I love holidays, I confess. I love all the big ones, but I also enjoy celebrating half birthdays, first date anniversaries, and even just Fridays! And I don't think I'm alone here. And I'm also a big fan of linking literature to celebrations, too. I like to give books for special occasions (and to Halloween trick-or-treaters), read about holiday traditions around the world, and best of all, share a special poem for celebrations and family gatherings. There are heaps of resource books that provide guidance in selecting, sharing, and celebrating holiday books including these:

• Celebrate with Books: Booktalks for Holidays and Other Occasions by Rosanne J. Blass, 2005.
• Big Book of Seasons, Holidays, and Weather: Rhymes, Fingerplays, and Songs for Children by Elizabeth Cothen Low, 2011.
• Holiday Stories All Year Round: Audience Participation Stories and More by Violet Teresa DeBarba Miller, 2008.
• Around the World through Holidays: Cross Curricular Readers Theater by Carol Peterson, 2005.
• Multicultural Projects Index: Things to Make and Do to Celebrate Festivals, Cultures, and Holidays Around the World (4^th Edition) by Mary Anne Pilger, 2005.
• The Picture Book Almanac: Picture Books and Activities to Celebrate 365 Familiar and Unusual Holidays by Nancy J. Polette, 2015.

Celebration Poetry

But when it comes to finding a meaningful holiday poem to share at a family meal, a school program, a special concert, or a just for fun, it can be a bit more challenging. Fortunately, there are poetry anthologies that are organized by celebration themes, often called "occasional" poetry for special occasions (rather than to share occasionally!). These collections make it easier to find an appropriate poem for nearly any celebratory occasion. Here are a few of my favorite poetry anthologies that feature holidays and celebrations:

• Julie Andrews' Treasury for All Seasons: Poems and Songs to Celebrate the Year. Edited by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, Illus. by Marjorie Priceman, 2012
• Days to Celebrate: A Full Year of Poetry, People, Holidays, History, Fascinating Facts, and More. Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2005.
• Ring Out, Wild Bells: Poems about Holidays and Seasons. Edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, 1992.
• Here Is the World: A Year of Jewish Holidays. By Lesléa Newman, illus. by Susan Gal, 2014.
• Fiesta!: A Celebration of Latino Festivals. Sherry Shahan, illus. by Paula Barragan, 2009.
• The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. Edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong, 2015.
• Holiday Stew; A Kid's Portion of Holiday and Seasonal Poems. By Jenny Whitehead, 2007.

Each of these collections offers you choices of poems for multiple holidays around the year—some familiar, some new. Most are organized by the calendar year, so you can look for poems month-by-month, season-by-season. And there are many more poetry collections focused on specific holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, and Halloween, in particular. In The Poetry Teacher's Book of Lists (Vardell, 2012), you can find lists of poetry books gathered around each of those holidays, as well as Earth Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and more. If you have a favorite picture book that you like to share for Christmas or Kwanzaa or another holiday, consider pairing it with a poem. For example, the classic picture book The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg might be paired with the poem, "Dream Train" by B.J. Lee (found at PoetryMinute.org). And don't forget to share poems that expand children's notions of December "holidays" to include Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, and some of the many ways that the new year is observed in cultures all around the world. There are poems about each of these celebrations written by many different poets. With poetry, we can circle the whole world in just a few words. Just be mindful that different families have different traditions and there are some who don't celebrate Christmas or any holidays at all. That's when it's important to remember that we celebrate children, learning, and literature—every day of the year!