock About the Illustrator Images, 14; ShopArtGallery/Shutterstock Images, 15; iStockphoto, 21; Elisa Chavarri is a Peruvian illustrator Roberto A Sanchez/iStockphoto, 23; Charles Dharapack/AP Images, 27 who works from her home in Alpena, Copyright © 2013 by The Child’s World® Michigan, which she shares with her All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. husband, Matt, and her cat, Sergeant Tibbs. She has previously illustrated Fly ISBN 9781614734260 Blanky Fly, by Anne Margaret Lewis, and LCCN 2012946511 Fairly Fairy Tales, by Esmé Raji Codell. Printed in the United States of America Mankato, MN November, 2012 PA02145 Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE Easter and the Spring .................4 CHAPTER TWO Eggs and Rabbits.......................6 CHAPTER THREE Easter in Australia .....................8 CHAPTER FOUR Easter in England .....................10 CHAPTER FIVE Easter in France .......................11 CHAPTER SIX Easter in Germany ...................12 CHAPTER SEVEN Easter in Ghana .......................14 CHAPTER EIGHT Easter in Italy ..........................15 CHAPTER NINE Easter in Mexico ......................16 CHAPTER TEN Easter in the Netherlands ...........18 CHAPTER ELEVEN Easter in Poland ......................20 CHAPTER TWELVE Easter in Spain ........................22 CHAPTER THIRTEEN Easter in Sweden .....................24 CHAPTER FOURTEEN Easter in the United States .........26 Up Close ................................28 Hands-On...............................30 Glossary ................................31 Learn More ............................32 Index ....................................32 Chapter One Easter and the Spring aster is a very old holiday. It takes place when spring Ebegins. Baby animals are born and trees get their leaves in spring. New plants pop up from the ground, and flowers bloom. People always celebrate Easter on a Sunday. The date of Easter changes from year to year. It happens on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. This is in either March or April. Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian religion. Christians believe the son of God, Jesus Christ, died on the Friday before Easter. They believe he was resurrected from the dead two days later, on Easter Sunday. Christians celebrate this as a message of God’s love for his people. 4 This stained glass window shows Jesus’s resurrection. 5 Chapter Two Eggs and Rabbits ne symbol of Easter is the egg. The egg has been a Osymbol of life for a long time. For Christians, the egg is also a symbol of Jesus’s resurrection. People dye and decorate eggs for Easter. Many people do not eat eggs or meat for 40 days before Easter. This time is called Lent. Eggs became a special present on Easter. Another symbol is the rabbit. People thought rabbits had more babies than other animals. So the rabbit became a symbol of new life and rebirth. Children look forward to a visit from the Easter bunny. The Easter bunny brings baskets full of candy or other gifts. It hides colored eggs for children to find. People of different countries and beliefs have made their own traditions. Many traditions are celebrated in more than one country. Easter traditions are joyful, beautiful, funny, surprising, and often tasty. 6 7 Chapter Three Easter in Australia ustralians celebrate Easter in March or April. But A Easter is during Australia’s fall. Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. Fall comes to the Southern Hemisphere when spring comes to the Northern Hemisphere. A favorite Easter treat is the hot cross bun. This sweet bun is made with spices and dried fruit. Australians also eat chocolate hot cross buns. The cross on top of the bun is a symbol of Easter. The Christian Bible says that Jesus died on a cross. The hot cross bun first came from England. English people moved to Australia and baked buns in their new home. The Easter bunny or the Easter bilby brings eggs on Easter morning. The bilby is an Australian mammal. It has big ears and a long tail. Children also enjoy eating chocolate bilbies on Easter. 8 The Easter bilby brings children eggs in Australia. 9 Up Close n England, bun sellers on street corners and children have Isung this rhyme for ages. Hot Cross Buns Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns! If you have no daughters, Give them to your sons! But if you have none of these merry little elves, Then you may keep them all to yourselves! One a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns! 28 Hot cross buns are enjoyed around the world at Easter. 29 Hands-On Coloring Easter Eggs Directions Ingredients 1. Make designs on the eggs with hard-boiled eggs (have a grown-up a crayon. The designs will be do this) uncolored because the dye will not white crayon stick to the wax. egg carton 2. Put the eggs in the bowls. bowls, one for each color 3. Cover the eggs with water so no spoon parts of the eggs are above the water water. vinegar 4. Add one teaspoon of vinegar to food coloring each bowl. 5. Add a different color food coloring to each bowl. The more you add, the darker the eggs will be. 6. When the eggs are colored, use a spoon to remove them from the dye. Place them back in the egg carton and put it in the refrigerator. 30 Glossary celebrate (SEL-uh-brate) To celebrate is to observe or take notice of a special day. Many people celebrate Easter. ceremonies (SER-uh-moh-nee) Ceremonies are events that are organized to celebrate special things. There are many ceremonies at Easter time. decorate (DEK-uh-rate) To decorate is to make something pretty. We will decorate Easter eggs tomorrow. fiestas (fee-ES-tuh) Fiestas are celebrations or festivals. We have fiestas at Easter. fondant (fahn-dunt) Fondant is a flavored sugar paste. People fill chocolates with fondant. hemisphere (HEM-i-sfeer) A hemisphere is half of the earth, either north or south of the equator. Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. resurrected (res-ur-EK-tid) Someone who is resurrected has come back from the dead. Easter celebrates when Jesus was resurrected. symbol (SIM-buhl) A symbol is an object or sign that stands for something else. A heart is a symbol for love. traditions (truh-DISH-uns) Traditions are ways of thinking or acting communicated through culture. Many families have Easter traditions. 31 Learn More Books Web Sites Heligman, Deborah. Holidays Visit our Web site for links about Around the World: Celebrate Easter traditions around the world: Easter: With Colored Eggs, childsworld.com/links Flowers, and Prayer. Washington, Note to Parents, Teachers, and Librarians: DC: National Geographic, 2010. We routinely verify our Web links to make sure they are safe and active sites. So Tegen, Katherine. The Story of encourage your readers to check them out! the Easter Bunny. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Index baskets, 6, 18, 26 Easter bilby, 8 fireworks, 16 new clothes, 15 Easter bunny, 6, 8, candy, 6, 8, 11, 12, Green Thursday, 12 parades, 22, 24 12, 22, 26 15, 18, 22 paragliding, 14 Easter witch, 24 Holy Week, 16 church, 11, 12, picnics, 14 egg games, 10, 18, hot cross bun, 8, 10 14, 16 pisanki, 20 26 church bells, 11 Jesus Christ, 4, 6, eggs, 6, 8, 10, 11, spring, 4, 8, 24 cleaning, 24 8, 16, 22 12, 15, 18, 20, Dyngus Day, 20 22, 24, 26 Lent, 6 32 Page intentionally blank Easter Traditions around the World the around Traditions Easter Easter Traditions around the World READ ABOUT TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD: Birthday Traditions around the World Christmas Traditions around the World Easter Traditions around the World Halloween and Day of the Dead Traditions around the World National Day Traditions around the World New Year Traditions around the World Tooth Traditions around the World COSSON Wishing Traditions around the World • CHAVARRI www.childsworld.com THE CHILD’S WORLD ® by M. J. Cosson • illustrated by Elisa Chavarri.