Christmas Books Roundup 3 -- Some Classics & More

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own. 

Last week we shared some fun Christmas books. Today we are adding to our collection of new holiday picture books with our third roundup. Some of these books will be familiar and others are new! We will start with one of the ones that will sound familiar. It is The War Is Over! by Brad Booker, Dave Mullins and Sean Ono Lennon and illustrated by Max Narciso. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Merry Monday -- Christmas Picture Books Featuring Holiday Songs

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Ok, I know we still have Thanksgiving coming up and many people do not want to think about Christmas yet, but I am in a bit of a Christmas mood and have some fun Christmas books to share with you (there has been a pile on my shelf for quite some time). Now I know in the past I have done many round-ups from my Must Read books (featuring religious ones), Multicultural books, Christmas Trees & Classic stories, Advent stories, and so many more!! Today we are going to focus on Christmas music or should I say picture books about Christmas music!! The first item is actually a personalized gift set. Now we have reviewed several amazing personalized Christmas books as well as non-holiday ones over the past couple of years. Hazel's comment about this one was, "This is the best one yet!"

Chapter Book Extravaganza -- Beginning Reader through Young Adult! Part 1

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own or Hazel's own. 

Ok, I have had this group of books growing on my shelves for awhile. It is time for me to clean house and get ready for the new year. I will admit I have not read all of these books (I have started most of them). Hazel has read some of them so I plan to let her share her opinion on the ones she has read. I hope you will check these out.

Merry Monday! Religious Reviews & a Middle Grade Christmas Book

Disclosure: I was sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Happy Merry Cyber Monday!! Have you been doing your on-line shopping? Be sure to check out my post from Friday of my favorite places to gift shop! Today I thought I would share with you a few religious products and a really sweet middle grades chapter book (which is not religious). We will start with the non-religious chapter book. It is The Nutcracker Mice by Kristin Kladstrup and illustrated by Brett Helquist.

Multicultural Stories & Poem Book Round-Up

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Since Hazel was young she always enjoys a story from another country. She loves learning about other cultures and learning words in other languages and so much more. Today I am sharing a round-Up of books from various cultures to learn more about them. Let's start with a book of stories from India. It is Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship by Chitra Soundar and illustrated by Uma Krishnaswamy. 

6 New Holiday Books including Advent and Alternatives to Elf on the Shelf -- Holiday Preparations

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

I missed the sixth of November by a day, so: "On the 7th of November my stress-free holiday preparations brings me six new holiday books to read." Included in this grouping are some Advent ideas and an alternative to Elf on the Shelf (which I find really creepy). Now I should add I will be preparing more holiday books, and have tried to group them in various ways. This one is the non-religious and non-Christmas tree group. We will start with one that is more winter related rather than an actual holiday book. It is Poles Apart by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Jarvis. 

Let's Read About Black Characters & People -- Round-Up of Children's Books

The other day as I talked to Hazel about current events on our walk and was telling her my plans for Crafty Moms Share, she said, "Did you ever notice that when there is a black person in a book there is just one in a group of white friends?" Oh, yes, we still have the token black person in our society of books and television shows. She even commented how sometimes the group is made up of one person of different races like in The Start-Up Squad Series. I recently read an article about how white people need to do more than talk to our kids about racism. Where we live, who our neighbors are, books we read/provide our kids, who our friends are, the diversity of the school we send our kids to all play a part in how our kids grow up and understand race relations. Now I cannot change your neighborhood or their school but I hope I can change the books in your house and your library. I asked some fellow bloggers as well as authors that are part of the Multicultural Children's Book Day group for any books, activities, and reviews they had with black people as the main characters. Today I am going to share a round-up of books shared and some others I found (on Amazon). I will link reviews and activities whenever possible. It is important that all of our kids read books that have people like them but it is also important that our kids read books with people who do not look like them. This will build their understanding and help them to grow and learn about race and culture and hopefully not be racist when they grow up. I have the books separated into picture books, fairy tales, chapter books/novels, and non-fiction/biographies. There are some separation within some of these genres as well. 

Board Books, Lift Flaps, Pop-Ups and More

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Yesterday I did a mega review of picture books!! There is one there for everyone, so be sure to check it out. Today I am going to share new board books, pop-ups, lift flaps and more!! These are some fun books, so be sure to check them all out. We will start with a simple board book for Halloween. It is Peep and Egg: I'm Not Trick-or-Treating  by Laura Gehl and pictures by Joyce Wan. 

Christmas in Different Lands -- New England

This post is part of the Christmas in Different Lands series from Multicultural Kid Blogs.  Be sure to visit the main page and Pinterest board!

This year instead of investigating what Christmas is like in another country, I decided to share Christmas in our neck of the woods. Of course then I had to wonder "What defines Christmas time in New England?" 
 

Map of New England Source

In many ways I often feel like Christmas time is a step back in time in parts of New England. Many houses (and almost all the churches) are still decorated with white lights on the tree, candles in the windows and a wreath on the door. I tried to get a picture of our church at night, but the candle light seems to blur.

Gift Boxes to Decorate and Make: Christmas -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Candlewick Press sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Looking for a fun way to present gifts instead of the usual wrapping paper or gift bags? Check out this amazing book--Gift Boxes to Decorate and Make: Christmas illustrated by Sarah Walsh. This book has 24 pages that turn into a gift box and sticker tags to seal them.

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Congratulations to Lori H. for winning 
the 4 Christmas DVDs!

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I had such a hard time choosing the features this week since there were so many amazing ideas!! I hope you will take the time to check them all out! We had a tie for most clicked.

1) From Krafts and Kiddos: CD Turkey Craft

2) From Stimulating Learning with Rachel (",): Aliens, Robots and Monsters (lots of great learning ideas here!)

Since we set our Christmas tree up today I am getting into the Christmas spirit. I have been thinking about Christmas cookies, how to bring Jesus into Christmas more and we received an Elf on the Shelf yesterday as a gift (I was avoiding them for as long as I could an much rather our Mouse and the Miracle), so knowing that you will understand some of the features I picked this week. We have our Christmas Features and our non-Christmas Features!

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Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! Even with the issues I had with Linky Tools last weekend, there were many amazing ideas shared. I had trouble choosing between them for features!! Our features are just a sampling of the wonderful things shared, so if you haven't checked out the rest you should!! The features for this week include Christmas, Holidays and Parenting and Gift Advice. I have also started a new craft link party (the crafts just have to be family appropriate and not kid related) and it is a place to share crafts, reviews of patterns, craft books, etc. and patterns. I hope you will come check it out tomorrow.  Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop is a monthly party, so be sure to stop by to share your multicultural posts and ideas and recipes there.