12 Days of Christmas Books, Day 6

Today’s favorite books are also Honeybee favorites. Preschoolers LOVE Presents Through the Window by Taro Gomi and Gyo Fujikawa’s illustrations are so appealing to that age group as well. Neither is available at bookshop.org so definitely call your local bookstore to see if they can order them for you!

The Night Before Christmas is the standard Clement C. Moore poem but when it is paired with these images of babies getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve, the poem becomes more appealing to young children. I’ve always loved Fujikawa’s books, but after reading this picture book biography of her, it made me appreciate her books in a new way. She was a strong advocate in the 60’s for racial diversity in children’s books and as a Japanese-American woman, knew it was important for children to see illustrations of kids that looked like themselves in their books.

Presents Through the Window by Taro Gomi is so clever and fun. The preschool classes request this book constantly in the month of December and I’m happy to oblige. The illustrations tell the story of Santa as he is delivering gifts to animals in the village. He peeks through the window and assumes that he knows which animal lives there, but gets it wrong every time, leaving a gift that, at first glance, isn’t appropriate for the receiver. The book ends when the creatures wake up and open their gifts, and its a sweet surprise that the gifts turn out to be just right for each.

* I am not being paid or compensated in any way for these reviews. I’m not an affiliate with Bookshop.org, I just firmly believe that we need to support local business right now more than ever!

12 Days of Christmas Books, Day 5

A Christmas for Bear by Bonny Becker and The Doll’s Christmas by Tasha Tudor

These are two of our favorite books. I found A Christmas for Bear at Costco one day when my girls were small. The author, Bonny Becker, was there signing books, so I had to be very sneaky about it, as both kids were in the shopping cart! We have since fallen in love with all her “bear and mouse” books. The bear is a lovable grump and the mouse is curious and clever, making for quite a team!

A Doll’s Christmas might be out of print but local bookstores might have a source for it. Abebooks.com has used copies as well. We love all Tasha Tudor books, thanks to my childhood full of these books and illustrations. The story is sweet, the pictures are darling and wholesome, and my kids have always enjoyed reading about how holidays were celebrated before “movie nights” and Christmas light displays. A little dose of an old-fashioned-Christmas is refreshing and a good reminder that we don’t need all the holiday hullaballoo to celebrate the seasons together!

**I also want to mention that I am not being paid or compensated in any way for these reviews. I’m not an affiliate with Bookshop.org, I just firmly believe that we need to support local business right now more than ever!

12 Days of Christmas Books, Day 3

Today Ella (age 12) has chosen two of her favorite holiday books. She chose:

Walk This World at Christmastime by Debbie Powell and Santa Claus, the World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee.

In Ella’s words:

“I chose these books because they both have great stories, fun pictures and are interesting to read. Walk This World is about how people all around the world celebrate holidays in December in their cultures and countries. I have always liked advent books that have one flap to open each day, so this one is fun. Santa Claus, The World’s Number One Toy Expert is cute and funny, and its the book I always choose to read first when we get the holiday books out each year.”

These are both linked to bookshop.org although it looks like one is backordered all of a sudden and the other is only available as a board book. Nevertheless, Ella really wanted to share these titles. Call your local bookshop and see if they can order it for you, or put it on hold at the library to check out after Christmas when the hold list is shorter.

Come back tomorrow, we have a special guest reviewer who will be sharing two of their favorite holiday books!

**I also want to mention that I am not being paid or compensated in any way for these reviews. I’m not an affiliate with Bookshop.org, I just firmly believe that we need to support local business right now more than ever!

12 Days of Christmas Books, Day 2

Today Vivian (age 8) will share two of her absolute favorite holiday books:

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry and 1001 Things to Spot at Christmas by Alex Frith and Teri Gower

She loves Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree because “its so funny that they all chose to cut the top of the tree off, making a new tree for another animal or family. The illustrations are all in one color too, which is really unusual.”

Vivian has always loved books where there are hidden pictures to find, like Where’s Waldo and the 1001 things to find series. Its fun to get the Christmas version out each year, it feels like a new book each time! She said “Its fun, kind of hard and challenging, and I love to search the page for each special thing. If you like finding and searching books, you will love this one!”

Here is a link to Bookshop.org and if you are local, call the Vashon Bookshop! They have a wonderful curbside, no-contact pickup program and you don’t pay shipping.

**I also want to mention that I am not being paid or compensated in any way for these reviews. I’m not an affiliate with Bookshop.org, I just firmly believe that we need to support local business right now more than ever!

12 Days of Christmas Books, Day 1

We love holiday and seasonal books around here. The day we get the Christmas and winter books out is one of my daughter’s favorite days of the year. They sort and stack the books, choose some to take to their bedside tables, and leave some to put by the couch for reading together.

This year I wanted to highlight some of our favorite books. We will post every day for 12 days, and my daughters will take turns writing little reviews. In an effort to support our local bookstore I encourage you to call or email your book order (Amazon doesn’t need your business!) or order through Bookshop.org and link to your local bookstore so they get the commission. Every little bit helps, especially this year when so many stores are having to close due to COVID-19. I love our little bookshop and want to do everything I can to support them. If you don’t have a local bookstore to support, please choose my local store (Vashon Bookshop) when you log into bookshop.org. I know they would appreciate it!

The first book we chose is new to us this year and we fell in love with it right away:

How Winston Delivered Christmas by Alex T. Smith

This book is an advent book and it has 24 chapters. We will read one chapter each day, probably at breakfast time and even though we each have browsed the book, we don’t know what adventures Winston the Mouse will be taking. The pictures are delightful, the book is beautifully laid out, and even though it’s meant to be read over the course of the next 24 days, it doesn’t have to be.

Here is a link to it at Bookshop.org and if you are local, call the Vashon Bookshop! They have a wonderful curbside, no-contact pickup program and you don’t pay shipping.

**I also want to mention that I am not being paid or compensated in any way for these reviews. I’m not an affiliate with Bookshop.org, I just firmly believe that we need to support local business right now more than ever!