This year will mark our 6th annual Christmas book advent! I've been busy scouring amazon.com, mom blogs, facebook recommendations, and my local library for ideas. It's funny that when I read one mom blog with years of lists I thought to myself "I might be too critical of our holiday books." She was praising all 24 books year after year. I feel like I'm pretty honest in my reviews, and I'd only recommend about half the books we read each year.
I remember Ben not loving This is the Star, because it uses phrase repetition through out the story. Young kids seem to love that literary device, but he does not. All of the others photoed have been reviewed in previous years. I won't bother repeating myself. The fact that they've made the lineup more than once says enough.
I think "Angela and the Baby Jesus" was too long of a read for my kids, but it was a great Netflix movie that we watched several times. You know, maybe these were books we got but didn't put in the lineup? I really don't know. I'm going to have to check them out again to see if they can make the cut one year in the future. I think Ben liked both the bird books (cause, duh, he loves birds) and I'm sure Reid loved Bear Noel. I kind of remember being unimpressed by The Little Fir Tree (and I do remember Ben not liking it much). I must have been out collecting signatures for my school board run a lot last December, because my clearest memory is that Ben did most of the book advent with the kids. Uh, I hate when the Holidays feel too rushed, and I do think that was my final feeling in 2018 :(.
As I was looking through my own reviews, I noticed 2017 and 2018 were missing (which fits with the current state of this blog). Luckily, I remember that I had taken pictures of the books we checked out from the library those years. So, while I won't be able to give honest reviews one to two years later, I will at least document them so I can remember which ones we've tried before! First, here's some quick links to the first three years.
I've always kind of divided my reviews by Christ Centered, Holiday Focused, and Preschool/Character type books. The last two ('17 & '18) years I've avoided that last category all together and I think it has made it more difficult for Coraline and Mara to get into our tradition. I may begrudgingly return to some of those silly, non-uplifting books so that it excites them (I'm looking at you It's Christmas David!)
Here are our first 12 books from 2017. I do remember liking the front left corner one. Walk This World at Christmastime. It's a lift the flap advent style book with beautiful artwork and lots of details that are sure to captivate young children. I remember Reid keeping it in his room for most of the holiday season, he must have enjoyed flipping through it each night.
I remember Nell loving the one in the top right corner, The Christmas Wish, and I do have it already checked out for this year, so I can give you an honest review in a month or so ;).
I remember really liking the art work in A Baby Born in Bethlehem. I also remember the kids requesting Song of the Stars throughout the day all season long. Ironically, I don't really remember the book itself (I'll have to get it again in a year or two). I remember enjoying the stories in both Christmas Farm and The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, the latter being a story that pulled on my heart strings quite a bit, and bonus: I remember Reid really enjoying it. I don't really remember the Littlest Elf, Come and See, or The Carpenters Gift.
And here are the second 12 from our 2017 advent. We own most of these (which is why they were second, I didn't have to return them to the library). Maya Angelou wrote Amazing Peace, so I feel like I don't even need to review it. Maya Angelou! Enough said. Beautiful, beautiful poem with beautiful illustrations. You know what, this reminds me that 2017 was the year I purposefully searched for non-white picture books. A decision I will never regret, and one I owe thanks to, Mormon Women For Ethical Government's facebook discussion group.
I loved The First Christmas so much you will see it (and Amazing Grace) repeat in 2018. The illustrations are beautiful and it tells the Bible story so clearly and simply. I think it may even be a direct reading of one of the Gospel's retelling of the Christmas story. At the turn of the new year I bought a used copy off Amazon. I'm excited to have it available each year going forward.
Lastly, here is a photo of all the books that didn't make it into our advent, but that were on our shelf all season anyway. Like I said, I cut out character books and holiday trope in 2017 year, but this was definitely the stuff Coraline and Mara preferred. I actually love The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats (remember my non-white goal), but it only came in paperback, so it didn't make it into our advent. I may have to hunt down a good used hardcover copy though.
Okay, onto 2018. I have to admit, that even though this was the more recent year ... I have no idea why I grouped these books the way I did in each photo below. Favorite to least favorite maybe? I really don't know? They aren't organized by my usual Christ, Holiday, and Other categories. And I didn't include a photo of the ones we own that made our lineup. I'm really puzzled by this, but here goes an attempt at reviews the best I can remember them!
I know I loved the two on the left and want to own both (I wrote about them above in the 2017 update). I also know Reid and I loved Christmas in the Trenches. I was sure to grab another book about the WWI treaty again this year. I honestly don't remember the other two though, so if these were my five favorites I better get those two again sometime soon!
Of these next two photos, I'm not sure which group of five I preferred. Honestly, last year's holiday must be such a blur if I really can't remember any of these! How is it that I remember 2017 better? I do remember really liking The Christmas Coat. I think one of the kids checked it out from the school library a few years ago. It's a sweet story about the magic of selfless giving. I do remember liking the illustrations in Tomie de Paola's above photoed books. And I know the other two photoed have been in our line up before, and that I really like them. So overall, I can assume these five are books I give a big thumbs up to.
I think "Angela and the Baby Jesus" was too long of a read for my kids, but it was a great Netflix movie that we watched several times. You know, maybe these were books we got but didn't put in the lineup? I really don't know. I'm going to have to check them out again to see if they can make the cut one year in the future. I think Ben liked both the bird books (cause, duh, he loves birds) and I'm sure Reid loved Bear Noel. I kind of remember being unimpressed by The Little Fir Tree (and I do remember Ben not liking it much). I must have been out collecting signatures for my school board run a lot last December, because my clearest memory is that Ben did most of the book advent with the kids. Uh, I hate when the Holidays feel too rushed, and I do think that was my final feeling in 2018 :(.
Two final books worth note: I was so excited when I came across this full version of such a classic tale! I can't wait to read it to the kids one year. I had to snap a photo so I could remember how to find this exact copy, since there are a million different versions of this story retold. I was really getting ahead of myself by checking it out last year. Reid and Nell had no interest in reading it all the way through with me. Sigh. Fingers crossed for some day soon!
And I can't remember if it was 2017 or 2016, but one year Reid or Nell checked out The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey and I loved it! And I remember them laying so still in their bed as we read it (must have been 2016, because they shared the bunk that year). I can't wait to get a copy of it for ourselves someday. But I do remember it was long and more fitting for older kids.
Well, there you go (and by you, I am in deed talking to myself). I now have all the books that have been in our line up (plus some) for the first 5 years of our tradition. I have a bag full of library checkouts sitting on the kitchen floor right now and a bin full of my own collection in the basement, and before you know it I'll be sorting and wrapping and writing up about who made the cut in 2019. Get ready for it! I think we have some good ones!
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