Category: Themes, Displays, and Library Events

Christmas Day

Christmas Day is December 25

On December 25, Christians in Canada and around the world celebrate the Nativity, the birth of the Christ. Christians believe that a Jewish Rabbi named Yeshua, known to most today as Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, in Roman occupied Israel, roughly 2000 years ago, was the Messiah, the long awaited saviour promised by God. The Hebrew word Messiah translates to Greek as χριστός, romanized as Khristos, from which we get the anglicized form, Christ. Christians believe that God became one of us in the person of Jesus, or Emanuel, literally “God With Us.”

As Christianity spread from the Holy Land into the Roman Empire and to the Celtic peoples of the north, traditional pagan winter festivals such as Yule were taken over as Christian festivals and Christmas became a winter celebration.

Over the course of the last century, Christmas has grown from a strictly Christian religious festival to become a secular holiday celebrated by people of many different religions, cultures and worldviews from all over the planet. For some, Santa Claus, stockings and gift-giving are central to Christmas. To others, it is a much needed time of rest and merry-making at the coldest and darkest time of year. Some may agree with the Grinch, who simply hated Christmas, or with Ebenezer Scrooge when he said it was a “Humbug” — although both of them changed their positions in the end!

scroogechristmas
source: public domain

Whether you are celebrating the birth of the Christ, or observe Christmas as a strictly secular event, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa takes place every year from December 26 to January 1

source: CC BY-NC 2.0 Reginald James/TheBlackHour.com

From the Official Kwanzaa Website:

“Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.”

Find out more:

And check out these books from our display, “Holidays and Holy Days” :

Simbang Gabi

Simbang Gabi: December 16-24

Simbang Gabi is a Filipino Christmas celebration that takes place from December 16 to December 24, concluding with Misa de Gallo at the Midnight Mass.  Simbang Gabi is a Novena, or a nine-day festival, similar to the Mexican Las Posadas and other Navidad celebrations in the Spanish speaking world.

Dating back hundreds of years to the  beginning of Spanish rule over the Philippines, Simbang Gabi emerged as a distinctly Filipino celebration of Christmas.  One of the features that developed in response to the agricultural practices of Filipino farmers is that the services are carried out in the very early morning, sometimes as early as 3:00 AM.

source: Simbang Gabi at BC Catholic

Many Canadians trace their roots to the Philippines, including many students here at Lord Tweedsmuir.  Ask some of your fellow students about Simbang Gabi!  You can also find out more here:

source: bccatholic.ca

Check out your School Library’s current display of books: “Holidays & Holy Days.”

Winter Solstice & Yule

The Winter Solstice for 2025 will occur on December 21 at 7:03 AM

Why are there so many Holidays and Holy Days at this time of year? Why do so many of them, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, seem to emphasize light, especially light in contrast to the darkness? Likely this is because of the Winter Solstice.

Stonehenge, a Celtic monument built for the Solstices, perhaps as much as 5000 years ago.
source: wikimedia commons/Mark Grant/(CC BY 2.5)

The longest night of the year. The shortest day. The Winter Solstice occurs on December 21 (in some years December 22) as the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun. The North Pole will experience continuous darkness, the Polar region near total darkness, and the northern hemisphere its shortest day and longest night. Winter begins. Most populations will experience the darkest and coldest time of year.

It is a time where people crave light and warmth, and so it seems natural that the feasts and festivals of December emphasize those things. Moreover, at the darkest moment, hope is renewed, as after the solstice the days will get longer. This is hope for more light, more warmth. Spring will come eventually. New birth. New life.

And so many different observances, feasts, and festivals emereged at this time of the year, many on the day of the Solstice, and others near to it on the calendar.

