Reviews (1)

Comprehensive and up-to-date
Although this book refers only to Australian festivals and events, it's loaded with management lessons, concepts and strategies that are universal. This is the best book I've been able to find on a subject that is scarcely written about (referring to large festivals). Thank you Johnny Allen, William O'Toole, Ian Mcdonnel and Robert Harris for sharing your knowledge.Read more

Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Beverages - General    3. Business & Economics    4. Business / Economics / Finance    5. Business/Economics    6. Cooking    7. Festivals    8. General    9. Holidays (non religious)    10. Management    11. Management - General    12. Planning    13. Special events    14. Business & Economics / General    15. Fiction    16. Food & Drink / Cookery    17. Sales & marketing    18. Sociology, Social Studies   

Subjects:  1. Etiquette    2. Holidays (non religious)    3. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    4. Public Speaking    5. Reference    6. Sociology    7. Toasts    8. LITERATURE - LIT CLASSICS TRD PB    9. Reference / General    10. Sale Books   

Reviews (4)

Enjoyable
I'm not much of a Hallowe'en fan as it is celebrated today, but I enjoyed this book because it primarily talked about the more interesting celebrations at the turn of the century. I wish, however, that some or all of the wonderful vintage Halloween postcards had been in color.

Halloween's Goblin Universe Disenchanted
Like Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud's A Dictionary of English Folklore ((2000), Lisa Morton's The Halloween Encyclopedia (2003) represents a factually sound but poetically reductive examination of its subject. Both books sacrifice an inherent sense of wonder in the name of scholarly and/or academic respectability, with fairly sterile results, unlike, for instance, comparable works by British historian Ronald Hutton. The tone of Morton's text would be equally suitable to a handbook on carpentry or automobile repair.
A delightful collection of Halloween lore
I enjoyed this book very much. It is a sound scholarly work and even though it has all the meticulous research to appeal to serious folklorists, it will also be of interest to the general reader. Apart from the main dictionary entries, there are also two appendices (appendix 1 contains a chronology of Halloween and appendix 2 discusses how Halloween has been portrayed in literature and the arts - the cinema is included). In addition, the author provides us with a rich bibliography of mainly academic works as well as a useful index.
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Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Customs & Traditions    3. Encyclopedias    4. Folklore & Mythology    5. General    6. Halloween    7. Holidays (non religious)    8. Reference    9. Customs    10. Popular culture    11. Reference works   

Reviews (4)

A fabulous journal
This is a perfect place to record special events and gatherings.I record not only group parties but also special occassions when just a couple of friends come over.Susan's art graces every page.The book is divided into the four seasons, winter, spring, summer and fall.A great gift.

great wedding gift!
I love Susan Branch's beautiful illustrations and ideas.This is a lovely, keepsake book with her usual touch.It provides lots of "journal" room to write personal reflections and has space foreach season and holiday.I'm giving this book as a wedding gift coupledwith a red "You are special today" plate.I hope it will be atreasured place to write down the couple's memories and special occasionsthroughout their relationship.You could also couple it with variousholiday decorations for a shower or wedding gift.

Another wonderful book from Susan
Susan Branch has been publishing a number of new books lately and this is another great one.This is more of a "journal" type book with pages to record different occassions and holidays.I believe this is oneof a series of three of these type books, the others being "BabyBlessings" and "Weddings".In the age of trying to find"our authentic selves" this book would be a great tool and alsogreat fun for future generations to look at. There are places for photosand written memories.And of course, wonderful drawings from Susan.Ihave been a big fan of Susan's since her first book and her work just keepsgetting better over the years.This also is very reasonably priced onAmazon. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Activities    2. Blank Books / Diaries / Memory Books    3. Blank Books/Journals    4. Holidays (non religious)    5. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. Festivals    2. Holidays (non religious)    3. Mexico    4. Politics and government    5. Popular culture    6. Rites and ceremonies    7. Sociology    8. Anthropology    9. Cultural studies    10. History / Latin America    11. Modern period, c 1500 onwards    12. Social history   

Subjects:  1. Customs & Traditions    2. Ethnic Issues    3. Ethnic Studies - General    4. Ethnic Studies - Hispanic American Studies    5. Festivals    6. Hispanic American Sociology    7. Hispanic Americans    8. Holidays (non religious)    9. Manners And Customs    10. Personal & Practical Guides    11. Reference    12. Social life and customs    13. United States    14. Reference / Almanacs   

Subjects:  1. Cooking / Wine    2. General    3. Halloween    4. Holiday - General    5. Holidays (non religious)    6. Humor    7. Gift books for children    8. Interactive & activity books & packs    9. Juvenile Nonfiction / Holidays & Festivals / Halloween    10. Parties & fancy dress   

