About Randa Handler http://www.randahandler.com

http://www.amazon.com/author/randahandler

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/randa-handler

Link to animated videos of prototypes of Cubbie Blue and his Dog Dot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIsjkW-DyTo&feature=youtu.be

Randa Handler is an international journalist, publicist and publisher. As a journalist she was published worldwide and her interview with actor Rock Hudson (his last) was featured internationally as a cover story.  She has helped to brand many products, people and companies. In 2003, her publishing efforts launched an educational series of children’s books, with Miss America 2000, that are still being used as ‘lesson plans’ by elementary school teachers. She is the author & illustrator of five children’s books that relay real life concepts to instill in kids an appreciation of differences.

The ‘Thanksgiving Dinner Platter’, which explains, when and why, Thanksgiving became a national holiday (available in all formats);  Cubbie Blue & His Dog Dot, A fantastical adventure about 3 multiracial boys who befriend a tiny creature and learn about each other and the world. (available in all formats). ‘What’s up with Mike?’ (Cubbie Blue- book 2);  (ebk and paperback),  ‘If I Were King,’  (available in all formats), A MOM’S CHOICE AWARD winner animal tale about a feisty zebra who doesn’t want to hang with other zebras. And finally, ‘The Boy Who Spoke To God’,(available in all formats) where a young boy, in a non-religious folk tale, helps feuding tribes find peace during their diverse celebrations of the holidays! An introduction to elementary school children to all the different beliefs out there.

“I’m always looking for books that encourage children in my classroom to visualize in new and other worldly ways. So much of our curriculum is based in real world scenarios, which is fine; but books like this let children expand their imaginative boundaries and open up new ways of thinking and feeling. Great visual and mental stimulation with a loving tailwind in the content and illustrations!" Jessica Warne, CA teacher

“An inventive children’s story, both creative and entertaining. It has adventure and imparts a good lesson. I would recommend this book to middle readers who aren’t yet at chapter books as well as to parents who are looking for something fun and unique to read with their child.” E. Lucas, Top Amazon Reviewer.

“Author Randa Handler has written a magical and quirky story that will not only entertain children, but will teach them about diversity, problem solving, multicultural differences, and social justice issues. “ Patricia Tilton, childrensbooksheal.com. Ohio.

“Magical Friendships make a great book! Cubbie Blue and his Dog Dot is a terrific book for readers who want magic, adventure, and examples of good friendship in a well-written story. The characters are wonderfully developed and the adventure is just right for young readers and listeners while modeling positive character traits. I look forward to future books about Cubbie, Dot and their friends.” Rachel Horon, Educator. Indiana

“Delightful illustrated books for kids. I just know children all over will fall in love with these little characters. The tiny creatures are effective vehicles for conveying subtle messages, about rights and wrongs within the frame of an exciting and entertaining story.” Suzy Turner. Portugal.

“Tiny irresistible creatures give a way to teach about differences! This extremely well-written early reader gives both parents and elementary school teachers a vehicle to talk about things that might be a little difficult to talk about! Lovely!” Kelina Cowell. England

Randa Handler’s books are available wherever books are sold including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart.

  Articles & Interviews by Randa Handler

https://medium.com/@RandaHandler

https://medium.com/@RandaHandler/get-your-book-noticed-bc61423f9edb#.3aw24onxd

https://medium.com/@RandaHandler/equality-for-fatherhood-12dd36099c23#.qxqead2mj

Is it too late for Religious Tolerance?

Is ‘religious' tolerance teachable?  I happen to think so. And, that’s why I wrote, The Boy Who Spoke To God. Having worked at the United Nations and as an international journalist enabled me to experience many cultures and religions.  I wish for every child to experience exotic cultures and beliefs, as nothing expands a young mind, better. But, tackling religious tolerance is a tall order. As a journalist I was taught to shy away from a religious topic and therefore I was certain that a mainstream children’s book that dealt with religion will encounter lots of resistance. Hey, I knew that many will be judging my book by its TITLE, but, I went for it anyway because so much of today’s unrest seems to be caused by religion.

