I am truly enjoying the wonders of fall… but in the crisp of the air, I already feel the kiss of winter. This year, my son will really begin to understand the beauty of winter, the wonder of Christmas. There’s so much I want to share now that his understanding and memories are deepening.
Reading seasonal books is a favorite activity of mine (hence the title of our blog?). I just got to review two great winter picture books I’m going to enjoy reading to him over and over this year!
First, my all-time favorite type of picture book: an alphabet book calledS Is For Snowman. Written by Kathy-jo Wargin, award-winning children’s author, this book is lighthearted, but God-focused. A fun read taking children through the alphabet in a winter wonderland.
F is for Frost
God casts the Frost sparkling white on the land,
a beautiful blanket spread right from his hand
S is for Snowman outlines twenty-six ways to have winter fun in the beauty of God’s creation! I look forward to checking out Wargin’s other seasonal alphabet books like P is for Pumpkin.
S Is for Snowman released in September 2011 and is available from Zonderkidz in hardcover format for $15.99. For more information about the author, visit Kathy-jo Wargin’s website.
Another title for this winter is from bestselling author Sally Lloyd-Jones. I reviewed The Jesus Storybook Bible a few months ago, and consider her writing to be delightfully poetic! Her latest book, Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story is a retelling of the first coming of Jesus.
The world was about to change forever.
And it almost went by unnoticed…
The wind whispered it softly
in the sycamore trees
that waved their moonlit branches
to the sky.
Once again, Lloyd-Jones uses lyrical writing with a gentle tone to share the miracle that echoed to the ends of the earth. Readers watch the news of Jesus’ birth travel enthusiastically from creature to creature. This book reminded me of the Psalm, “The heavens declare the glory of God…” and one would find it hard to miss the symbolism of a might Lion roaring out: “The Might King! The Prince of Peace!”
Song of the Stars is a wonderful introduction to the birth of Christ, and would be a great gift to teach children the joy and anticipation of the moment when Salvation came to earth!
Song of the Stars: A Christmas Story released in October 2011, and is available from Zonderkidz. For more about this author, visit Sally Lloyd-Jones’ website.
My son got his first introduction to this lovely bear family with The Berenstain Bears Get Ready For Christmas (Amazon affiliate). When it’s time for the bears to assemble their family Nativity scene, the box it was packed in has severl missing pieces! Brother, Sister, and Honey Bear search the tree house to find the pieces of the manger scene. It’s a fun to help the bears find their cherished items with this Lift-the-Flap book (which my son loved!). Discovering each piece of the Nativity scene helps you tell the Christmas story to your child too!
Disclosure: I was not sent product for this review and was not compensated in any other way. All opinions are 100% my own. Amazon affliate links have been used in this post.
My granddaughter always love when my husband or I read/sing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse “Merry Clubhouse Songs” book to her. Thanks! 🙂
We love The Bear who Slept through Christmas, although it makes me tear up, lol!
I love doing a Christmas book advent with the kids. I wrap 25 books and we open one each morning or night and read it until Christmas day. These would be great to add to our advent. I usually have to check out some Library books to get 25:)
We have S is for Snowman. We love that. We actually read our Christmas and winter books year round. T Rex loves them and Bebe Sister just likes reading. I’ll have to see if we can find a couple at the library. There were some great suggestions. So far, only the crafting Christmas books have come out there and we just saw the Thanksgiving ones today. We’re big into Berenstain Bears so we have a couple of their Christmas books.
I have a Zonderkidz movie collection myself. This would make a great Christmas present for my kids. I love reading stories about God to my children. It’s such a blessing.
Love both of those books! The alphabet one reminds me of my favorite series of alphabet books…not really fall/winter related, but it is thematic. They’re from Sleeping Bear Press (I think they’re written by several different authors or I’d just tell you that 🙂 and there’s an ABC book for every state. I loved using them with my 4th and 5th graders when I taught. The Oklahoma one is called S is for Sooner. Clearly that’s a lot further down the line for my 2 year old, but I still love them! 🙂
I love Wombat Divine as a Christmas story
My favorite Christmas book for kids is ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas in Newfoundland. We got it on a family vacation in Newfoundland when I was a kid and it is written in Newfoundland dialect, which makes it kind of fun. I’m not sure whether my son will really appreciate it or not as he gets older since he’s never been to Newfoundland, but it is my fave Christmas book right now. Thanks for the giveaway!
We read “The Night Before Christmas” almost every day in Dec. I also love telling my girls the true meaning for Christmas in my own words…they seem to like it too.
Okay, I have a confession. I don’t have any books that we read every year, but I do watch a few movies at Christmas time every year i.e. The Polar Express, Miracle on 34th St, Little Women, It’s a Wonderful Life, etc. Last year, I bought my daughter a Christmas board book that I read to her on our trip over to Northern Ireland on Christmas day; so, I’m thinking of building her collection of Christmas books every Christmas.
Recently, I have started trying to give homemade gifts a lot more (especially knitting). To me, it means more that somebody put their personal time and energy into making me something, instead of just going to Wal-Mart or Target and buying something that I may or may not like.
We (sort of) have a tradition of adding one Christmas book to our collection each year — so I was especially glad to read this post!
“The Story of Christmas” (Thomas Nelson Publishers) is a favorite of ours…
We love to read the Bible story of Christmas so another great book would be cool to add. momlovesdeals at gmail dot com
These look like awesome books…so sweet.
Our favorite book/activity starting in December is an Usborne board book that has nativity figures you pop out. Each day is marked so by Christmas baby Jesus comes out. We LOVE this book and use it faithfully every year.
The winter and Christmas are my favorite time of year it’s also a wonderful time for children to decorate a tree outside for the birds to eat off of.
We love to use our Jesse Tree for Christmas and plan to fill up a manger with straw for Jesus earned by doing good deeds. Thanks for the chance!