Reviews (5)

It's a gag gift, not as practical as the original
The original Worst Case Scenario handbook was a good guide, essential for your paranoid friends. I enjoyed that one, so for some reason my family has given me all the follow-on books as gifts. None of them really compare to the original, but this one comes close in some respects.
Keep it Away from the Kids
As stated in other reviews, this covers many situations with a mix of humor and practical advice. However, be forewarned that the final entry is how to handle a child asking the dread question that crosses them over from Christmas innocent to member of the vast conspiracy we adults participate in. While the answer is very well written it can cause upset and upheaval if you have a reader who hasn't caught on yet. It's a bright, shiny holiday book and the silliness attracts kids like a magnet. Beware. On the other hand, if you've been looking to broach the subject, their approach is wonderful.

Mediocre
While you won't find information on how to safely jump out of a 2 story window into a trash dumpster, you WILL find information on how to gain control of a one-horse open sleigh, how to defend yourself against a charging reindeer and how to extricate yourself or someone else who is stranded in a chimney.
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Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. General    3. Holidays (non religious)    4. Humor    5. New Year    6. Thanksgiving Day    7. Topic - Family    8. Humor / General   

Reviews (17)

Pleasant Discussion on the Different Aspects of Hallowe'en
I've never been much of a Hallowe'en lover, but I did enjoy this look at the different cultural aspects of the holiday, from the origins of the holiday to the haunted house industry, even the look at the John Carpenter movies, which I've never seen and don't intend to. The look at Salem's "witch industry" is fascinating. Skal doesn't make any great conclusions or add anything new to the mix, but it's an interesting take on the various ways Hallowe'en has been celebrated--and vilified--over the years.

Unofficial and Uncontrolled
"Halloween, the one major holiday that was unofficial, and therefore uncontrolled, was ... [a] holiday ripe for new myths and rituals."
Not bad!
As a student of the folklore of calendar customs, I eagerly picked up Death Makes a Holiday.And it was worth it!It is not a standard history; instead, the book is "episodic" in that each chapter covers a completely different subject than the previous ones, making this less a unified book and more a collection of interesting essays.
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Subjects:  1. Customs & Traditions    2. General    3. History    4. History: World    5. Holidays (non religious)    6. Sociology   

Reviews (1)

Fabulous introduction to different forms of ANOVA
During my years in graduate school, I've noticed a general lack of familiarity in graduate students, from engineering or from biological backgrounds, in statistical techniques. I also often read papers (usually in the medical science journals) that demonstrate variable levels of statistical understanding. After reading many book chapters, MATLAB materials and web pages, I found this book to be the clearest and easiest introduction to ANOVA techniques. I've been recommending it to many people that depend on self-learning to substantiate their competence in data analysis.
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Subjects:  1. Analysis of variance    2. Holidays (non religious)    3. Psychology    4. Quantitative Techniques In The Social Sciences    5. Research    6. Research & Methodology    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Statistical Methods In The Social Sciences    10. Statistics    11. Psychology & Psychiatry / Research    12. Psychology-Statistics    13. Social Science / Research    14. Social Science-Research    15. Social research & statistics    16. Social theory   

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Baby-Preschool    2. Holidays & Celebrations - Thanksgiving    3. Holidays (non religious)    4. Juvenile Nonfiction    5. Juvenile literature    6. Spanish: Preschool    7. Squanto   

Subjects:  1. Antiques/Collectibles    2. Catalogs    3. Collectibles    4. Collectors and collecting    5. Halloween    6. Halloween decorations    7. Holidays (non religious)    8. Sociology    9. Antiques & Collectables    10. Customs   

Reviews (4)

Not informative on facts on Halloween
I would not reccomend this book on Halloween and related elements because of the author's evangelical/fundamentalist Christian bias. What little factual information is presented is done so in a sloppy, haphazard way and he has many factual errors, particularly in the section on symbols.
Sometimes Danger comes in pretty Packages
The best that can be said about this book is that it is a wake up call to parents. As opposed to another reviewer the bible DOES speak about the evil that some of Halloween represents.This book does seem to paint with a rather broad brush.Their are 'some' issues about the beginnings of Halloween that are purely evil.If you have concerns about the foundations please read it.But read with a open mind.

