When I went on a search for Christmas books for Levi, I expected the selection to be...how shall I put this? Cute but limited in scope. And, it was. There were piles upon piles of adorable books, but to read them you would think that Santa and loads of presents were the only reasons for this beautiful season. Now, I'm not knocking the big, jolly guy in red, but I'd like for Levi to know how much more there is to the story. Heck, after flipping through Santa book after Santa book, I was pretty much ready for anything but. Towards the end of my search, I was thrilled to run across a wonderful little gem...The Advent Storybook is perfect for this season. It has 24 stories...each one a page long...and each one a piece of a larger story about a little bear (which I think is kind of perfect because I call Levi "Bear"). Benjamin the bear can't wait for Christmas to come. So each night his mother tells him a story about a little bear who is on a journey to Bethlehem. According to the dust jacket description, "The little bear, led by a shining star, meets many others on his travels across hot deserts, snowy mountains, through dark, lonely nights. His adventures, filled with acts of heroism and kindness and many small miracles, show him the path to the Christ Child."Of course I bought it. We began reading it on Tuesday, and Levi wants to hear each day's story over and over and over. By the end I'm fairly confident that I will be able to recite this entire book verbatim. It is destined to become one of our annual Advent traditions...it really is that good. And, just because I'm reading it to a two year old...don't go thinking you couldn't read it to your older children...you so could!
Lately, I've been browsing the web for more Christmas book ideas...some for now and some for when the munchikin is a tad older. A few of them struck my fancy. Have you read any of these?
~ Christ is Born
~ Christmas Farm
~ A Treasury of Christmas Stories
~ Christmas Day in the Morning
~ Gifts of the Wise Men: A Treasury of Christmas Stories
~ A Wish to be a Christmas Tree
~ A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories and Poems
~ The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story
What are your favorite Christmas stories? I'd love to know. In case you can't tell, I'm trying to grow a collection. : )
Wow that book sounds fabulous.
ReplyDeleteWe read from the bible closer to Christmas. Other than that we talk a lot about the reason for the season.
I am always on the hunt for good books about the story of Christmas.
Love the advent book notion. I'm a bit bah humbug allergic to the fellow in the hat myself!
ReplyDeleteWe are trying to grow our collection as well! I just posted some of our favorites...I'm going to add your post to my list of lists. :)
ReplyDeleteI just might have to purchase that book - it looks great! Cole Family Christmas is also a good one to read.
ReplyDelete