So many wonderful new Christmas books have across my desk in the past few weeks that I want to share with you! Here are two wonderful additions to your holiday book basket.

More fun from Toot & Puddle

Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas – We already have Toot & Puddle: Let It Snow and Home for Christmas is a terrific holiday companion to it. For ages four to eight, Toot promises to be home for Christmas after visiting his aunt in Scotland. But ice storms and delayed flights threaten to spoil the holiday plans, until an unexpected fellow traveler with a handy sleigh (hint, hint) saves the day.

My daughter, Lucie thought that the pigs’ names were beyond hilarious since “toot” is a popular word for flatulence among the kindergarten set. I loved the illustrations and the sweet relationship between friends.

There is also a Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas DVD and a Toot & Puddle: I’ll Be Home for Christmas Gift Set featuring a 7×7 hardcover edition of the book along with two plush pigs all in a red and green gift box.

Just ask Mrs. Claus

We have a few oddball Christmas traditions in our family. We tell the kids that Nana has Santa Claus’ phone number and all teachers and parents have his email address. We also tell our kids that any man who looks like Santa (white beard) is a spy for the real Santa, including Joel our postmaster, who recently grew his mostly white and grey beard out just before Christmas. (Coincidence? I think not!)

Well, if you want to get the real scoop on Santa and what’s going on up there at the North Pole, check out Mrs. Claus Explains It All: (At Last) Answers to the Questions Real Kids Ask! by Elsbeth Claus. (Oh, you didn’t know Mrs. Claus’ first name was Elsbeth? Neither did I.)

This book is marvelous! It explains everything from what Santa likes to eat (cookies and mac-n-cheese!) to if she’s worried that Santa’s too fat. (He works out one hour a day in his state-of-the-art underground gymnasium.) Mrs. Claus also answers questions about the elves and how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night.

Mrs. Claus Explains It All: (At Last) Answers to the Questions Real Kids Ask! is a hoot and will come in handy when your little elves ask all those questions about the fat man in the red suit. For all ages, even the kids who are too old to believe in Santa.

Many parents are troubled by the commercialization and secularization of Christmas. If you are looking for books that show the “reason for the season” check out these two offerings by Zonderkidz™, a division of Zondervan, a leader in Christian children’s communications.

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth by Daley Mackall takes kids back to the origins of another Christmas tradition – the baking of Christmas cookies to share with friends, neighbors, and the less fortunate.

The Gift of the Christmas Cookie: Sharing the True Meaning of Jesus’ Birth shows kids that Christmas is about helping others and sharing the spirit of Christmas giving. The story is about a child named Jack, follows young Jack during a Christmas season during the Great Depression. Jack’s father has hopped a freight train West, hoping to find work, and wont’ be home for Christmas.

Jack is surprised to find his mom baking cookies to give away to needy people a church. Treats are a luxury his family has done without for  long time. While he helps his mother make cookies, she tells him the story of the Christmas cookie. He learns that the real gift of the Christmas cookie isn’t just sharing with a homeless man, but sharing the love of Jesus with him as well.

I liked this simple story because it explains to children the joy in giving during Christmas and how God gave us his only Son. It also shows that Christmas isn’t all about getting presents and stuffing your face, but helping others, too.

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Only nine days to Christmas and I’m sure a few of you are trying to find some inexpensive and easily found gifts for the kids on your list. One DVD I must  recommend is The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

In The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the Pevensie children face a perilous mission and a greater test of their faith and courage. They find a world in which 1,300 years have passed. The White Witch is gone (sort of), the realm is ruled by a cruel tyrant, and Aslan has been missing for over a thousand years. The four children embark on a remarkable journey to restore magic and glory to the land. Accompanied by Trumpkin, a valiant dwarf, Reepicheep the talking mouse and a suspicious Black Dwarf named Nikabrik, they raise an army of Narnians to rise up against the evil king Miraz. 

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Thanks to everyone for entering my contest for the holiday video package to Win Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and Shrek on DVD!

We have a winner – Mandy Z.

Thanks to Click Communication for the giveaway goodies.

So many books on the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. Which one to choose? Here are a few that stand out.

Sammy Spider’s First Hanukkah – For ages four to eight, Sammy watches longingly as Josh Shapiro lights another candle and receives a brightly-colored dreidel each night of Hanukkah. “Spiders don’t spin dreidels, spiders spin webs!” Sammy’s mother reminds him. Then on the last night, Sammy gets his own spinning surprise.

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins – For ages four to eight, every year the Hanukkah goblins snuff out the menorah candles, destroy the dreidels, and pitch the potato latkes on the floor. Hershel of Ostropol outwits the nasty beasties and saves the holiday!

Hanukkah! – For ages four to eight, this book by Roni Schotter won the

National Jewish Book Award. It follows one family’s celebration of the holiday, from eating latkes and spinning the dreidel, to singing prayers and lighting the menorah. With sweet rhyming text and warm illustrations, this is the perfect way to celebrate the festival of lights. 

The Golden Dreydl- For ages nine to 12, Sara finds Chanukah celebrations boring. When her Tante Miriam arrives and gives her a Golden Dreydl, everything changes. The dreydl, an enchanted princess in disguise, takes Sara on a journey to a magical world. This book by Ellen Kushner is a delightful holiday tale that weaves together threads of Jewish folklore and tradition with fantasy and humor.

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