zero is a better rating
this book is more evil than what it is degrading.the ideas are ludicrous and very much like reading a nazi hate manual.halloween is important because it is good for children to socialize and have fun with other children.let's face the facts, the babble...i mean bible does not say anything against the holiday and people who act on their own accord are against the bible's origional teachings, such as "Judge not, lest ye be judged".So anyone who believes that they are right to write these books, let the fury fall on them by the true God. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amusements    2. Christianity    3. Christianity - General    4. Christianity - Theology - General    5. Christianity and culture    6. Church And Society    7. Cults    8. Halloween    9. Holidays (non religious)    10. Religion    11. Religion - Socialissues    12. Religious aspects    13. Sociology of Religion   

Subjects:  1. Customs & Traditions    2. Fasts and feasts    3. Festivals    4. History    5. History: World    6. Holidays (non religious)    7. Holidays - General    8. Religious holidays    9. Sociology    10. World - General    11. Religious festivals   

Reviews (2)

Victoria: The Heart of Christman
Through the glorious photography and settings you are drawn into
Nice to look at but..
I thought this book would be more of a "how to", but it is definitely not. It does have some recipes in the back, but on the whole it's a "lookin at" book, and it wasn't what I expected. It is gorgeous, but not very useful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christmas    2. Decorating    3. General    4. Holidays (non religious)    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. United States    7. Christmas books    8. Collections & anthologies of various literary forms    9. Customs    10. Sale Books   

Reviews (2)

Beautiful illustrations, so-so text
If you're looking for a collection of victorian santa images, this book is the one.The pictures were amazing, & it's worth buying this book for them.However, I didn't do 5 stars because I thought the text wasn't very good.It mostly rather inane rhyming poems such as you'd see in Christmas cards.There were a couple really good ones, but overall the text wasn't nearly good enough to be put with these wonderful pictures.

Mr Kringle's best ever book!
I've always been interested in the commercial presentation of the fat man and this book is the seventh in my collection.One of my favorites is 'Dream of Santa' (ISBN 0517186551) which has thirty-three excellent reproductions of Haddon Sundblom's Santa painted over the years for Coca-Cola, another interesting book covers all the marketing variations the company used, ('Coca-Cola Collectible Santas' ISBN 1887432930) other titles cover advertising collectibles.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Holidays (non religious)    3. Holidays - Christmas    4. Poetry    5. Religion    6. Santa Claus    7. Religion / Holidays / Christmas   

Reviews (1)

useful introduction to PA Dutch language
This book attempts to bring the reader, in one short volume, to a point where he or she can read the south German dialect known as "Pennsylvania Dutch".Of the two that I know - from Frey (separately reviewed on Amazon) and Haag - this is the less polished but more accessible to those without a background in High German.Readers who are serious about learning the language should try to find and work through both books and then tackle Haag's wonderful Pennsylvania German Anthology. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. Festivals    3. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books    4. German    5. History    6. Holidays (non religious)    7. Language    8. Parades    9. Riots    10. United States   

Reviews (5)

Excellent resource
I've been looking for descriptions of festivities from the Latin American world for a long time. And it's not easy ! Too often it's assumed that everyone knows whar Cinco de Mayo is all abour, but it's all mysterious and novel in my part of the world. One of the best books on the subject
There are not a lot of comprehensive books on Latin American Holidays (many on individual holidays, but few books that offer a solid description of multiple holidays).This book, though it focuses exclusively on the holidays and how they are celebrated in the United States, does manage to describe a number of holidays, and best of all, gives lots of ideas for activities (whether its recipes, or children's activity, or websites to visit for more information) that would work just as well in a classroom or in your own home, whether you hope to resurrect your own families' traditions, or create new traditions of your own.The layout is lovely, and the information is fairly complete, giving historical descriptions as well as descriptions of the traditions associated with the holiday.I highly recommend this book.Also note that the book is available in Spanish, under the title (I believe) _Tradiciones_.

mixed effort
There is a necessity for a book like this, although this book could have done a more even job of filling the need.A resource on some of the latino holiday/celebrations, slanted towards how they are celebrated in the U.S., this is can be a helpful resource. Read more

Subjects:  1. Culture    2. Ethnic Studies - General    3. Festivals    4. Hispanic American Sociology    5. Hispanic Americans    6. Holidays (non religious)    7. Personal & Practical Guides    8. Reference    9. Social life and customs    10. Sociology    11. United States   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. General    3. Holidays (non religious)    4. Social Science    5. Social life and customs    6. Sociology    7. Vietnam    8. Anthropology    9. Asian studies    10. Cultural studies    11. Social Science / Anthropology / General   

Reviews (1)

A useful reference
This is a nice book, useful as a reference for all the major Chinese holidays. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. China    2. Festivals    3. Holidays (non religious)    4. Manners And Customs    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Social life and customs    7. Sociology    8. Customs    9. Folklore    10. Pageants, parades, festivals