Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Are you looking for a new book to use as a family of mixed ages to celebrate Advent? Discovering Christmas by Amanda Jass is a 25-day Advent Devotional with a mix of readings and activities to do with children as a family. Discovering Christmas is 7.25 inches square and is 98 pages long. This book is illustrated with beautiful full-color illustrations that have a lot of fun detail. I think it would be a fun book to use as a family for Advent. There are readings that go through the Biblical Christmas story, as you would expect. Then there are activities to go along with the readings such as making cocoa, going caroling, and other traditionally Christmas activities. Nothing is overly original BUT there are some good conversation starters as well as the fact that each day's activities are set and ready for you to use. I also think these simple traditional activities are ones that kids actually do enjoy so they work. Most families likely have what they need already to do the activi...

  To Mimi's House We Go by Susan Meissner is a fun Christmas book aimed at children ages four to eight. To start with, the cover of this 8-by-10-inch book is colorful and has texture, which I love. It is also 32 pages long.  I love Susan Meissner's adult books so thought To Mimi's House We Go would be a fun one for children. I do think it is. I love how it depicts lots of ways to go to a Grandmother's house and I love all the different names for Grandma. This fun book also rhymes and is fun to read aloud. I think it is neat the children can see that while kids may call their family members by different names and travel differently, ultimately they all have fun family traditions and names to relate to. I love how this book showcases differences so we can all learn from each other in a fun way.  While To Mimi's House We Go is published by a traditionally Christian publisher, this book could be read by anyone of any faith. I actually think that is great with this ty...

  The First Christmas Night by Keith Christopher is the story of the first Christmas written in the format of, Twas the Nigh Before Christmas." I think this is well done and I loved it. It is fun to read and it has the whole baby Jesus story written in a way that I think young children will listen and remember.  The First Christmas Night is a 24-page board book that measures roughly seven inches square. It is a nice size for young ones to hold on their own. The thick cardboard pages make it easy for pre-schoolers to turn on their own. This book is aimed at pre-school children and I think that is pretty much spot-on.  I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  First Words of Christmas from Worthy Kids is illustrated by Madeleine Marie with simple, colorful illustrations. This board book has easy to turn thick cardboard pages for children ages three and under to learn words and simple phrases by sight. The book measures about seen inches square and would easily make a nice gift for a toddler. First Words of Christmas tells the story of Jesus birth and would work for most, if not all, denominations as it is quite basic and simple. This simplicity of the book makes it great for toddlers to learn words and start to understand the true meaning of Christmas. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  Seek and Find: The First Christmas Activity Book written by Sarah Parker and illustrated by Andre Parker is an activity book that has a variety of fun paper-based children's activities. There are 35 activities for children ages four to seven.  Puzzles, mazes, counting and other activities all based on Jesus and the first Christmas. This book is thin and measures 8.75 by 10.25 inches in size. It would be an easy one to slide in a book bag, along with some colored pencils, to keep children entertained on the go. It easily compliments the hardcover search and find book that is part of this series.   I received a copy of this book from the Good Book Company. All opinions within this review are my own.

  The Christmas Surprise by Steph Williams tells the Christmas story to young children in a little different way. I love the way this book is written. It is a fun one to read aloud to help little ones understand the Christmas story. There is also a note for grown-ups in the back to guide adults as they talk to children about the Christmas story. There is also the text from Luke1:26-35 in the NIV version so adults could also read directly from the Bible at the end to the children as well. I think The Christmas Surprise is well done. It is written is such a way that young children can not only understand the Christmas story but also so they can get excited about it. As I already mentioned, it is fun to read aloud as an adult could ham it up and use different voices to make this book even more fun. It is also one that children could keep to re-read every year and learn to read on their own. Best of all, The Christmas Surprise is at a price point that is under five dollars so it wou...

Many little ones like watching cars and trucks and seeing them work in real life. Wreck the Halls by Melinda Rathjen and illustrated by Gareth Williams is a board book aimed at children under five who enjoy watching cars and trucks. It is a fairly small board book at about six inches square with thick cardboard pages that make it easy for little ones to look at on their own.  Wreck the Halls is kind of a silly book and it does sort of give human qualities to the cars and trucks along the lines of  the Disney's Cars movie. I think this book could be fun to read with little ones. At the same time, I do think it may lead to some questions or explaining for little realists who wonder about talking cars--or maybe it will just inspire them to use their imagination more. It would be a good book for families who celebrate Christmas without focusing on the religious aspect of it or families that don't mind some books without the religious aspect. Wreck the Halls focuses more on the ...

      With simple words and brightly colored illustrations, Patricia A. Pingry tells the Christmas story in The Story of Christmas board book. This book is fairly small measuring about six inches square and 22 thick cardboard pages long so it is also a good size for little ones to look at on their own--as well as a good book to read aloud to them. This book is meant to introduce preschoolers to Jesus and the Christmas story and I think it does a good job of doing that. It would also make a good gift book for little ones. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  Are you looking for a fun Christmas book for this year? Once Upon a Christmas by Dawn Young is a lot of fun to read with the family. There are all of your favorite "Once upon a time" characters like Goldilocks, the three bears, Rapunzel, and even Jack Frost. Toss in a few dragons and some unicorns and you've got the makings of a fun story with a lot of silly twist and turns. With all of the silliness going on, will Santa be able to get his sleigh out to deliver all the children amidst a massive winter storm? You'll have to read this one to find out. Once Upon a Christmas is a fun read with young children and is aimed at early elementary children. It is fairly large book, about 10 inches by 12 inches with slick, brightly colored illustrations.   I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  The Story of the Wise Men by Patricia A. Pingry is a wonderful board book to share with pre-school age children about the Christmas story. I found this book to tell the Christmas story from the Bible in a way that young children can understand it and yet it retains the accuracy from the Bible. I was impressed with this book, both for the quality of the story-telling and for the lovely illustrations. This 24 page book has brightly colored eye-catching illustrations. It is also a good size, about 6 inches square for young children to hold in their hands and turn the thick pages themselves.The Story of the Wise Men would be a good book to read every year with the young children in your family or at church activities. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  If you are looking for a book with an activity that just may change the dynamics in your family, you need to look at The Giving Manger Boxed Set by Allison Hottinger. I love how this book changes the focus from getting to giving at Christmas. The Giving Manger is a nice large book, measuring about 10 inches square, with a 32-page story to inspire a family to focus on the joy of giving and the true meaning of Christmas based on Matthew 25:40b. I could see where this could be great fun in any sized family--and as I shared this story with my family, we are ready to make it a new Christmas tradition for us. The story encourages family members to be kind to family members, neighbors, strangers, anyone that you can think of. I was just thinking if everyone made a practice of doing this, just think of the effect this could have on others!  I received a copy of this boxed book set from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

    Where's My Christmas Tree? by Bob Holt is a fun board book for toddlers. The illustrations are bright, fun and eye-catching. The story is a little silly and lots of fun--which is why I could see this being a great book to read out loud with little children. I think the story will help kids talk about how excited they are that Christmas is coming, while highlighting the waiting element. Where's My Christmas Tree is about 20 pages and measures about 7 inches square. It is a nice size for young ones to hold and turn on their own.The words are large and easy for them to see and they are learning them. It would be cute for toddlers to enjoy through the Christmas season. I received a copy of this book for review from Worthy publishing. All opinions within this review are my own.