Bear's First Christmas

By Robert Kinerk and Jim LaMarche

We have another Christmas tradition at our house (I started this after hearing a story on NPR about a family who did something similar)--We have a box of Christmas books that we get out every year just after Thanksgiving. All other times of year, these books are packed away in order to keep them special and fresh. I try to add a few new ones each year (usually during post-Christmas sales at bookstores...). We read a few (or a lot) of these books each day between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. It is a calm and cozy way to enjoy the season, and a great way to help kids form positive associations with reading.
I borrowed this book from the library last year and liked it so much we borrowed it again this year. (Hurray for libraries, by the way!) I love the illustrations--well, most of them. One of my two gripes with the book is that I think LaMarche goes to too much trouble in a few instances to make it look like the bear is smiling. What I like best about the other illustrations in the book is that the animals actually look like animals (aside from the bear's silly smile), and yet somehow still convey feeling. I also really like the font--I don't know if the artist had any influence there, but it goes nicely with the illustrations. My other annoyance with the story is that one of the characters--a small tree--is used rather heavy-handedly in a metaphor that strikes me as a bit trite...but I forgive this (and the bear's smiles) in light of the books many other strengths.
The story teaches the crux of Christ's teachings--"love one another." A bear is awoken from hibernation in mid-winter by a sound. He goes of in search of its source and is able to render many acts of service for his fellow creatures along the way. The animals then continue together until they discover a warm, lighted house wherein a family is singing around a Christmas tree. In an interesting nod to reality, the animals do not exactly understand what they are seeing. The house is described as "A lair or a burrow all lit by a glow." But, while the beasts do not comprehend all they observe, they do perceive its import--perhaps an excellent metaphor for our own experience in this life and in our search for meaning and truth?
All together, this is a charming book--very inviting illustrations, a somewhat fresh take on Christmas, and a very well-wrought rhyme and meter which flows very nicely and sets a fine tone for the story.

Mortimer's Christmas Manger

By Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman

It's rather late for Christmas books, but it's always good to plan for next year. I also read a neat idea somewhere--to have Christmas in February (or March...). Choose a day in February, play Christmas music, drag out your nativity set, read Christmas stories (like this one!), have a simplified Christmas dinner, and give each member of the family a small gift. Top it all off by reading the accounts of Christ's birth in the scriptures. This will create a bright, warm spot in an otherwise cold and dreary month. It will allow you to appreciate the spirit of Christmas without all the crazy schedule business usually attached to December, and it will help to illustrate how the real gift of Christmas is wonderful every day and every time of year, not just at Christmastime.
This year I borrowed Mortimer's Christmas Manger from the library, and we loved it. It is a cute story about a mouse named Mortimer who is looking for a cozy home. He finds what looks like the perfect thing on a table near the family's Christmas tree. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of statues in the way. Each night he drags them out and each day the family puts them back until Mortimer overhears them reading the story of Christ's birth in Luke. Then, he looks at the statue whose bed he had been stealing each night and realized, "You aren't just any statue. You are a statue of Jesus." This story teaches in a simple but moving way that we can each find ways of making room for Christ in our lives. Mortimer gives up his new found home in order for baby Jesus to have a place to sleep--and then he spies the family's gingerbread house. What more could a mouse want?
Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman also make a great team in Bear Snores On and the other books in that series. I recommend those as well. Chapman's illustrations are whimsical but expressive and interesting. There are some great details--for instance, the illustrations of the family's home don't look like they came out of a Pottery Barn catalog, they look like real people live there. Couch cushions are crooked, throw pillows are squenched, toys are on the floor, an abandoned cup is on the table, and there are stray pine needles and Christmas ornaments hiding in various nooks and crannies. The mom in the family also has some fantastic furry slippers.

Franklin's Thanksgiving

By Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark

A seasonal favorite, this story is helpful for children whose extended family does not live close by, or for those whose usual traditions are changing. Franklin deals with the disappointment of learning that his grandparents will not join them for Thanksgiving, and then he and his family discover that new traditions can be just as enjoyable as old ones and that friends and neighbors can be family too. The illustrations in the Franklin books are so full that they give parents something new to look at even after they have memorized the story from multiple readings.

One More Sheep

By Mij Kelly and Russell Ayto

With a witty rhyme this book tells the story of a shepherd who has trouble counting his sheep. It seems sheep counting puts him to sleep. When a wolf in sheep's clothing tries to capitalize on the shepherd's narcoleptic tendencies, the sheep are forced to extreme measures. Aside from the amusing puns, this book holds interest for both reader and audience and provides an entertaining counting practice for the young ones.

That Stripey Cat

By Norene Smiley and Tara Anderson

This book taught my daughter to say the word "persnickety" at age 18 months. That's really why I like it. Aside from that, it does have the repetitive story line that young children enjoy and it teaches about relationships.

Boo and Baa Have Company

The Boo and Baa books are quirky little tales of the adventures of two sheep. Boo and Baa are always getting themselves into scrapes of one kind or another and inexpertly getting themselves back out again. The text is translated from, I believe, Swedish. The translation seems to be a bit clunky, but this amuses me even more--the fact that they call a "board" a "plank" and say things like "now it dares go onto the plank!" all contribute to the wonky humor of the story. I also enjoy details in the illustrations which show the book is clearly not American (the kitchen, the presence of bubbly water, and the sandwiches prepared in this story are a dead giveaway on that point)--a refreshing change. Kids may miss out on or not care about these details, but they will enjoy this charming little seasonal story. Living in a place with four seasons, I always enjoy reading seasonal books with my children as it helps them to notice and appreciate the changes going on around them. Having grown up in New England, I will continue to read seasonal stories with my children even if we move at some point to a different climate. I'll want them to know what they're missing! :) I also think that an awareness of the changing times in a year helps to break up time and give reference points to small children--to whom even one rainy afternoon can seem like an eternity!

Blueberries for Sal

This is an excellent old classic which everyone has probably heard of. (Yes, I did just end a sentence with a preposition.) In this story, the ordinary adventure of blueberry picking undergoes a twist when a couple of bears are involved. Through patterns and repetition, children can see Sal solve the problem of suddenly finding herself with the wrong mother (something probably experienced by all children at one time or another in the supermarket...). As the repetitious reader out loud, I enjoy the details in this book's illustrations. I am amused to see Sal's mother traipsing up a hill through the blueberry bushes in a long skirt with her hair tidily done (thank goodness those days are over!) and I especially like the illustration on the hardcover's endpapers of the vintage kitchen with its wood stove and the old school canning jars (I'm also glad these technologies have been improved...). The car drawn at the beginning help to complete the visage of 1948, the year of the book's original publication--at least the quaint, picturesque parts. I suppose, though, it is difficult to enjoy the picturesque-ness without remembering the alarming inequalities and discrimination of the time, not to mention the ever-present political turmoil... . It is interesting to see the ways in which the media of a given time treats--or fails to treat--the ills of the contemporary society. Here we have a cute little story about mundane every-day things written in a year that sees the mistreatment of anyone not white and male, the Berlin Blockade, and the ongoing restructuring of Germany after WW II. Even children's books are not free from cultural context and can help one to better understand a time period. That was probably all very boring for normal people. Sorry. Even if you're not interested in things like cultural context, this is an enjoyable little time capsule with a timeless appeal.