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How about some Christmas books for children? Sound like a good idea? This week on the Book Beat, I have a new one to add to your family's tradition, a funny one you probably already have and a classic everyone should have. The new one is God Gave Us Christmas, by Lisa Bergren and David Hohn. This is a beautifully illustrated book about the true meaning of Christmas. The child asks, "Who 'vented Christmas? Was it Santa?" A mother bear and her cub go looking for the giver of Christmas, and they find not Santa, but God. There is no Santa bashing, though when Mama says, "Santa Claus reminds us about many good things..." My son loved this one.
He also loves How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. Who doesn't?
Every Who Down in Whoville Liked Christmas a lot...
But the Grinch,Who lived just north of Whoville, Did NOT!
The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all,
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.
Ahh. And finally, I recommend a family reading of A Christmas Carol. I love the stage production of Dickens' classic. I love the movies in their various incarnations, but there is something about this language read by a father to a son, or a sister to a brother, that is pure magic. "If they're going to die, why don't they do it and decrease the surplus population." Humbug!
A merry Christmas dear readers, to you and your children, this holiday season.
