The Book of New Family Traditions: How to Create Great Rituals for Holidays and Everyday by Meg Cox, Sarah McMenemy (Illustrator), Sarah McMenemy (Illustrator)

Product Details

Synopsis

Families will treasure this collection of rituals and traditions for many occasions, from such personal milestones as a child's first day of school or a teenager's new driver's license to mainstream holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. Special celebrations in a warm family setting help foster self-esteem and creativity, open up communication channels, and may even entice older children to stay at the dinner table a little longer. Such cherished events can be as simple as a Sunday lunch orchestrated by the kids. Each ritual is inspired by those of real families. Their stories are shared, along with practical instructions on how to implement and tailor the ritual to one's own family. All it takes is organziation, imagination, and a willingness to resist outside interference for a few precious moments.

Library Journal

Cox (The Heart of a Family: Searching America for New Traditions That Fulfill Us) packs her book with simple, encouraging ideas for getting back to the basics of family life. Establishing rituals is not always quick and easy; some of these ideas are time-consuming, but they are uniformly peppy and easy for committed readers to absorb. Though free rein is afforded creative readers, basic recipes for creating rituals abound. The first of four topical sections, "Holidays," is arranged by date and suggests ideas for adding zing to the holidays (like celebrating Big Bird's birthday on the first day of spring). Sections then focus on "Family Festivities and Ceremonies" (e.g., birthdays or special school days, travel, and vacation), "Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Rituals" (e.g., mealtime grace, full-moon walks, and kids cook night), and "Rites of Passage" (like graduations). Like Julie Tallard Johnson's The Thundering Years: Rituals and Sacred Wisdom for the Journey into Adulthood, this is a great choice for public libraries. Highly recommended. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Meg Cox is a journalist, author and expert in family traditions. A former reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she writes for a wide range of magazines including Family Fun, Good Housekeeping, Parents, Cooking Light and Worth, and her corporate clients have included Pillsbury, Hallmark, and Merck & Co. Cox lectures frequently and writes a monthly newsletter on family rituals. She currently lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her husband and son.