Enter the magical festive world of the Christmas ‘Tree-Dwellers’, as Larry, a Christmas snowman, wakes up after the long sleep in the Christmas box, to find his brother is missing.
Desperate to find him before Christmas, Larry, along with his girlfriend Debbie, a newcomer Splint, and Larry’s companion Tinsel, break the laws of the ‘Tree-Elders’ and escape down the tree and away into the house, to look for clues.
Away from the safety of the tree and in an unfamiliar world, the Dwellers stumble upon a dark and sinister secret that threatens their entire world. Can Larry and the group make it back to the tree in time to warn the others, and finally uncover the truth behind the ‘Secrets of a Christmas Box’?

My Review: This is a fun book with a different slant – Christmas ornaments that come alive.  I enjoyed reading this book and I am pretty sure that children will like it as well.  When I think that there are no more areas of Christmas to explore, a new book comes out which blows away that theory.  This is a book like that.  Christmas ornaments come alive, some ornaments are missing from last year, and new ones join the group.  Everything stems from the “Christmas Box” in which the ornaments are stored by “the family.”  The ornaments have names and are totally personified.  Some of the ornaments have a mystery to solve which easily engages the reader.  We don’t know who to trust.  I see a children’s Christmas movie based on this book in the future – a very fun new holiday read!

Product Description

“On the first day of Halloween my good friend gave to me: a vulture in a dead tree.”

Children will love to sing along!

Everyone knows “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but are you ready for The Thirteen Days of Halloween? In this delightfully offbeat story, a dashing ghoul tries to win his ghostly love’s heart with heaps of hilarious gifts ranging from broomsticks and bats to cauldrons and cats! Carol Greene’s lively verse is perfectly complemented by Tim Raglin’s enchantingly erie illustrations. Children of all ages will love to sing along. The result is a frightfully funny Halloween tale you’ll never forget.

Carol Greene wrote her first poem when she was six years old (it was about a spider). To date she has published over a hundred books for children. Carol also likes to read, sing, and make teddy bears. She lives in Webster Groves, Missouri, with her cat Dulcie.

Tim Raglin brings his wacky imagination and wonderfully odd cast of characters to The Thirteen Days of Halloween. His previous books include Five Funny Fights, Pecos Bill, and The Birthday ABC. He received a silver medal from the New York Society of Illustrators for his book Uncle Mugsy & the Terrible Twins of Christmas. Mr. Raglin lives in his hometown of Independence, Kansas.

My Review: My second grade class had a blast with this book!  It is always a good sign when I put this book in the front of the room for them to look at after I read it and they race up to see who can get to it first during free time!  The children love the words, they love the illustrations, and they love singing it!  The illustrations are great and they support the text well.  The Thirteen Days of Halloween is a very fun Halloween read!

About the book:
Dr. Christopher Ringle is the last person you’d expect to find moonlighting as Santa Claus at the mall on the day after Thanksgiving. But it is there that he meets a young man named Molar Alan, who desperately needs a new perspective on the underlying value of Christmas. Dr. Ringle recruits Mo and his older brother as volunteers at a nearby children’s hospital for the holiday season. At the hospital, Mo is tasked to help bring holiday cheer to the young cancer patients on the fifth floor. His biggest challenge is befriending a decidedly angry girl who is so embarrassed by her scarred appearance that she hides her face behind the safety of a paper bag. Almost in spite of himself, Mo finds that Christmas joy emanates from a source far greater than the North Pole, while the young girl learns that she is more beautiful than she had ever imagined.

My Review: I LOVED this book!  Each year we read as a family “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and this book reminded me of that great story.  If I still had children at home this would be the perfect follow up story and read aloud for older kids.  The story is sweet, magical, and VERY Christmasy.  If you want to teach your family to be others-centered during this time of the year – this is the book.  The characters are very typical yet sweet natured.  You will cry, you will laugh as you read (at least I did!)  If you still have time this year please consider reading it, if not, tuck it away for next year.  You will not regret it!

Product Description
She was my first kiss. My first love. She was a little match girl who could see the future in the flame of a candle. She was a runaway who taught me more about life than anyone has before or since. And when she was gone my innocence left with her.As I begin to write, a part of me feels as if I am awakening something best left dead and buried, or at least buried. We can bury the past, but it never really dies. The experience of that winter has grown on my soul like ivy climbing the outside of a home, growing until it begins to tear and tug at the brick and mortar.

I pray I can still get the story right. My memory, like my eyesight, has waned with age. Still, there are things that become clearer to me as I grow older. This much I know: too many things were kept secret in those days. Things that never should have been hidden. And things that should have. 

My Review:  I have read all of Richard Paul Evans books ever since he wrote The Christmas Box.  As usual, Richard Paul Evans has a winning holiday book.  I was engrossed in this book from beginning to end, and tears fell throughout, but mostly at the end.  I also felt angry and frustrated by this book.  It’s hard to revisit times in the past when things were not right without getting upset.  Many readers will relate to this book because the setting is during economic hard times.  Readers will also relate to the inhumane treatment some children receive.  I recommend this book – it’s not warm and fuzzy, but it is riveting.

