One of the most important things that I want Alyse to remember about Christmas is that we are celebrating the gift of Jesus Christ. I know that I have all these decorations and I get super excited about gifts, going to holiday events, watching Christmas movies, and listening to the Christmas music, but when it comes down to it, I want her to know that God loved her so much that he sent his only Son to earth on that first Christmas long ago.
Right now, we are in the "Santa Years". I don't want to waste them. I think that the tradition of Santa is very fun. I know that some people chose not to have Santa in their house, but we have chosen to have Santa as part of our celebration. However, again, I don't want Alyse to get confused with the true meaning of Christmas. Because of that, there are two books that I am so excited to finally pull off my shelf and start to use with my little girl.
The first one is - "Santa, Are You For Real?" by Harold Myra.
When Danielle and I were little, my parents would read this storybook to us each year, usually on Christmas Eve. It tells all about Saint Nicholas and how the tradition of Santa came to be.
The second book is - "The ADVENTure of Christmas" by Lisa Whelchel.
This book tells the history and meaning of many Christmas traditions, such as why we have Christmas trees, and why we put lights and ornaments on them. It also explains why we send Christmas cards, and bake Christmas cookies, and even why we wrap presents. There is so much "good stuff" in this book. It helps to not only make things fun by giving little recipes and craft ideas, but it also helps to make each tradition even more significant.
If you want, you can take a look inside of it here.
I used this book around Christmas time when I was teaching and now I am so glad I can start to use it with Alyse. It really is an WONDERFUL book!!!
I think both these books, along with a few others that I have been looking into buying (I would love this and this), are going to help us make Christmas so much more memorable and she will be learning that Santa, gifts, lights, decorations, cookies, and all of that fun stuff are just little fun things that we do to help throw a great birthday party for Jesus each and every year!
Do you have any great Christmas books that you read?
2 comments:
I'm definitely going to have to look into these! Thanks for the recommendations!
As for favorite Christmas books, where to start? We have a 25 Days of Christmas short story booklet that a friend put together for my family one year, but my kids aren't quite old enough for them yet.
We've been getting lots of books at the library, but one of my favorites for my little 19-month old is Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear. She loves the Little Mouse, Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear books.
There's also this book about 3 trees that are used for a boat, a cross, and a manger, but I can't remember the name. It ALWAYS makes me teary-eyed! Here's a link that I found of the story: http://www.word4life.com/threetrees.html
It seems as if when I first read it, it was in a picture book form.
Have fun with your new Christmas books search and I know I will as well!
My all time favorites: Mortimer's Christmas manger (love this and it points to Jesus), and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey- love this book as well. They are wonderful books!!
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