A Holiday Children's Book with a Multicultural Theme!
 
 

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 SHY MAMA'S HALLOWEEN

Anne Broyles
Illustrated by Leane Morin
Paperback, $7.95;
ISBN:0-88448-245-6
9 x 10, 40 pages, color illustrations
Children/Multicultural/Holidays

 Image, bookcover, "Shy Mama's Halloween" by Anne Broyles, illustrated by Leane Morin.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS:

AMADI'S SNOWMAN—New

GIVE A GOAT—New

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY—New

CARPET BOY'S GIFT, THE

EVERYBODY'S SOMEBODY'S LUNCH

GIFT FOR GITA, A

GOAT LADY, THE

HEALTHY FOODS FROM HEALTHY SOILS

JUST FOR ELEPHANTS

KEEP YOUR EAR ON THE BALL

LIFE UNDER ICE

LIGHTS FOR GITA

LUCY'S FAMILY TREE

MUSHROOM MAN, THE

MUSKRAT WILL BE SWIMMING

OPENING DAY

OUR FRIENDSHIP RULES

PLAYING WAR

PROJECT PUFFIN

ROSES FOR GITA

SARAH'S BOAT

SAVING BIRDS

SAY SOMETHING

SEA SOUP: PHYTOPLANKTON

SEA SOUP: ZOOPLANKTON

SHELTERWOOD

SHY MAMA'S HALLOWEEN

SPIRT THAT MOVES US, THE (VOL.I)

SPIRT THAT MOVES US, THE (VOL.II)

SPIRT THAT MOVES US, THE (VOL.III)

STONE WALL SECRETS

TALKING WALLS

TALKING WALLS: THE STORIES CONTINUE

THANKS TO THE ANIMALS

TRAVELS WITH TARRA

VERY BEST BED, THE

WELCOMING BABIES

WHEN THE BEES FLY HOME

WHO BELONGS HERE
  • "...the tale is told without lecturing, and by the end, Anya and her mother are feeling more connected to the culture of their new home...realistic urban scenes give this a 1940s or early 1950s feel; it’s definitely old-style Halloween...children who blithely assume that trick-or-treat is part of everyone’s cultural heritage will get some food for thought." —Booklist
  • Teacher’s Choice Award — Learning Magazine
  • "Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2001"—Children's Book Council, NCSS
  • "...offers the message that communication and warmth among people can transcend language barriers."—School Library Journal
  • "...this is a book to cherish."—Maine Sunday Telegram
     For Anya, Dasha, Irina, and Dimitrii, newly arrived to this country, Halloween seems a wonderfully strange and exciting holiday. They enlist Mrs. Rumanski and her midnight-blue Singer sewing machine in the apartment upstairs to help with their costumes, and Papa agrees to take them out trick-or-treating. But Papa comes home sick that evening, and it looks as though the children will be watching the trick or treating from the upstairs window. Mama, who is frightened by so much in this new country, especially the thought of ghosts and goblins on the streets, surprises them all when she rises to the occasion and takes her young princess, witch, devil, and clown down the stairs and out into the night.
     As they go from house to house, they find that everyone along the street is friendly. No one seems to care that their "Thank yous" are said with an accent, or that Mama, in her babushka, can speak only a few words of English.
     For Anya, Dasha, Irina, and Dimitrii, it is their first sense of belonging in their new country, of savoring the fun and magic of Halloween and the generosity of strangers. For Mama, it is a much greater step out into a new world, led by her children.
     Author Anne Broyles lives in Malibu, California, and has been a pastor for twenty years in the United Methodist Church. Her background as a pastoral counselor, AIDS activist, and member of the Cherokee Nation West all influence her writing.
     Primarily a self-taught illustrator, Leane Morin handles Tilbury House's education accounts and has created many Halloween costumes for her three children. She lives in Whitefield, Maine.

Image from, "Shy Mama's Halloween" by Anne Broyles, illustrated by Leane Morin.
Shy Mama on the Web: More Activity Ideas
Teachers Take Note:
This book is a wonderful tool to help build classroom awareness about the challenges posed in multicultural societies such as our own. By depicting Halloween from the viewpoint of a family just learning about the custom of dressing up and going out to trick-or-treat, readers are given a chance to identify with the feelings of many immigrant families who haven't celebrated the traditional American holidays. As our country becomes increasingly diverse, teachers will welcome having this book which subtly builds empathy for the newcomers’ perspective. Tilbury House has a tradition of publishing titles on the complex subject of immigration in America today. Make sure to check out our other titles on this theme: Who Belongs Here? and Rachna Gilmore's series of books about Gita.

Shy Mama's Halloween will help inspire classroom conversations about:
• American holidays and traditions
• Immigration experiences
• Welcoming newcomers
• Family heritage

Resources:
• Building Understanding for the Immigrant Experience
Lower East Side Museum: New York's tenement museum focuses on America's urban immigrant history. Students can take a virtual tour of the Orchard Street tenement and learn about the landlord that owned the building and the lives of some of the 7,000 people who lived there between 1863 and 1934. www.tenement.org
American Family Immigration History Center: Between 1892 and 1924 over 22 million passengers and members of ships' crews came through Ellis Island in the port of New York. This is the official Ellis Island web site: www.ellisisland.org
Museum of Immigration on Angel Island: This is the immigration center many Asian families went through on the West Coast. There were much stricter quotas placed on Asians coming to the United States than European immigrants. For a better understanding of these and other issues visit the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. www.aiisf.org

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