The Boy Who Spoke to God, is a folk tale about four civilizations, Mayan, Greek, Zulu and Chinese, that lived together in a far-away kingdom. They seem to get along and thrive except during the holidays with the focus being the New Year celebration. I thought that would be the most neutral non-religious ground to highlight diversity of celebrations and beliefs. A young Greek boy decides to pray to his God for answers and the village’s tribes end up interpreting his dreams differently. BTW, I made a point not to illustrate God! I must admit that wasn’t an easy task in a picture book.

Glance at a calendar and you’ll find religious holidays and festivals for many beliefs throughout the year.  Believe it or not, New Year isn’t always celebrated on the First of January. The Greek Orthodox Christians and the Coptic Christians celebrate their New Year in September as do Ethiopians and some Egyptians. The Chinese follow a totally different calendar with their major celebrations (Qingming and Zhonghe) and their New Year is set for the 19th of February. On the other hand, the Mayans like to celebrate theirs in July.  The Zulu honor their ancestors and look to them for guidance while in India Hindus consider a cow sacred and is revered. God or Allah is honored differently throughout the globe. His image alone is seen differently. Christians have always portrayed God while Muslims think it’s a sacrilege to portray Mohammad.  Many Greeks still celebrate New Year on the first of September and take plates of seeds to church for the priest to bless.  Many special dishes are prepared to celebrate the New Year in September including Vassilopitta or St Basil’s cake where a silver or gold coin is placed.

Who cares what culture or beliefs are right? None of that mattered when we were kids. I’m not looking to teach a certain belief nor take sides. I’m basically showing children the many colors of the rainbow, to open the conversation about differences in beliefs and societies that exist out there. I am astonished that in certain countries, parents tell their kids to avoid those who are different or have a different religion.  Why do that? Wouldn’t that foster hate? I went to a French Catholic parochial school but I had a friend who was Muslim and another one who was Jewish.  I remember how intrigued I was by their different traditions.  I couldn’t understand why my Jewish friend couldn’t turn the lights on Saturday! I found that so interesting.

Even though my childhood friends and I were so different, we were a close, active group and our games were many. We played together and enjoyed learning from each other about our many differences and accepted them as simple facts. No judgments or preconceived notions. Obviously, I now do understand their backgrounds more clearly and appreciate all these differences.  Interestingly, when I worked at the UN, the two people who helped me the most career-wise happened to have been Jewish and Muslim from two different continents, an American and an Arab.

Is tolerance of diversity teachable? I strongly believe it is. I leaped and wrote and illustrated four other children’s books also with a targeted audience of girls and boys between the ages of 4 and 9. Obviously, parents can read them to a younger child, but I really wanted to reach early readers. I even decided to test out picture books with a higher word count without them being chapter books. I remember at that age liking to look at pictures while learning how to read.  If I Were King is an animal tale of unlikely friends who differ in habits, sizes and aspirations and it sets a few simple rules. The Thanksgiving Dinner Platter explains the holiday with an international twist as it is about a Japanese-American little girl and a Native American boy. While the Cubbie Blue series, Cubbie Blue & His Dog Dot, Book One and Book Two, (What’s Up With Mike?), is a series with fantastical storylines about multi-racial kids who befriend a tiny wise character and his even tinier dog. They learn about the world through fun adventures while embracing each other’s differences. Book Two is about their new BLIND friend Mike!

Why did I get into children’s books? I saw a need for diversity in mainstream children’s books; it’s a real gap that few are attempting to fill.  I tried to populate my books with fun characters and ideas that are representative of different cultures. I strongly believe that if you instill early on an appreciation of differences, it makes for a better society.  A recent #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag went viral and was retweeted by the major media, from The Washington Post, to the NYT to CNN to NBC to PBS.

Will accepting each other’s differences make for a more peaceful existence? I happen to think so! Is ‘religious tolerance, ‘a key factor in early education? I strongly believe that. Many educators and parents have been blogging and posting reviews agreeing with me and I thank them for that! One final note, the tribes decide in, Boy Who Spoke To God, to celebrate each of their Gods on God’s Day on the Third of May and New Year four times a year! Hopefully, I’m not taking any sides and none of the major religions celebrate their God on that date.

Interview with Rock Hudson    

This is part of my at home interview with Rock Hudson (his last) as a thank you for giving me a chance when I was a rookie journalist….