  • Yule: Celtic Europe, Scandinavia and Germanic peoples.
  • Mean Geimhreadh: Irish
  • Alban Arthan: Wales
  • Modranhit: Anglo-Saxon Europe
  • Korochun: Slavic Eastern Europe
  • Shalako, Soyal :Native American peoples
  • Yalda: Iran/Persians
  • Dongzhi: China & East Asia
  • Lohri & Maghi: India, especially the Punjab
  • Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Brumalia & Saturnalia: Ancient Rome

Of course, we have spent the last few weeks observing the many holidays and holy days of this time of year. It is not a coincidence that celebrations such as Christmas and New Year have grown to be huge events in the western world, and by extension other cultures, as the west has extended its influence around the globe. In places where modern conveniences such as lighting and heating offset the effect of the cold and dark of December, we might overlook how important it was for our ancestors to hope for the seeming death of one year to turn into the life of a new year, and to celebrate such rebirth.

Find out more:

Hanukkah

(December 14 to December 22, 2025)

Hanukkah is almost here. Next week Jews in Canada and around the world will celebrate Hanukkah, starting at sundown on Sunday, December 14.

Source: CC/Robert Couse Baker

The Festival of Lights is a celebration of God’s deliverance and provision. The event began in remembrance of Maccabean revolt in the 2nd Century BCE, when the Hebrews recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem, the spiritual centre of Judaism. Each candle of the Menorah is lit, one per day for the 8 day Festival.

Like all Jewish Holy Days, which follow the lunar Hebrew Calendar and therefore vary against the Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah can occur anytime from late November to late December. This year Hanukkah will conclude on the evening of December 15.

For more information on Hanukkah, check out some of the following:

Check out our display: “Holidays & Holy Days” books such as:

Las Posadas

Las Posadas: December 16-24

source: aleteia.org

This 9 day festival is central to Navidad (Christmas) celebrations in Mexico. This is a neighbourhood festival that commemorates the journey of Mary and Joseph, who could not find posadas, (Spanish for “lodging”) before the birth of Jesus. A procession, including people dressed as Angels, Saints and the Holy Family, marches through the neighbourhood, knocking on doors looking for a place to stay. Like Mary and Joseph, they are refused, until finally the parade ends at one home where they are welcomed in. Feasting ensues, including a pinata for the children.

source: catholicregister

Find out more:

Be sure to check out our display, “Holidays & Holy Days,” at your School Library.

Holidays & Holy Days

Happy Holidays! We have entered another season of feasts and festivals, holy days and holidays, in and around December. Visit your School Library, in person or online, to learn more about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, St. Nicholas Day, Simbang Gabi, Festivus, the Nativity, the Winter Solstice, Krampusnacht, New Year’s Eve, Advent, Bodhi, Boxing Day and more.

Songs of Peace: War Isn’t Murder

Jesse Welles gave us this gem in 2024. Listen carefully, and read the lyrics. You will get the point. This is an anti-war song for our time rooted in the traditions of protest songs from ages past.

War isn’t murder, good men don’t die
Children don’t starve and all the women survive
“War isn’t murder, ” that’s what they say
When you’re fighting the Devil, murder’s okay
War isn’t murder, they’re called casualties
There ain’t a veteran with a good night’s sleep

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

Call your dead mother, ask her when she died
It’s a deathly silence on the other line
The dead don’t talk, but the children don’t forget
So in 20 short years, you could live to regret that

War isn’t murder, there’s money at stake
Girl, even Kushner agrees it’s good real estate
War isn’t murder, ask Netanyahu
He’s got a song for that and a bomb for you
War isn’t murder, it’s an old desert faith
It’s a nation-state sanctioned, righteous hate

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
War isn’t murder, it’s the vengeance of God
If you can’t see the bodies, they don’t bloat when they rot
And the flies don’t swarm, and the children don’t cry
If war isn’t murder, good men don’t die
So in a short 20 years, when you vacation the Strip
Don’t think about the dead and have a nice trip

War isn’t murder, we should all give thanks
I saw it all in a movie, give it up for Tom Hanks
War isn’t murder, they don’t ship out the poor
And the bullets they fire aren’t part of the cure
War isn’t murder, land is a right
But the banks called dibs, it’s something you can’t fight

