13 MONTHS IN MALESSO

Written by:  Delores Barcinas Santos

Illustrated by:  Jessica Perez-Jackson

The CHamoru calendar is a lunar calendar, with each new moon marking a new month.  Thirteen moons equal a full year.  Thus, the 13-month CHamoru calendar does not line up with the commonly used 12-month Gregorian solar calendar.  Each month in the CHamoru calendar occurs between two months in the Gregorian calendar.  Also, because the CHamoru calendar follows the phases of the moon, months begin on different date each year.  In this book, CHamoru months are presented alongside the Gregorian months they most frequently begin in.