I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I just adore birthdays. They are so fun, and I can’t wait for my birthday (and these days for my boyfriend’s birthday) to come. So of course I had to read this book, I already knew a bit about Birthday celebrations throughout the globe, but I was curious to see if there were a few that I didn’t know yet.

And yes, I found a few new traditions. It was quite interesting to read that in Jamaica they throw flour over someone’s head, or that in Latvia they bump up your chair, one bump for each year!

I also liked that the author started with the name, then the place, and then also added the Birthday wishes (like for Hawaii/Hawaiian: Hau’oli lã hãnau). Plus that they added the names for all the games, food, and other things in the original language. In the back you can find a glossary with what all those words mean (and how to pronounce them).

The only thing I didn’t like that much was the fact that some weren’t technically birthdays. But rather a national holiday. While in the end I appreciated that it was added, I still wish they had kept to birthday birthdays instead.

The book is also illustrated, and I quite like the style. It looks a bit like, instead of drawing, someone cut out shapes from coloured paper and formed the illustrations that way.

I quite liked this book, and I would recommend it to everyone who loves birthdays, or just wants to know more about them.