Legendary actor Rock Hudson was a man at peace when I met him 12 days before his astonishing disclosure to the world that he had AIDS and a severe liver infection that sent him for treatment to a Paris hospital. Subsequently, I wrote several health oriented type articles about the horrific disease and the research that was taking place. Here’s a briefed summary of the exclusive at home interview relaxing poolside at his southern California estate, a hilltop mansion just off Coldwater Canyon. Huge iron gates and white washed walls surrounded the Hudson mansion that was nestled atop beautiful landscaped hills. It was a secluded place, away from the rush of Hollywood and day-to-day madness of a star’s life. Half-expecting for a butler or a housekeeper to usher us into the magnificent Spanish style halls, I was gape-jawed when the 6 –foot-4 figure with the familiar but gaunt look, greeted us instead with a huge welcoming smile. There stood Rock Hudson, in bathing trunks and dripping wet from the top of his graying hair to his toes. He welcomed us into his home and ushered us into a hall that divided 2 living rooms and went upstairs to change.

My photographer, Chuck and I strolled into the living rooms to await what was to be a very special kind of interview (that I remember to this day)-the last the handsome movie actor, with bigger than life persona, would give before astonishing everyone with the news that he had been living with AIDS for a year. At the time AIDS was a disease that most of us had never heard of.

I left Chuck in one of the living rooms and decided to check his library. You can discover so much about someone by the books they read. I was pleasantly surprised to find hundreds of classics dwelling on the shelves that spanned the tall walls of the main hall. I thought to myself, “There must be thousands in here!”

It was no secret that Rock was an avid reader of literature, but the tomes I surveyed -4000- mostly classics, I would find out later on. But in addition I would discover that he was a collector too especially of limited editions and rare works by great authors. (I would enjoy going through his library so much more now!) I bet many would be surprised to know that and would be astonished at the extent of his library. The hall that divided his two spacious living rooms was lined with shelves too.

The walls of the living rooms were branded with beautiful original art. Art wasn’t genre specific and reflected the movie’s star’s eclectic taste. One living room was done in Spanish style and featured an oversized painting of two men who looked very much like him. A black mahogany piano graced one side together with antique furniture while rugged rustic furniture with zebra skins were featured at another corner. One wall guarded two abstract paintings, while another wall displayed two portraits, one an unmistakable portrait of Hudson. The other? Difficult to discern with certainty. The face was quite similar to Rock’s but yet somewhat different. I thought of the men who’ve shared a closeness with Rock –his managers, none as tall as Hudson- and Jim Nabors, who was also shorter.

Could it be the portrait of former Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback, Roman Gabriel? I remembered thinking. When that name came to mind, the similarity became striking. Gabriel and Rock were friends.

“You can look and describe,” Hudson said firmly as I began discussing his décor adding with a smile, “I never allow photos to be taken inside my house…” I smiled and followed him into one of the living rooms. I was a little nervous and I decided to break the ice by simply asking the legendary actor whether he enjoyed hunting for antiques. Weird, right? The answer was a simple smiling ‘yes’ and he pointed to the stone lion figurehead in the middle of the swimming pool spewing a stream of recirculated pool water. “I got it at a junkyard for $5 dollars,” he laughed, “but it’s a much more expensive sculpture. Truth is I spent much more drilling a hole in the lion’s mouth so it’d spit water fountain-like.”

I remember how lovingly he spoke of his garden and antique treasure hunting trips. His pleasures were oddly simple, and his needs seemed few. That alone made him charming and not how you’d expect an internationally known actor to be. He appeared in good spirits, a little tired at times, but remaining cordial throughout the chat. At one point, his dog, Sister (one of three dogs that he owned) rushed in from a dip in the pool, and brushed against his white pants. He smiled, excused himself for a few minutes and returned after a quick change of clothes.

Sadly, the photos, taken that day, of the legendary actor were a true testimony to the devastating ravages of AIDS as subsequent pictures, only a few days later, depicted him as a skeleton.

