Christmas story countdown (part 3)

The countdown continues. Can you believe there are only 3 days left? Are you ready? I'm.... almost!

Here is the next set of stories:

Christmas Song of the North by Marsha Bonicatto is a version of the 12 days of Christmas based on the flora and fauna you'd find in the North Woods of Michigan.

Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco is a wonderful story about how the next Santa is picked. Welcome Comfort is a young boy who starts going to Union City Elementary School. There he meets Mr. Hamp who he befriends. Welcome grew up in foster care and doesn't believe in Santa, yet Mr. Hamp helps him believe. On that first Christmas Santa takes Welcome for a sleigh ride. Turns out that Mr. Hamp is Santa and he has chosen Welcome to pass on this important job to after Welcome finds love and happiness.

Christmas Magic by Michael Garland. Emily decides that this Christmas is more magical than ever, and she is right. After making a snow-woman named Katrina, Emily find magic everywhere in her house. And to top if off... Katrina comes to life.

The Mighty Santa Fe by William H. Hooks is about a young boy names William who doesn't want to go to Great Granny Blue's house for Christmas because he will have to leave his trains home. Turns out Great Granny Blue has a few surprises for William including a magical trip on a train, the Mighty Santa Fe.

Harold at the North Pole by Crockett Johnson. Remember Harold and the Purple Crayon? Well Harold's on another adventure and this time he saves Santa on the way.

Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin is part of a series of books that take place in Cranberryport. Mr. Wiskers has to prove that he owns the pond behind his house and not Cyrus Grape, and at the same time prove to his sister that he can live in Cranberryport alone.

In Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola, the country angels are asked by St. Nicholas to make the Christmas celebration for Heaven. They aren't sure they are up to the task, but find a way to pull it off. Even the littlest angels, Ari, Pip and Kira help make it a beautiful Christmas celebration.

Margret and HA Rey's Merry Christmas Curious George is yet another adventure with George the monkey. This time George goes to a Christmas tree farm where he climbs the biggest tree and ends up being taken with the tree to the Children's hospital where he gets in a bit of mischief.

Christmas story countdown (part 2)

Last week I posted the first set of books the boys opened for our Christmas Story countdown. Here's the next installment!

Room for a Little One a Christmas Tale by Martin Waddell, is a beautifully illustrated version of the Christmas story as told by the "kind ox" who let Mary enter the stable.

Olive the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold and Wivian Walsh. I think this is one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas stories. Olive is a dog who hears "All of the other reindeer" and thinks it is Olive the other reindeer. So she goes to the North Pole to help Santa deliver toys.

Rocking Horse Christmas by Mary Pope Osborne. A young boy gets a rocking horse for Christmas. They have many adventures together, but then the boy grows too old for the horse. He is left in the attic until one day the boy's own son finds the horse.

Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco, is written slightly above the level of my boys, but is a great Christmas story. A preacher and his family moves to a new parish. Things seem to be getting better until a big storm that causes a hole in the church wall. The preacher's son finds a piece of tapestry that he wants to buy to cover the hole. On their way home they meet a woman who turns out to be the person who made the tapestry many years earlier. She is a Jewish woman who was separated from her husband in the Holocaust. Come to find out her husband was also in the town and was the person who was coming to plaster the wall. It shows how intertwined our lives actually are is you look closely at the pieces.


Franklin's Christmas Gift by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark. Franklin learns that it is truly better to give than receive as he decided what toy of his to give up to a local toy drive.

Christmas story countdown

I have move Christmas books than I could count. I wrap 24 each year as part of our Christmas countdown. I also put some out for the boys to read. This year I also sent some in for Blake's class. His teacher is loving me!

I thought I'd share some of the books we have in our Chrismtas countdown with you. I'm not promoting these books nor do I get anything from sharing... just the knowledge that I've shared with you (o:

The Christmas Blizzard by Helen Ketteman. Old Maynard Jenkins shares the story of the year Santa came to stay in their town because the North Pole was too warm. They needed snow to get the elves to make the toys. Hear the story of how this happens.

The Little Christmas Tree by Karl Ruhmann A boy and his father go into the wood to search for a perfect tree. This is the chance for the little fir tree to show how useful it really is.

The Wild Christmas Reindeer Teeka was asked by Santa to get the reindeer ready for Christmas eve. She learns that a loving touch is more productive than yelling and bossing around.

