Easter, Passover & Festivals of Hope

Since human beings first walked the Earth, spring has been a time to celebrate the renewal of the land. A time of longer days and warmer weather, spring, and the holidays celebrated during this season, inspire an apprectiation for renewal and rebirth. While today thousands of spring celebrations are enjoyed around the globe in the form of neo-pagan rites and environmental occasions such as Earth Day and Arbor Day, four festivals are widely observed by many cultures around the world-from Liechtenstein to India, Argentina to Zanzibar, and everywhere in between. These four are the Hindu celebration of Holi that originated in southern Asia, the Persian new year festival Navruz, the Jewish observance of Passover (or "Pesach" in Hebrew), and the Christian Easter celebration. This book discusses how these holidays encourage individuals to gather with family and friends, honor the sacrifices others have made, enjoy special foods, and exchange gifts or tokens of affection. Each title in this series contains color photos and illustrations throughout, and back matter including: an index and further resource lists for books and online resources. Key Icons appear throughout the books in this series in an effort to encourage library readers to build knowledge, gain awareness, explore possibilities and expand their viewpoints through our content rich non-fiction books. Key Icons in this series are as follows: Words to Understand are shown at the front of each chapter with definitions. These words are set in boldfaced type in that chapter, so that readers are able to reference back to the definitions-building their vocabulary and enhancing their reading comprehension. Sidebars are highlighted graphics with content rich material within that allows readers to build knowledge and