Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Kid the Goat Won't Wear His Christmas Coa t by Lana Stenner is a board book aimed at children age four and under.  Kid the Goat Won't Wear His Christmas Coat is 20 pages long and measures roughly seven inches square. This book is sturdy and easy for little ones to hold and look at on their own.  While this sturdy book is easy for little ones to hold on their own, it is a good one to read as a family and discuss too. The story if a fun rhyme that gives children an idea of the consequences of not dressing for the weather. It also could serve as a discussion for how to handle it when children receive a gift that they don't really want as that happens in life. There is a place where it is said that adults know best for children. While this is usually the case, in some cases, it isn't. That could also be a discussion topic from the book. The back part of the book does feature the traditional Christmas story with a manger scene so for that reason, Kid the Goat Won't We...

  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.

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 ...

  Is your family a fan of VeggieTales? Mine is! Joy to the World from VeggieTales is a cute board book aimed at children ages two to five years old. This book is a good size for little hands to hold themselves at 20 pages long and measuring about six inches square. It is also a fun book to read aloud. It is a little silly as you might expect from a VeggieTales book, which makes it fun if you are Veggie fans. At the same time, there is a good message at the heart of Joy to the World about what the real meaning of Christmas is all about. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

      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 activity to do for Advent with your little ones? The Press-out-and-play book, My Advent Nativity by Tama Fortner and illustrated by Keith Allen, is such a wonderful idea for Advent with small children. Small children are curious and love to touch as they learn. With the new board book, My Advent Nativity, little children, about ages three to seven, can press out pieces of the nativity each day of Advent until Christmas and they have a whole pressed-out creche set.  My Advent Nativity Press-out-and-play book is a great idea for little children. It gives them something to look forward to, it helps them use their skills to press out the pieces, and it helps them to have their own nativity set. If you have a special set that you would rather not have children touch, as my mom did, then you could direct them to their own set that they can touch. At the same time, they are learning the true meaning of Christmas and hearing the Christmas story in bite-size...