Kids Songs Around the World with English Translations or French Translations or Spanish Translations

Mama Lisa's World Blog English Nursery Rhymes Mother Goose in French

Wizard of Oz Audiobook Poetry for Kids ML Reviews Mama Lisa's Hub

Archive for the 'St. Lucia's Day' Category

Contents

Can American Girl Dolls and Their Books Be a Good Role Model?

A Food Eaten for Santa Lucia in Sweden

The St. Nicholas Tradition in Poland and a Way to Teach Your Children about Holiday Customs Around the World

A Santa Lucia Day Song and Saying, plus why it’s a Festival of Light

St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and Scandinavia

Posts

Can American Girl Dolls and Their Books Be a Good Role Model?

Thursday, January 10th, 2008

In an earlier blog post, I talked about a less expensive alternative to American Girl Dolls. My daughter and I call them “Me” Dolls. I feel that these dolls are good for kids since they can play with them without parents worrying about the dolls getting messy.

Today Ed Gawlinski wrote to me about what he feels are the benefits of the American Girl Dolls…

The American Girl dolls, at least before they were bought out by Mattel, were intended to be (or at least approach) “museum quality” in accuracy and workmanship. The dolls, clothes and accessories are intended to match one of the books associated with that doll. They are admittedly expensive. However, the books can be bought separately and they are (in my opinion) excellent books that I had enjoyed reading to my two daughters and listening to them reading the stories aloud to us. These were great opportunities to talk about American History and society.

I still get catalogues in the mail from them. In addition to buying clothes for the dolls you can buy matching clothes for the girls. That can be very expensive. However, it can also bring alive a period in American history for your child which is a very valuable learning experience. The cost of the doll, etc. can be useful in teaching your daughter how to take care of valuable property. Naturally, they should also have dolls and toys that they can treat more roughly, take outside and get dirty, etc.

I had been the director of a Saint Lucia performance for over twenty years. In the American Girls’ book, “Kirsten’s Surprise”, Kirsten explains the Swedish Saint Lucia custom to her cousins, and they organize a Luciatag celebration. Over the years, many of the girls in my performance had a Kirsten doll, and we used these dolls in their Saint Lucia outfit or Swedish outfits to decorate our performance area. Occasionally, a girl would wear her Kirsten outfit as her costume.

Hopefully, in four to six years, your daughter will start to enjoy reading the American Girls books and then will appreciate having one of the dolls to help bring the stories alive. I am happy to see that some entrepreneurs have taken the idea behind the American Girls dolls and come up with a less expensive alternative. I did know a number of my daughters’ friends who destroyed theirs and that was unfortunate.

I am hoping that in ten to twelve years when my granddaughter is old enough to enjoy them, that American Girls dolls (etc.) will still be available in the stores. However, I do know that both of my daughters have kept their dolls and the books in excellent condition. They each had two dolls and over the years, they acquired (for Christmas and birthdays) a collection of outfits and accessories. They enjoyed getting outfits for their dolls even while they were in high school.

The girls portrayed in the books are strong role models for a little girl. I was very glad to be able to include these books in their library. One of the dolls, Molly, had a father who was serving in Europe during World War II. One of Molly’s outfits included a flight jacket. The daughter who had this doll is now a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, having graduated from the Air Force Academy last May.

I don’t want to be a commercial for Mattel, but I am very glad to have been able to provide my daughters with these dolls and even more so, with the books.

-Ed Gawlinksi

Note: In the second photo above, the girls are in Swedish Costumes that their mothers made based on the one of the outfits worn by the Kirsten American Girl doll.

Many thanks to Ed Gawlinski for sharing his family’s experiences with the American Girl Dolls with us! -Lisa

UPDATE: If you’d like to read another point of view, you can read a later post called One More Word about American Girl Dolls!

Share on Facebook and other services:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Posted in American Girl Books, American Girl Dolls, Books, Countries & Cultures, Dolls, Gift Ideas, Holidays Around the World, Me Dolls, Parenting, Recommendations, St. Lucia's Day, Sweden, Toys, USA | 4 Comments »

A Food Eaten for Santa Lucia in Sweden

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

My friend and colleague Monique in France made the biscuits called Lussekatter that they serve in Sweden for Santa Lucia on December 13th. She sent me a photo of what they look like…

I also noticed that Frog with a Blog linked to a recipe for glögg that he likes. But beware! It looks like it has a kick to it!

-Mama Lisa

Share on Facebook and other services:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Posted in Cookies, Countries & Cultures, Desserts, Drinks, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Recipes of the World, St. Lucia's Day, Sweden, Swedish | No Comments »

The St. Nicholas Tradition in Poland and a Way to Teach Your Children about Holiday Customs Around the World

Wednesday, December 5th, 2007

Ed Gawlinski wrote to me about his family’s holiday traditions. His letter shows how you can be creative and expose your children to many different customs around the world at this time of year…

Lisa,

The Polish Custom is for Saint Nicholas (świętego Mikołaja) to bring children presents on December 6th …. The traditions that go with this parallel those in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere in Europe. I found a short poem for Saint Nicholas that you might enjoy.

“On St. Nicholas Day,
The band of children waits;
For the good cookie he brings,
But for the naughty a switch that stings.”

Na świętego Mikołaja,
czeka dzieci cała zgraja,
Da posłusznym ciasteczko,
Złe przekropi różeczką.

I also have a story about Saint Nicholas. We would give our kids little gifts on Saint Nichols Day, Saint Lucia Day, Three Kings Day, etc. Our son-in-law referred to this as the 45 days of Gawlinski Christmas… One year as Saint Nichols day approached our second child, Allison was not being well behaved. She didn’t get a Saint Nicholas day present that morning. By noon, we had found where St. Nick hid the present. From then on, until well after Christmas, she was the best behaved little girl you ever saw.

