A CELEBRATION OF CUSTOMS AND RITUALS OF THE WORLD

The title says it: a lavishly illustrated encyclopedia of traditional and contemporary customs and rituals representing cultures from every corner of the globe. In a clearly written text, Wilkinson (The Master Builders, 1994, etc.) makes sense of the variety of rites that accompany significant events in life, including childbirth, holidays, weddings, harvest, religious and artistic celebrations, and funerals. Ingpen demonstrates the universality of these rituals in beautiful montage illustrations; e.g., in the coverage of wedding dances, he depicts the Wodaabe men of Niger, Czech married women, and Cajun bridesmaids. Author and illustrator consistently attempt to stand outside their own culture, eschewing ethnocentrism, to convey the meaning of the ceremonial and spiritual ties that bind all people. In a world where religious, racial, and cultural differences often lead to conflict, this book may convince readers that what cultures share, through ritual and custom, is much more important than what divides them. (index) (Nonfiction. 10+)