During my lengthy chat with him, Hudson didn’t give any hints of discomfort or pain caused by the disease. No signs of the ravages that the disease had done to him including permanent damage to his liver. If he was in pain, he didn’t show it. And, I’m sure he must have been. Hudson was cheerful, accommodating (I asked him to pause for multi shots, in the garden with his roses, with his books, with his dogs…) even if somewhat sparse with his words. His fans will not find that uncharacteristic as he rarely gave interviews and when he did he wasn’t really chatty. (Looking back, I sigh as I now know how much of an effort that must have been for him. Is it the accomplished actor? The bigger than life persona? Whatever it was, he managed to summon up a cheerful, hospitable façade to a rookie journalist.)

Yes, he did seem a bit tired, his movements a little slow, but despite the dramatic loss of weight-so apparent not only in his face but his once-muscular 210-lb body-he was in an expressive mood throughout the four-hour at home interview. Always cordial and accommodating! (Looking back, I shrink that I bothered that poor man for so long! We had to get that shot in that light and at that angle!)

Hudson had had open heart surgery four year prior to that interview, but there, sitting in front of me, he puffed on one cigarette after the other. He was unconcerned with his health-perhaps because as I later discovered, he knew that time had run out. Still, he seemed to be living in some kind of denial or maybe he simply wasn’t ready yet to share with me nor the world his status. “I don’t want to think about the final curtain but take destiny as it comes without wasting time in vain expectations…” he said as I inquired about his open heart surgery. “I stay away from planning and projecting or dwelling on the future,” he emphasized, “I love to enjoy the present and watch life progress and unfold…” Rock also told me he entertained “one last wish” the words are his –and that is to see the current hit movie ‘Cocoon’ from director Ron Howard. (I don’t know if he ever did see it or not). The plot undoubtedly held great significance for Hudson-it’s about older people discovering a miracle. Rock, who was pushing 60, shared dreamingly that the swimming pool in that motion picture in which the elderly folks recovered their vitality, made him dream of younger, carefree and happier days. That made me conclude that he hadn’t given up hope. (I had heard the rumors but weren’t about to bring them up if he wasn’t ready. Even then, I wasn’t into tabloid journalism- the digging dirt kind. Many magazine editors will subsequently get so upset by that! I didn’t care then and I don’t now!”

Rock spoke of other antiquing searches, of how he’d rummage through ruins of ancient buildings, carrying home such treasures as colonnades from an old courthouse or unique structures… What follows are a few of the questions I asked him and his candid answers:

Q: Why do you hate to be interviewed so much?

A: I have been misquoted so many times over 40 years that I get uptight at the idea of yet another interview. I worry about what would be printed. I enjoy playing the game with press of how my answers are interpreted. (I guess Rock would have such a time with the present fake news debate) I like to keep my secrets to myself. I guess they will die with me. I like to keep journalists puzzled. The charm is in guessing.

Q.How would you describe to someone your best trait?

A.Stubbornness. I guess I am very determined and I will go after what I want no matter what it takes.

Q. What is your worst trait?

A. Well… I guess I don’t lose my temper enough.

Q. You’ve costarred with many beautiful women-Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Jane Wyman, Linda Evans, Claudia Cardinale and so many others. Claudia says you’ve left a strong impact on her. But, who is THE woman for you? Who impacted you?

A. I will say Katherine Hepburn. I admire her tremendously. The woman is more than a star. She is a legend. Her personalist is, by itself, a talent. As an actress, she is able to express her emotions and carry the character that she’s portraying on the screen, in a breathtaking way that leaves a certain impact. This ability is the main element in making a star.

Hudson’s publicist had requested not to ask health oriented questions-such as what might have caused his rapid weight loss but inquiries about his bypass surgery weren’t out of bounds. And, so I did.

Q. Any major revelations while on the operating table?

A. No. I looked at it as a fait-accompli. I only wanted the doctors to hurry up. Cut and do what you need to do and then get me out of there. My survivalist nature helped me deal with it. (I didn’t know at the time how these words would be so haunting.)

Q.Does that mean that you don’t plan for the future?

A.I stay away from planning and projecting or dwelling on the future. I just love to enjoy the moment and watch life progress and unfold.”

Q. After 40 years in Hollywood, have seen it change?

A. Definitely. There aren’t any good scripts anymore. Before, studios contracted staff writers who put out the best. You were so inspired as an actor. The character came alive. The system worked. Also, the studios trained you as an actor. Now, sadly none of that place. I can’t see how actors can afford to undergo training since studios don’t offer it them anymore. So, the entire medium suffers.

