Thousands of years ago, people celebrated special times. New plants and animals in the spring, the longest day of summer, good food from the trees and fields in the autumn – these were all times to celebrate. Later, Christianity came, and old and new festivals came together as Easter, Christmas, and other celebrations.
Each season brings its own celebrations. Spring has eggs at Easter; in the summer there are outside festivals at the summer solstice, and barbecues for the Fourth of July; autumn has fires and fireworks; and winter has the wonderful traditions of Christmas food and presents. But there are new celebrations too – Mother’s Day, Remembrance Day, the special days of new countries, and the festivals that people bring with them when they move to different countries.
Here is a year of celebrations – old and new, inside and outside – in Britain, the USA, and other English-speaking countries. Learn about the traditions, read the stories – you can even cook the pancakes if you want!
幾千年前，人們慶祝特殊的時(shí)節(jié)。春季有新生的植物和動(dòng)物，夏季里最長(zhǎng)的白晝，秋季時(shí)樹(shù)上的碩果和農(nóng)田里的豐收，這些時(shí)節(jié)無(wú)一不值得慶祝。后來(lái)，隨著基督教的出現(xiàn)，新老節(jié)日相互交融，產(chǎn)生了復(fù)活節(jié)、圣誕節(jié)及其他慶祝活動(dòng)。
每個(gè)季節(jié)都有其特有的慶�；顒�(dòng)。春季有復(fù)活節(jié)彩蛋，夏季會(huì)舉辦夏至日戶外慶典和慶祝7月4日美國(guó)獨(dú)立日的戶外燒烤活動(dòng)，秋季會(huì)點(diǎn)篝火、放煙花，冬季有準(zhǔn)備圣誕美食和圣誕禮物的美妙傳統(tǒng)。不過(guò)也有一些新的慶�；顒�(dòng)—— 母親節(jié)、陣亡將士紀(jì)念日、新成立國(guó)家的特殊日子，以及人們移居到不同國(guó)家時(shí)帶去的節(jié)日。
這本書(shū)介紹了英國(guó)、美國(guó)以及其他英語(yǔ)國(guó)家一年當(dāng)中的節(jié)日慶典。這些節(jié)目有傳統(tǒng)的，也有新興的；有在室內(nèi)歡度的，也有在戶外慶祝的。了解這些傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗，讀一讀它們的故事—— 如果你樂(lè)意，甚至可以做一做節(jié)日時(shí)吃的薄煎餅！