Edward M. Gawlinski

Giving little gifts on the different international holidays gives you an opportunity to explain to kids how people do things differently around the world. You could also give a gift for a day of Chanukah and the Indian festival of Diwali (if you don’t celebrate these holidays already).

Feel free to comment below or email me to share your holiday customs with us!

-Lisa

Share on Facebook and other services:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Posted in Austria, Belgium, Christmas Poems, Countries & Cultures, Customs, Epiphany, Holidays Around the World, Kings Day, Languages, Poetry, Poland, Polish, St. Lucia's Day, St. Nicolas, Sweden | 3 Comments »

A Santa Lucia Day Song and Saying, plus why it’s a Festival of Light

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

Several days ago I wrote a post about the Santa Lucia holiday in Sweden and Scandinavia.

A popular saying associated with this holiday is:

Lucy Light,
The Shortest day &
The Longest Night.

This saying celebrates the association of St Lucia’s Day, December 13, with the Winter Solstice which, under the old Julian calendar, used to fall on that day.

This day is very significant in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. There, in December, the daylight time is very short and darkness and nighttime are extremely long, due to their position on the globe.

Lucia is another way of saying “Lucy”, which literally translates to “light”. (In English we can hear this connection in words like “Luminescent”.) After the Winter Solstice the days get longer. So St. Lucia is a celebration of the coming lengthening of the days.

You can see why the song Sankta Lucia is one of the most popular carols to sing. It has a beautiful, haunting melody and it’s all about the long night and the return of daylight. Here’s one version of Sankta Lucia in Swedish, followed by an English translation I did, the midi tune and a link to the sheet music.

Natten går tunga fjät
(Swedish)

Natten går tunga fjät
rund gård och stuva;
kring jord, som sol förlät,
skuggorna ruva.
Då i vårt mörka hus,
stiger med tända ljus,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Natten går stor och stum
nu hörs dess vingar
i alla tysta rum
sus som av vingar.
Se, på vår tröskel står
vitklädd med ljus i hår
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Mörkret ska flykta snart
ur jordens dalar
så hon ett underbart
ord till oss talar.
Dagen ska åter ny
stiga ur rosig sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Night Walks with a Heavy Step
(English)

Night walks with a heavy step
Round yard and hearth,
As the sun departs from earth,
Shadows are brooding.
There in our dark house,
Walking with lit candles,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Night walks grand, yet silent,
Now hear its gentle wings,
In every room so hushed,
Whispering like wings.
Look, at our threshold stands,
White-clad with light in her hair,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Darkness shall take flight soon,
From earth’s valleys.
So she speaks a
Wonderful Word to us:
A new day will rise again
From the rosy sky…
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

Midi of Santa Lucia

Sheet Music of Santa Lucia

Here’s a YouTube video of a performance of the song, from a Santa Lucia celebration in Sweden. The video is cut off at the beginning and the end, but it sounds very pretty and it gives an idea of what a St. Lucia Day concert is like.

Many thanks to Edward M. Gawlinski for the midi tune and sheet music!

-Mama Lisa

Note: The tune to Sankta Lucia comes from an Italian version of the song called “Santa Lucia”. There are also at least 3 different Swedish versions of this song.

Share on Facebook and other services:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Posted in Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Denmark, Finland, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Music, Norway, Saint Lucia Songs, St. Lucia's Day, Sweden, Swedish, Swedish Children's Songs, YouTube | 10 Comments »

St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and Scandinavia

Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

Santa Lucia’s Day is celebrated on December 13th in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. It commemorates the life of Santa Lucia, who is also known as Saint Lucy.

St. Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily around 283 and died in 303 AD. The myth is that her parents wanted her to marry a man who she didn’t want to marry. She wanted to devote her life to helping the poor. In protest against the marriage, she poked out her eyes and put them on a platter and sent them to the man. The legend is that her eyes were miraculously restored by God.

It’s said that Saint Lucia blinded herself on the shortest, darkest day of the year, which is the Winter Solstice. Under the old Julian calendar, that day was December 13th. That’s how St. Lucia’s day came to be celebrated on the 13th. (Now, in the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice falls on the 21st or the 22nd.)

In Sweden, and other Scandinavian countries, Santa Lucia Day is seen as being the beginning of the Christmas season. It starts the Twelve Days of Christmas.

The tradition on Santa Lucia Day is for the oldest girl in the family to dress in a white robe with a red sash and wear a crown of candles and lingonberry leaves (lingonberries are popular berries in Sweden). She’s supposed to be dressed as St. Lucia. The other girls dress in white with silver crowns. The boys wear pointed silver hats and carry wands with stars on them. They’re called stjärngossar (star boys). Some kids dress up as tomtar which are like gnomes.

On the morning of Santa Lucia, the children in the family will often wake their parents with a breakfast of Lussekatter (a special St. Lucia bun made with saffron), ginger cookies, coffee and glögg (hot spiced wine). The kids will be dressed in their special Santa Lucia costumes and they’ll sing Santa Lucia songs.

Throughout the day girls will be dressed as Santa Lucia in schools, malls, churches and other public places singing and handing out ginger cookies. There are also Luciatags – St. Lucia processions in which the children dress in their white costumes and sing St. Lucia Day songs.

St. Lucia Day songs coming soon!

Many thanks to Edward M. Gawlinski for the photos!

Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Sweden Pages for Songs from Sweden, including Swedish Christmas songs.

Share on Facebook and other services:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Posted in Countries & Cultures, Customs, Denmark, Finland, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Norway, Saint Lucia Songs, St. Lucia's Day, Sweden, Swedish | 1 Comment »

________

Help Support
Mama Lisa's World!

$5, $10, $25
or any amount welcome!