Featured Article: A Lot to Celebrate

It doesn’t get more American than the Fourth of July; that is, until you see the other July observances. National Baked Bean Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberry Month, National Grilling Month, and National Picnic Month. Okay, so Americans really love to eat in July. That’s just the month observances. Take a look at the day observances: National Fried Clam Day, National Barbecued Spareribs Day, National Caesar Salad Day (finally a day that’s healthy!), National Apple Turnover Day, National Fried Chicken Day, National Strawberry Sundae Day, National Macaroni Day, and I’m only at July 7th.

While some of these days seem like a GREAT excuse to eat, there is much more to celebrate in July. The most important is Independence Day. The original Independence Day celebrations weren’t exactly like our modern-day celebrations. Instead of fireworks, cannons were fired. It wasn’t until after 1816 when Americans began producing their own pyrotechnics that it became a July 4th celebration staple. Learn fun facts about Independence Day in books like The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence, and The Story of America’s Birthday, both of which are listed in our 25 Everything 4th of July Books reading list. Want fun activities for the kids during your 4th of July family barbeque? Check out What is the 4th of July?, Paper Crafts for the 4th of July, or Independence Day Origami, also listed in our 25 Everything 4th of July Books reading list.

Still, July is more than celebrating our love of food and freedom. We are celebrating a summer break for students and teachers, a summer vacation with family and friends, and a chance to celebrate others. There is National Postal Worker Day (July 1), National Father-Daughter Take a Walk Day (July 7), National Cousins Day (July 24), and National Aunt and Uncle Day (July 26). Then there are National Cheer Up the Lonely Day (July 11) and National Give Something Away Day (July 15) which provide us a chance to help someone else.

In honor of all of these July observances we will be posting a large number of thematic reading lists to our Read & Shine Facebook page and MoBooCo Twitter page to help you and your child celebrate. If you aren’t following us on social media yet, this is definitely the month you want to start.