Q. If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything?

A. No. Everything would stay the same. However, if I didn’t have acting as a choice, I would have become a gardener. I love to watch things grow and bloom. (I still remember that answer to this day! Not, the answer you’d expect from someone who was adored by so many and had fame and fortune.)

Q. How do you feel about all recent drug addiction scandals in Hollywood?

A. I really don’t understand it and can’t explain it. I feel the problem isn’t limited to Hollywood but is everywhere. Hollywood does have the tendency to overblow the problem because the people with the addictions are in the public eye.

I decided to post this interview, just to say Thanks to a man who had earned the right to take “his secret with him to the grave!”

Giving Thanks Around the World,

Why Thanksgiving is My Favorite Holiday!

Thanksgiving is a true American holiday and my favorite! I love it, not because it ushers the holiday season, or because it is when families gather around a wonderful feast. I love it because of its simple way to exchange gratitude. Gratitude is at the core of contentment. Isn’t being happy what life is about? This expression of gratitude has evolved over the years, from survival, to the preservation of family traditions. Again and again, we see how cultivating such gratitude within ourselves is how we find happiness. This holiday by its mere inception is the symbol of that contentment with the added emphasis of outward expression and inclusiveness. Being appreciated and included is at the core of being human, and we’re all social animals. And, as John Donne reminded us, no man is an island! Here’s a simple exercise; imagine being thanked for all your contributions, big and small. Imagine waking up to the kids making you breakfast each day, and thanking you for being you. Then, going to the office and being thanked with an appreciative email, or text for your suggestions. Wouldn’t you feel all warm and fuzzy for being appreciated? Gratitude warms the heart whether it’s received, or given. Sometimes a “thank you” is all that’s needed to disarmingly include and appreciate someone. And, Thanksgiving is the best day to do that!

Close your eyes and imagine for a minute, how many families gather on that day, setting aside their differences and struggles. Isn’t it sharing which helps us to be victorious in life? It is in our basic relationships that we find strength and hope. There is no better time than now, to really focus on the meaning of Thanksgiving. There is so much unrest in the world! So many are displaced from their homes due to either humanitarian tragedies, or catastrophic natural disasters. We have plenty to be thankful for. Living in “the land of the free” alone should be enough cause to celebrate. As a children’s book author, I feel that it’s of the outmost importance to teach stores of gratitude to the young. Stories of gratitude that can be retold to highlight the richness of one’s heritage, legacy and traditions, while treasuring a true sense of appreciation. Gratitude is the antidote to self-entitlement. And, obviously contentment and happiness go together, just like Thanksgiving and turkey.

We can trace Thanksgiving back to the day the original settlers wanted to give thanks for their bounty in 1961. They had been through such survival hardship; from food to shelter and had lost many to illness. As their lives improved, they wanted to give thanks.  I have included a note at the end of the book about that first thanksgiving dinner. That holiday evolved over the years and didn’t really become a national holiday until 1941. Over 150 years go by before Thanksgiving is celebrated the way we do now-- George Washington proclaimed it a National holiday in 1789, Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November in 1863, and Congress sanctioned it as a legal holiday in 1941.

There are many Thanksgiving children’s books but not that many about why and when it became a national holiday and that’s why I wrote The Thanksgiving Dinner Platter. Thanksgiving; a holiday I did not experience when I was growing up, but one that I wholeheartedly adopted once I settled in the U.S. I absolutely love its true premise of “giving thanks!” There is so much wisdom and joy embedded in these very simple words. In the spirit of ‘giving thanks,’ I was so touched when people used the cover of my book as a thanksgiving card. It was really cool when all came full circle and someone sent it to me.

My challenge when I started working on this book was to relay the message of these words to kids with clarity—and a big smile. I admit that this story has educational goals in its effort to highlight diversity and inspire tolerance, but it was conceived primarily as a joyous tale of two children having a unique Thanksgiving experience.

