Winter Holidays
Winter Holidays Winter Holidays Selene lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her parents and her two younger sisters, Gwen and Corinna. The family lives in a brick townhouse with planters in every window that grow bright red geraniums in the summertime. They have a kitten named Suki and two fat, lazy goldfish. Selene loves to play soccer and invent games of make-believe with her little sisters. Sometimes they are explorers, digging in the closets for dinosaur bones. Other times they are master che
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Winter Holidays
Winter Holidays
Selene lives in Chicago, Illinois, with her parents and her two younger sisters, Gwen and Corinna.
The family lives in a brick townhouse with planters in every window that grow bright red geraniums in the summertime.They have a kitten named Suki and two fat, lazy goldfish.
Selene loves to play soccer and invent games of make-believe with her little sisters.Sometimes they are explorers, digging in the closets for dinosaur bones.Other times they are master chefs at a fancy restaurant or astronauts on a new planet.
One December, school was out for winter break.Even though it was too cold to play soccer, Selene didn't have any trouble staying busy.She drew pictures, read books, and played with her sisters and her friends.
Selene has a special friend named Anneka.Anneka is Selene's pen pal from Stockholm, Sweden.
Sometimes Selene and Anneka exchange letters by mail,along with pictures or short stories they write for each other.Other times they send e-mails, which are much faster.It takes about a week for a letter to reach Sweden in the mail from Illinois,but only a minute to send an e-mail message.
Like Selene, Anneka has two younger siblings, and she loves to draw.She is also eight years old.She lives with her parents, her brother, Oskar, and her baby sister, Astrid.Anneka's family lives in an old farmhouse with a pond behind it.They keep goats and chickens. Anneka likes to skate on the pond in the winter.
Anneka looks forward to getting mail from Selene, who is far away in a country she has never visited.Selene's letters and drawings always make Anneka laugh.Selene's stories give her good ideas for make-believe games to play with her younger brother.
After lunch one day, Selene sent an e-mail to Anneka.She wrote about how Suki had tried to catch one of the goldfish and splashed water on the floor.She also wrote about the snowball fight she and her sisters had that morning.At the end of her e-mail, she added, "P.S. It's almost time for Kwanzaa!"
The next day, Selene eagerly read Anneka's reply.Anneka wrote about the book she had just finished reading and told a funny story about her baby sister.At the end of the email she wrote, "P.S. What is Kwanzaa?"
Selene found her father in the living room with Gwen and Corinna.
"Daddy, my friend Anneka doesn't know what Kwanzaa is," she said."I want to tell her about it, but I'm not sure what to say.I know what we do on Kwanzaa, but I don't even know how it started."
"Kwanzaa started in the 1960s, when African Americans were fighting for their civil rights,which are freedoms that all people should have," Selene's father began."An African American man named Maulana Karenga wanted to teach people about their history.Kwanzaa is a time to celebrate our African culture.It is a time for a special ceremony and for being with your family."
"What does the word kwanzaa mean?" asked Gwen, Selene's little sister.
Selene knew the answer."Kwanzaa is a word from the Swahili language," she told Gwen. "It means ‘the first fruits'."
Their father smiled. "I think you know more about Kwanzaa than you think."
Selene wrote a letter to Anneka.She explained that Kwanzaa starts on December 26, and it lasts for seven days.
Selene told Anneka her family would gather to honor their ancestors and their culture.They would decorate a Kwanzaa bush with homemade ornaments.They would set a table with an ear of corn for each child in the family.They would also set out a carved cup, or kikombe, for the grown-ups.
"Every night," Selene wrote, "we will light the kinara, which is a seven-holed candleholder.The candles are black, red, and green, and each one represents a different value,such as responsibility, faith, and creativity.
"On the last night of Kwanzaa, we will exchange homemade gifts and have a big feast. I can't wait!"
Selene finished her letter.Then she drew pictures for Anneka of all the Kwanzaa symbols she had talked about.
A week later, Selene got a reply from Anneka. It read:
Dear Selene, Thank you for telling me about Kwanzaa.I wish I could see your family celebrating this holiday.The last night sounds like fun!Now I want to tell you about the holiday we are going to be celebrating soon called Luciadagen.It means Saint Lucia Day.
The festival of Saint Lucia is celebrated on December 13,which is one of the longest, coldest, and darkest nights of the winter in Sweden.The story of Saint Lucia is that during the Middle Ages, a horrible famine happened in Sweden.
People didn't have food to eat.Saint Lucia appeared dressed in white wearing a crown of lights on her head.She brought food to the hungry villagers.
