Behind the Books

“And poor Norah, though smiling still She'd missed the snap-apple turning.” On the Festival of Hallow Eve (1833), verse accompanying Daniel Maclise’s painting. Halloween has gone by many names around the world, and in parts of Ireland, one of them is Snap Apple Night .  The name snap apple comes from one of the games traditionally played on October 31. Apples have long been part of Halloween celebrations, appearing in games, food, and fortune-telling traditions. Snap apple became so closely connected with the night that in some communities, the game gave Halloween another name.  And although Snap Apple Night may sound like a name from the past, it has not completely disappeared today. Irish folklorist Michael Fortune notes that he still hears Halloween called Snap Apple Night in Wexford, along with several other regional names for the night.  Visit Michael's website here. What Is Snap Apple? There are several versions of the game, but they share one important rule: no han...

"I had mind it was Halloween . . . the wee callans were at it already, rinning aboot wi' their fause-faces on and their bits o' turnip lanthrons in their haun."  – John Service, Thir Notandums (1890) Irish Halloween Mask at the Horniman Museum, Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Every October 31st, witches, ghosts, superheroes, animals, and storybook characters appear at front doors looking for treats. Dressing up in costumes has become such a familiar part of Halloween that it is easy to assume costumes have always been part of the celebration. The story behind this traditions, however, is much more complicated. A Night for the Supernatural Over time what we know as modern Halloween actually developed from traditions connected with Samhain, the seasonal festival that marked the end of harvest season and beginning of winter in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Samhain was and still is associated with a time when the boundaries between the e...

Samhain: A Story About Halloween is a nonfiction picture book for children about the history behind Halloween traditions. Written and illustrated by Jacqueline Cooper, it is the first book in the Changing Traditions series. Samhain is also known today as one of the seasonal festivals on the modern Wheel of the Year, and this book explores how older autumn customs helped shape the Halloween celebrations many families know today. Long before Halloween became costumes, candy, and carved pumpkins, people marked the end of the harvest season in many different ways. Families gathered near bonfires, carved turnip lanterns, played games, shared food, dressed up, played tricks, and remembered those who had died. Samhain: A Story About Halloween follows those traditions through time, from ancient autumn customs to the modern Halloween celebrations that we see each year.  The book also includes fun historical details about where some familiar Halloween traditions may have come from, includin...

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." — Gustav Mahler One of the best things about creating the Changing Traditions  series is discovering facts that I never knew myself and bringing them to life in these books. When I started researching Samhain: A Story About Halloween , I assumed pumpkins had always been part of Halloween. After all, these orange glowing jack-o'-lanterns seem just as much a symbol of the holiday as costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating. It turns out, pumpkins weren't the original Halloween lanterns at all. Long before pumpkins lined front porches across North America, people in parts of Ireland and Britain carved turnips, rutabagas, and other large root vegetables into lanterns. And that discovery sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole looking at all the different casts of these lantern carvings like the one below from Ireland.  A traditional Irish turnip Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century. Photographe...

“The old that is strong does not wither.”  — J.R.R. Tolkien When I first started working on this series, I knew I wanted it to feel connected to the cycle of the year. I didn't create this logo until I had two book covers finished to get a feel of what would be a good fit between two completely different stories and cover images. I think that the Changing Traditions logo now is a way to bring those ideas together visually. Each section of the circle represents a different season through small natural details: blossoms for spring,  sunlight and greenery for summer,  autumn leaves and berries,  then snow and candlelight for winter.  The logo reflects many of the themes that continue appearing throughout the series: seasonal change, returning traditions, celebrations connected to weather and light, and the way stories are carried forward year after year. I also wanted the design to feel warm and timeless rather than overly modern so have left the text off the cover...