Monday, December 19, 2011

Our Christmas Eve Book Tradition

It's Day 8 of The 12 Days of Christmas!  I can't believe that Christmas is in just a few days!  Time flies when you're having fun with the spirit of the holiday!  Every Christmas Eve, the girls receive a special book to add to their Christmas book collection.  I usually pick an inspiring book with a special message, but I've also been known to select a book involving a character that the kids are particularly fond of throughout the year.  It is one of the highlights of the season to read the little messages that we write to the girls just inside the cover.  Here are a few of my all time favorite Christmas Eve selections.

Colleen Monroe's A Wish to be a Christmas Tree is a big hit in our house!  One tree gets looked over every year and never has the chance to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a Christmas tree.  He soon becomes larger and larger and realizes that he'll never end up in anyone's living room.  He cries and cries until his friends in the forest let him know how appreciated and special he has become.  They surprise him by decorating him with their own ornaments and share with him exactly what makes him such an important part of their lives.  We all love the illustrations.  The girls especially love looking for that hidden face in the branches of the evergreen.  LOVE this one!!

 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey,  by Susan Wojciechowski will be our Christmas Eve present this year.  For some time now, I have heard of this touching story, but never took the time to read it.  I almost missed out on a great one!  Jonathan Toomey is lonely and mourning the loss of his wife and child.  The pain makes it difficutlt for him to open up to others, thus making him seem mean and miserable. His life begins to change as a young boy, with hopes of becoming a woodcarver like himself, starts spending time with him.  This book reveals the story of the spirit of Christmas and also shares a story of love and loss like no other.  Grab a tissue for this one, people!

Brumbeau's The Quilt Maker's Gift is a story celebrating the joy of giving.  A quiltmaker with magic in her fingers, sews quilts for people in need all over the world.  Not surprisingly, a greedy king searching for happiness, with everything he could possibly want in life, hears about the quilts and demands that he receive one at once.  The quilt maker reveals to him that her quilts are not for sale.  She tells him that for each item of his that he gives away, she will sew a square of a quilt for him to own. Alas, the King finds the happiness he was searching for all along with the mere act of giving to those in need.  What a way to share the true meaning of Christmas.

1 comment:

  1. In our family there is a tradition of buying twelve books for Christmas and then we read these books throughout the year, mostly fairy tales about winter.

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