Yesterday I shared a new picture book about getting ready for Christmas. Today I thought I would share some Advent calendars. Now Advent is one of my favorite times of the year. The first Sunday of Advent is the beginning of a new church year. I love the preparation time that is Advent. It is time for each of us to prepare for Christmas and as a Christian that means preparing myself for Jesus. I use it as a time to reflect on my life and what I can do differently to be a better person -- more like Jesus. Over the years I have shared quite a few posts about Advent including ones specifically about Advent calendars including fun facts and a roundup of them including ones you can make. Today I am going to share two secular Advent calendars for different ages that are books. This will get your kids reading while they prepare for Christmas. The first features the popular Bluey. It is Bluey: The Most Amazing Advent Book Bundle by Penguin Young Readers License. The suggested age range for this one is 4- to 8-year-olds.
About the Calendar:
Discover a book every day before Christmas with this interactive advent calendar featuring Bluey and Bingo, based on the successful animated series Bluey, as seen on Disney+!Hooray, it’s Christmas! This advent calendar has 24 mini-books, including a special story for Christmas Eve.
Includes stories and activities from Christmas Swim, Shadowlands, Mini Bluey, how-to-draw books, and more. Return your books to each window so you can reuse your advent calendar every year!
From Me:
Do you have a Bluey fan in your life? I know my boss's kids love Bluey. This calendar is double-sided. One side has the Christmasy picture of Bluey and his friends and family by the Christmas tree and the other side has them celebrating by the pool. The numbers 1 through 24 are mixed around both sides. Each number is on a door that is perforated and opens to reveal a mini-book featuring Bluey and his friends! The books range in stories as well as how-to-draw books.
I love that this calendar is geared towards younger kids and it is about reading! There are many different styles of Advent calendars, but this calendar helps make reading fun! It gives them 24 books to read (or learn to draw). The books include ones based on episodes and others. Each is a wholesome and fun book for kids to enjoy. It is perfect for anyone who loves Bluey!!
Our second Advent calendar is actually an Advent novel. It is The Christmas Contest by Maxime Gillio and illustrated by Benedetta Capriotti. It is recommended for ages 6 to 9.
About the Book:
Residents of the North Pole compete to be named Santa Claus’s apprentice in this charming, festively illustrated chapter book told in a groundbreaking advent calendar format, with chapter-a-day reading making it a well-paced and anticipation-filled experience!Santa Claus has a problem. There are too many kids on the nice list this year, and he’s worried he won’t be able to deliver all the presents by himself! The only solution is to recruit an apprentice for the first time in his long career—to be chosen through a carefully crafted competition. Soon, the North Pole is buzzing with excitement as contestants come forward to show they’ve got the Christmas spirit and know-how to help jolly old St. Nicholas himself.
There are elves who think they deserve a promotion, children from the village, a gnome who only says “groumf,” and even a stuffed monkey! As Christmas Eve draws closer and Santa Claus tasks the hopefuls with more and more creative tests, who will come out on top?
With this book’s unique advent calendar format, each of the twenty-four chapters is sealed by its own perforated enclosure that readers can gently tear open—by hand or with the help of a ruler—to read a chapter a day in the weeks leading to Christmas!
From Me:
This Advent novel has 24 chapters, and each is closed with perforation. There is one to read each day as the reader counts down the days until Christmas. Each day has a short chapter to read and get into the fun story about Santa and his issues of needing more help because there are so many good boys and girls this year. Each chapter is part of the adventure and has readers wondering who will win the contest! There is excitement in opening each chapter and reading a short snippet of the story each day.
The book is illustrated throughout including the pages to open for the chapter. It is completely Christmas themed and takes place in Santa's North Pole Village. There are elves as well as Santa's family and more and it will definitely get readers into the holiday spirit!
This book is perfect for a child who recently began chapter books or an emerging reader. It is also a fun book to read with a child and prepare as a family for Christmas. I think it would be fun to have discussions about the story and hear who everyone thinks will win the contest.
