In this study, Reid Mitchell takes the reader to Mardi Gras - a yearly ritual that sweeps the multicultural city of New Orleans into a frenzy of parades, pageantry, dance, drunkenness, music, sexual display, and social and political bombast.

Two children participating in the traditional Mardi Gras celebration see such sights as the Zulu and Rex parades, enjoying the songs, bright costumes, and gigantic floats.

Repetition, alliteration, and visual humor abound in this Mardi Gras themed riff on the iconic holiday song, perfect for emerging readers and early counters. As each day of the Mardi Gras season passes, a gift is given. Each of the many, many, many gifts is familiar to those who embrace the season's traditions. Coming in twos, twelves, fives and fours, the gifts include majestic masks, floats a rolling, golden shoes, and cherished cups. Colorful illustrations provide lots of additional hijinks and engagement in this soon-to-be-classic holiday tale!

Dinosaurs parade down the streets of New Orleans during the Mardi Gras carnival. Includes glossary and related craft activity.

In this pivotal book, the captivating and kinetic images of noted photographer Eric Waters are paired with a collection of insightful essays by preeminent authors and cultural leaders to offer the first complete look at the Social, Aid and Pleasure Club (SAPC) parade culture in New Or-leans. Ranging from ideological approaches to the contributions of musicians, development of specific rituals by various clubs, and parade accessories such as elaborately decorated fans and sashes, Freedom’s Dance provides an unparalleled photographic and textual overview of the SAPC Second Line, tracking its origins in African traditions and subsequent development in black New Orleans culture. Karen Celestan’s vibrant narrative is supplemented with interviews of longtime culture-bearers such as Oliver “Squirk” Hunter, Lois Andrews (mother of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and James Andrews), Fred Johnson, Gregory Davis, and Lionel Batiste, while interdisciplinary essays by leading scholars detail the rituals, historic perspective, and purpose of the Second Line. Freedom’s Dance defines this unique pub-lic-private phenomenon and captures every aspect of the Second Line, from SAPC members’ rollicking introductions at their annual parade to a funeral procession on its way to the crypt. Visually dazzling and critically important, Freedom’s Dance serves as both a celebration and a deep exploration of this understudied but immediately recognizable aspect of the African American tradition in the Big Easy.

Mimi and her parents enjoy the color and excitement of Mardi Gras in New Orleans and observe many traditional aspects of the celebration.

Chronicles the history and meaning of Mardi Gras through a collection of true stories of Carnival, telling of the first Rex parade, the organization of Comus, the 1908 brawl between African-American and white New Orleanians, and other memorable events.

One of the first women's organizations to mask and perform during Mardi Gras, the Million Dollar Baby Dolls redefined the New Orleans carnival tradition. Tracing their origins from Storyville-era brothels and dance halls to their re-emergence in post-Katrina New Orleans, author Kim Marie Vaz uncovers the fascinating history of the "raddy-walking, shake-dancing, cigar-smoking, money-flinging" ladies who strutted their way into a predominantly male establishment. The Baby Dolls formed around 1912 as an organization of African American women who used their profits from working in New Orleans's red-light district to compete with other Black prostitutes on Mardi Gras. Part of this event involved the tradition of masking, in which carnival groups create a collective identity through costuming. Their baby doll costumes -- short satin dresses, stockings with garters, and bonnets -- set against a bold and provocative public behavior not only exploited stereotypes but also empowered and made visible an otherwise marginalized female demographic. Over time, different neighborhoods adopted the Baby Doll tradition, stirring the creative imagination of Black women and men across New Orleans, from the downtown Trem area to the uptown community of Mahalia Jackson. Vaz follows the Baby Doll phenomenon through one hundred years with photos, articles, and interviews and concludes with the birth of contemporary groups, emphasizing these organizations' crucial contribution to Louisiana's cultural history.

Introduces Mardi Gras and the Carnival festival, including the history of the holiday and how it is celebrated throughout the world.

Jason is frightened by his big brother's stories about the masked figures they will see in the Mardi Gras parade, but after seeing them for himself, Jason learns they are fun.