Santa and the Three Bears, by Dominic Catalano. Three bears find Santa's house a warm comfort from the weather. A variation on the Goldilocks style it ends showing that the best gifts come from the heart.

Snowplace Like Home! by Diana Manning The snow kids decide to find out what made their town special. With a bit of teamwork together they bring their town back to life.

What great Christmas books have you read to your kids lately? If you like this, let me know and I'll post the next 5 stories next week. (o:

picking books

When I was in college I took a lot of children's lit classes. As many know I have a love of kid's books. I have just a few... hundreds. This is a good thing since both my boys love literature.

One thing that they stress in these classes is that children should read good literature. Often they say that you should not read/buy books that have characters from tv shows and such. When I was a teacher, I did agree with this for the classroom. All of the books that I read aloud to the class, were considered good literature.

There are some books out there now that they have based children's shows off the books such as Author, by Marc Brown; Frankin, by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois; Olivia by Ian Falconer and many more. Most of these shows are actually really true to character of the books.

When children are learning to read, you have to find books that interest them. You have to make a connection to thing that they know to get them involved in the story. So, what is the easiest way to do that? Get characters that they know. My sons have Cars stories, Thomas stories, and many others based on the characters they enjoy watching.

Do I think I'm doing a disservice getting these books... nope. I think you need to do a combination of both. So the next time you get books for your children try picking up one that is based on a character or theme your child is really interested in, and one that is not. This way you can engage them in both types of literature and literacy!

Parenting books

I don't think I've ever recommended a parenting book before and that is for a good reason, I don't typically read them. I read a few when pregnant with Blake and realized that I either agreed or disagreed with them, so what was the point. If I agreed, than that meant I was already doing it. If I disagreed, it meant I'd never do it.

I was recently shopping at BJ's, a store I never leave with just what is on my list, and was looking through the book section. I came across the book "Have a New Kid by Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman. For the most part, both my boys are good kids. They are certainly not SuperNanny material. But, they are far from perfect. We had been having some attitude and behavior issues with both boys. I'd tapped all my teacher instincts and decided it was time to do something different. While floundering I noticed the book and picked it up on a whim.

Richard and I agreed to try it out. We also agreed to both read it together. Each day there is a different parenting thing to do with your child. One of the biggest premises of this book is in order to get them to change, you have to change yourself. It is about building relationships, setting boundaries, being consistent, building their self-worth instead of self-esteem and maintaining the premise that "B doesn't happen until A is complete".

I think the thing that helped us the most was one of the first things you learn. "Say it once, turn your back and walk away." It's not always easy, but the more we stick with it the better things are getting. My boys are better behaved, I'm happier and we are getting along better. What more could you ask for?

I strongly recommend Have a New Kid by Friday to anyone who feels they need a bit of parenting support. The whole back of the book is an A-Z list of things that parents stress over deal with on a day-to-day basis.

I am not being paid for this review, I have not even been contacted by them, it's just my thoughts an opinions as a teacher turned mommy.

Room

If you follow my blog, then you probably know that I'm an avid reader. There is always a book on my nightstand. I like to read, and try to read at least once or twice a week while the boys are awake too so they see me reading too. I read to them every day, but when children see adults reading, be it the newspaper, magazines or books they see that reading isn't just something for kids. My boys know that both Richard and I read all the time. They love to go get Richard's magazines and look at the pictures.

I swap books with my family and have started sharing with a few friends as well. It is becoming harder to find others to swap with since many people are going to digital books. I can't go there. There is something about holding a book in your hands. Reading it in the format that the author intended it to be read, but that's a whole other post.

I recently read a great book. I often post about books on Facebook since I have some friends on there who I also know are avid readers. This book I decide was worth sharing on here too. (I am not being paid for this, it is just me sharing a great book with you my readers). If you have not read Room by Emma Donoghue, I strongly suggest you do. This is a great story on so many levels. It touched me as a mother, as a woman and a human. It was an "easy" read in that you are quickly sucked into the story. It is one of those books that you don't want to put down.

If you like to read books about life, about struggles, about overcoming the odds, about a mother's love for her child, about doing what you have to do, then this is a must read for you too.

Click here to get a quick preview of the book if you want. It will draw you in. (If you already read the book, and haven't checked out this site, I suggest you do, there is an illustration of Room that is very moving)