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

War isn’t murder, ain’t a river of blood
Stretching all-through time and raining down in a flood
It’s a dark sacrifice, made on your behalf
So get down on your knees and thank the sweet Lord that
War isn’t murder

Find out more about Jesse Welles, “War Isn’t Murder,” and other protest songs:

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Trivial Pursuit

Created by Canadians, who first published their game in 1981, Trivial Pursuit would take the world by storm in the early ’80s and go on to dominate the world of quiz-style board games for decades. Trivial Pursuit would eventually spawn more than a hundred different editions and variations and would face challenges from many competitors.

Trivial Pursuit wasn’t the first general knowledge board game, nor is it necessarily the best, at least in the minds of many board game enthusiasts, who have some complaints about the mechanics of the game. However, there is no denying the immense cultural impact of Trivial Pursuit, sometimes referred to as the “Godfather” of trivia games.

The success of Trivial Pursuit may have helped to spark the revival of the quiz show “Jeopardy.” Online quiz game sites like Sporcle and apps like Kahoot owe some of their current popularity to the rise of Trivial Pursuit. In 1993, Games Magazine inducted Trivial Pursuit into their prestigious Hall of Fame.

Find out more:

November is International Games Month @ Your Library

Songs of Peace: Love and War

Canadian legend Neil Young, who has been singing about love and war all his life, gave us this song in 2010.


When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war
Pray about love and war
Pray about love and war

Seen a lot of young men go to war
And leave a lot of young brides waiting
I’ve watched them try to explain it to their kids
And seen a lot of them failing
They tried to tell them and they tried to explain
Why Daddy won’t ever come home again


Daddy won’t ever come home
Daddy won’t ever come home

I said a lot of things that I can’t take back
But I don’t really know if I want to
And songs about love, I sang songs about war
Since the backstreets of Toronto
I sang for justice and I hit a bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

The saddest thing in the whole wide world
Is to break the heart of your lover
I made a mistake and I did it again
And we struggled to recover
I sang in anger, hit another bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

Sing about love and war
Sing about love and war
Love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

Pray about love and war
Pray about love and war

Seen a lot of young men go to war
And leave a lot of young brides waiting
I’ve watched them try to explain it to their kids
And seen a lot of them failing
They tried to tell them and they tried to explain
Why Daddy won’t ever come home again

Daddy won’t ever come home
Daddy won’t ever come home

I said a lot of things that I can’t take back
But I don’t really know if I want to
And songs about love, I sang songs about war
Since the backstreets of Toronto
I sang for justice and I hit a bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

The saddest thing in the whole wide world
Is to break the heart of your lover
I made a mistake and I did it again
And we struggled to recover
I sang in anger, hit another bad chord
But I still try to sing about love and war

Sing about love and war
Sing about love and war
Love and war

When I sing about love and war
I don’t really know what I’m saying
I’ve been in love and I’ve seen a lot of war
Seen a lot of people praying
They pray to Allah and they prey to the Lord
And mostly they pray about love and war

Other “Songs of Peace” in this series:

November is Peace Month at your School Library

Catan

In 1995 the world first experienced the wonders of Catan, and board games have never been the same since. At first known as The Settlers of Catan, this board game from Germany became an international sensation, spawning multiple expansions, extension, variations, scenarios and spin-offs.

The gameplay of Catan is a departure from most of the board games that dominated the 20th century. Like most previous game, dice rolls add some element of chance to the game, but much more important are strategic analysis, planning and decision making. Because the board is built from randomly placed interlocking hexagonal pieces, players need to study a new board each game to determine the optimal places for settlement. Resource management for expansion and development is the key to success. Every roll of the dice is meaningful for every player on every turn, right up to the end of the game.

While it isn’t the only game that changed the way we think about board games, nor even the first, few other board games in this century have had the same impact on the world of gaming. If you haven’t yet experienced the world of Catan, do yourself a favour and give it a try.

November is International Games Month @ Your Library