passionately sharing, discussing and admiring children's picture books
Day 13 is a good day for poetry. Christmas poetry that is. And the funnier, the better. Enter Jack Prelutsky. His poetry is always hilarious, but also relatable. Let’s take a look at It’s Christmas by Jack Prelutsky, pictures by Marylin Hafner, 1981.
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Day 12 brings a lovely tale of a Christmas tree for a family of beloved bears. I don’t know about your families, but around here there is a lot of love for the (vintage) Berenstain Bears. Most of our books are from the 70s and 80s and were my husbands. Our girls have taken a strong liking to them all on their own. I’m not sure if it is the size of the books, the familiarity of the characters, or the simplicity of the stories that has them so captivated. I was excited to track down this book last Christmas. It is a special holiday book based on the NBC-TV Christmas show (which we actually haven’t seen). Warm your heart and your spirit this season with The Berenstain Bears’ Christmas Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain, 1980.
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Day 11 takes us to a cranberry bog with the smell of pine in the wind, and the frozen fresh water pond. Doing a quick check of the blog, I am shocked to realize that I never posted about Cranberry Thanksgiving here. I mentioned it in a storytime post, but considering it is a classic Thanksgiving holiday book for me, I feel remiss.
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Day 10 of our Christmas countdown is ending after a long Sunday. The Christmas preparation is starting to wear on me a bit and I’m taking a deep breath, hoping to make it through this coming last week of school before the holiday break. Somehow, this book always seems to find me when I’m too tired for the holiday. I wrote a long post about this story last year with illustrations by Chris Raschka. I just reread my post and have considered simply reposting it here as appropriate. Ha! I think I did an excellent job discussing the story in that post, so here I will talk about this version’s illustrations. It is my new favorite version of this book due completely to the illustrations. So come get lost in the art of A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (1954) , illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, 1985.
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Day 9 brings us a book of selected poems. This book is so incredibly lovely, I was quite surprised to realize I haven’t featured it before. It is a book about Christmas Eve. About a moment when, if all creatures were given human thought and speech, they might utter responses to welcome and comfort the baby Jesus in the manger. Allow yourself to wonder with Manger, poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Helen Cann, 2014.
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Day 8 is a sweet book adapted from an old English carol. It is a story about the first Christmas as the animals await Mary and Joseph and their newborn baby. It is a unique version of the carol, with an expanded story and vibrant, unusual colors. Check out The Friendly Beasts by Laura Nelson Baker, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov, 1957.
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Three Books a Night 