Day of the Dead — In Mexico, November 2 is celebrated as El Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. This page has links to Day of the Dead information, including recipes and crafts.

Halloween is coming! Here’s a list of links to help you celebrate with ideas for costumes, recipes, books and more.

On October 12, 1492, a sailor on board the Pinta sighted land. The next day, 90 crew members of Christopher Columbus’s fleet stepped ashore in the Bahamas, ending a ten-week voyage from Spain and beginning a new era of European exploration and expansion in the Americas.

Columbus Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Columbus Day weekend is a great time to celebrate the beauty of autumn in New England, especially the beautiful fall foliage.

Columbus Day — Check out our Columbus Day page for links to more information about Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day.

English novelist Hilary Mantel has been awarded the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Fiction for her new novel “Wolf Hall,” based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Henry VIII. “Wolf Hall” will be released in the United States on October 13.

• Books by Hilary Mantel — Booklist with links to the catalog to make it easy to find and request Mantel’s books from your library
• Booker prize goes to Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall — News story from the Guardian, with a video of Mantel
• Hilary Mantel — Author profile on Macmillan Books website

Flu season came early this year, and this year we have Swine Flu (H1N1) as well as the normal Seasonal Flu and other strains to worry about. Here are some websites to help you get news and information about different strains of influenza.

• Swine Flu Resources –News stories and background articles from Boston.com
• H1N1 (Swine) Flu Website — Information from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services
• Flu: What You Can Do — The goal of this site from the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services is “to provide the public with information and tools to care for persons with influena at home, including during a flu pandemic.” Resources here include a 33 page printable guidebook called “Flu: What You Can Do, Caring for People at Home” available in several languages.
• WebMD Flu Guide — “Here you’ll find answers to all your flu questions along with a wealth of health resources to help you prevent flu. You’ll also learn how to treat flu symptoms if you or any of your family members get sick.”
• Flu.gov — “‘One stop’ for flu information featuring critical, current information on seasonal and H1N1 flu”
• 2009 H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) — Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Influenza: Evidence-based Information Portal — Resources from the Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed, Nursing Reference Center and Patient Education Reference Center, courtesy of EBSCO Publishing. The Patient Information includes guides in several languages.

September 15 – October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrating the culture and traditions of Americans with roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Hispanic Heritage Month — This page has links to more information about Hispanic Heritage Month, including lesson plans and other resources for students and teachers.