Why should we all wear green on one day of the year in honor of a day a saint died? I am not Catholic, I don’t celebrate other days of saints’ death, that I am aware of. Furthermore, this saint was not Irish. Yes, he is acclaimed for bringing Christianity to Ireland, but the holiday just never made much sense to me. I always thought St. Patrick’s Day was a silly holiday.
I’ve celebrated it the past couple years because green was my son’s favorite color, more than that, he was obsessed with green, so to him, it was the best day ever! Now that I am homeschooling my kids and think about everything from an educational point of view, I wanted to learn the truth of St. Patrick. As I wrote around Thanksgiving time, I try to teach my kids truths about history as much as possible. Not just what we find in history books or is commonly accepted as truth. I want my kids to be detectives, learn different sides of a story, and background behind stories and traditions. So off to discover St. Paddy.
This post sums up pretty well, in short, why St. Patrick’s Day is so celebrated in America, more so than in Ireland. I will now wear green in pride of my immigrant Irish ancestors without so much question as to why in the world I’m encouraging this silly tradition!
Whether you’re celebrating or learning more about Irish heritage, Irish history or traditions, here are some fun books to read, discuss and enjoy with your family. I’ve left leprechauns and shamrocks out, these are all books about St. Patrick, St. Patrick’s Day, with some good ol’ Irish Folk Tales thrown in.
Some related activities featured in these posts:
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Make some extra time to read with your kids this week.
Our Favorite Books about St. Patrick’s Day
The most popular post from last week was:
And now for the link up!
Our hosts will still share a themed selection of our favorite books each week.
If you’d like to join us as a co-host for What to Read Wednesday, please contact Anne.
We have never read any of these books. Can’t wait to hit the library this week and check some of these books out.
It’s always interesting to learn about different holidays, cultures and festivals. Thanks for the book recommendations.