The Thanksgiving Dinner Platter features the friendship between a Native American boy and a Japanese-American girl. And, for fun, I set the entire book in 1941 and included a simple recipe for cornbread! The recipe is based on the first Thanksgiving dinner eaten by the pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians at Plymouth Plantation. I threw in a few Japanese words for good measure, and concluded with the kids sharing their special bread with veterans at the VA and a true historic reference to how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

I’m so thankful to the teachers who have adopted my book and are using it in their classroom.  Most recently David Jadunath, a MT teacher suggested the use of a globe, reading it outloud and asking the children to pick countries around the world and talk about whether or not they too have a day of thanks!
As a children’s book author and illustrator, I believe kids are stronger if they are helped early on to understand a bit more of the world around them. If they are taught to be more receptive to differences in traditions and ideas, they are more likely to be confident and interactive adults.

Having grown up around the Mediterranean, I was taught that family and holiday celebrations go hand in hand. My mother looked forward to festive celebrations of Christmas and Easter, and planned them for months. I have fun childhood memories of such festivities where a fleet of young siblings and cousins were running around, playing games, whispering, arguing, and laughing together. The older kids helped with the cooking and the setting of the glorious dinner table, and the younger ones basked in awe of all the colorful commotion.

I think of those festive days and their warm glow flows over me once again.

Here are a few suggestions for using The Thanksgiving Dinner Platter or other Thanksgiving children’s books in a classroom:

1-Kids can be instructed to imagine themselves at the first Thanksgiving dinner and asked what kind of cooking utensils were used at the time. Bring grinding tools and pound dried corn kernels as was once done to make cornmeal. Ask students how they think the turkey was cooked, and discuss the differences between life then and now. Kids can participate by reading the story out loud, and by following the cornbread recipe. Ask them what they’d be most thankful for when it comes to daily comfort.

2-Research, either together or prior to class, whether or not other countries have similar celebrations. Is there a Japanese Thanksgiving? Spanish? Russian? Is similar food served? Does the holiday mean the same thing? They can look at pictures of different festive dishes and discuss their different ingredients. This site includes exotic recipes, and I’m sure there are many more!

3-The Thanksgiving Dinner Platter can be read out loud to showcase Japan’s Day of Thanks and clippings from Japan’s celebration can be shared. Discovering Japan’s way of celebrating, as with other cultures, will not only open minds but prove to be fun, too!

Discuss what Takari learned in the course of the story, and how and why she began to appreciate blessings, big and small. Ask your students: How did her snapping at her dog make her understand her mom’s anger? Use the true historic vignette at the end of the book to discuss when and how Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

4-Use a globe to discuss different countries and their way of ‘giving thanks’. Here are a few:

Japan’s Day of Thanks; Labor Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday.  Japanese people use this day to give thanks for their blessings and to show appreciation to government, education and hospital workers. Around the 23th of November.

Canada: Canadian Thanksgiving;They celebrate their thanksgiving the second Monday in October  and they too have parades, watch sports and share turkey dinner.

Malaysia: "Kadazan Harvest” Celebration;They offer gratitude for a good rice harvest and is observed in May.

Barbados: Crop Festival;Giving gratitude for a good sugar harvest and families gather around feast

China’s Moon Festival; Families gather to celebrate the harvest season with a huge feast. Traditionally they serve ‘mooncakes’ as the moon is at its brightest around that day usually the 15th day of the 8th lunar month-September or October.

Korean Day of Gratitude (Chuseok); A three day celebration in August that pays respect and honors ancestors and thanks them for their contributions.

Liberian Day of Thanks;They celebrate Thanksgiving on the first Thursday in November. Some of the traditions are similar to The US.

Ghana’s Homowo Festival;They give thanks for their bounty with glorious feasts featuring dishes with yams. It takes place around harvest time between May and August.

Israel’s Feast of Tabernacles;A celebration of a good harvest that follows Passover. Some celebrate in huts as reminder of the temporary shelters that their people sought during their desert pilgrimage.

Italy’s Cerelia;The Romans celebrate the Goddess of Corn festival on the 4th of October.

Brazil’s Gratitude Day;It is said that the Ambassador of Brazil experienced American Thanksgiving and loved it so much that he brought the concept to his homeland.  Dia de Ao de Graas, take place on the fourth Thursday of November. But it isn’t a national holiday. Like in the U.S., there is a turkey and stuffing.

Vietnam: Têt-Trung-Thu Festival;Also called the Children’s Festival. People ‘give thanks’ for their blessings on the 15th day of the eighth lunar moon. Feasts and handmade lantern night processions are typical.