Product Description
Kids will have tons of fun with BOZ and the Baxters as they prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth! 

From the Back Cover
BOZ and You and Christmas Too Provides children a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas. Children will love helping BOZ, Drew and Gracie get ready for Jesus’ birthday. The book comes with three erasable markers, allowing kids to interact with BOZ on the wipe off pages throughout the book. 

My Review:  

Another great book for preschoolers!  This is an interactive book including three markers (red, green and blue) so that your child can help BOZ decorate the house for Christmas.  There is also a maze, a shape match, a connect the dot by number, and a search for decorations.  This is a board book and could be used several times.  

If you are participating in “Buy Books for the Holidays,” this would be a perfect book for the preschooler in your life.  My granddaughters will be getting a copy from me!

“BOZ and You and Christmas Too” is published by ZoderKIDZ and available at your local Christian Bookstore and Amazon.com.

Product Description

Every year millions of letters to Santa reach the North Pole. Many are requests for presents. And many letters have questions about Santa, the elves and workshops, the reindeer, and, of course, the North Pole.

Now Mrs. Claus has her own gift for you - for the first time ever, she’s taking a break from her very busy schedule to answer real questions from children of all ages. Join her on a tour of the North Pole and learn some of the best kept secrets of Christmas from the person who knows it all – Mrs. Claus!

* How does Santa get into my house if we don’t have a chimney?
* What is Santa’s favorite kind of cookie?
* Where do elves come from? 
* Can all reindeer fly?

Beautifully illustrated by David Wenzel, bestselling illustrator of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, this picture book reveals the answers to the questions children always ask – and they’re all answered by the woman who knows the most: Mrs. Claus!

My Review:  What a fun book!  This book answered all of MY questions and then some.  When a child really starts asking questions about Santa Claus, this is a great resource.  Ms. Love has thought of EVERYTHING. This is a book you can read a little each day for several days.  It is also a reference book to help you answer those difficult questions your child will come up with.  I took three days and read a little each day to my second grade class.  The format is letter/answer; letter/answer etc., so it is very doable.  The illustrations are quite magical and support the text well.   This is a great book to read during cuddle time those weeks before Christmas and those are my favorite kinds of books.

Product Description
Everyone remembers the friendly beasts of the stable at Christmas but what of the creatures of field and forest? From her perch in the rafters a small bird’s heart fills with love. Out over the countryside she flies carrying the glad tidings. Bunny and fox mole and mouse hummingbird and tortoise spider and ladybug all hurry to the stable to welcome the new baby. And what a noisy greeting they give! In lilting lyric verse and magical watercolor paintings Laura Krauss Melmed and Jane Dyer give us a Christmas treasure sure to be a family favorite year after year after year.

My Review: This is a very sweet, very beautifully illustrated Christmas story.  The story is not particularly Biblical, however.  The beautiful poetry never calls the baby by His name.  I never thought there would be snow in Bethlehem.  However, all this said, the book is gorgeous and fun.  It will appeal to the little ones who love all types of animals.  The poetry makes the book interactive when reading to little ones.  I think this book is particularly appropriate for preschoolers sitting on Mom or Dad’s lap during the holidays.  It lends itself to wondering and discussing what it was really like when Jesus was born.

From the back cover:  Not even a blizzard can keep Rex Graves from Swanmere Manor, a secluded Victorian hotel in the English countryside owned by the eccentric Dahlia Smithings.  But instead of Christmas cheer, the red-haired barrister finds a dead guest.  Was it a stroke that killed old Mr Lawdry?  Or an almond tart laced with poison?

When more guests die, all hopes for a jolly holiday are dashed.  Snowbound and terrified no one can escape the cold-blooded killer.  Rex takes it upon himself to unravel the mystery.  A biography of President George W. Bush found charred in the fireplace might offer a few clues.  Could the killer be the sherry-swilling handyman?  The gay antiques dealer with the biting wit?  The quarreling newlyweds?  Sure it’s not Helen D’Arcy, the lovely lass Rex seems to be falling for.

My Review:  Christmas is Murder is the first book in a new series featuring Rex Graves as barrister and sleuth.  The book is an enjoyable and quick read.  The setting is great, a Victorian hotel in England in modern times, the characters are interesting and the mystery is engaging.  I couldn’t figure out who the murderer was – any of the guests could have done it!  This is not a very “Christmasy” book.  It could be read just about any time of the year.  I look forward to more books in this series.

About the Book: Two weeks before Christmas, Duncan Wagner gets into his car for another attempt at kidnapping the son of his most despised enemy, State Representative Win Booker. When he drives into the wealthy Boston suburb, he is surprised to find the boy hitchhiking.

So begins Wagner’s quest for revenge as he finds himself face to face with a real boy, and without a clue about how to run a kidnapping. Wagner, a self-styled charity Santa Claus, comes to realize that eleven year old Gabriel Booker is truly a runaway, much more curious than scared. Gabriel has no idea who Duncan Wagner is—or could be.

My Review: I love holiday themed books so I jumped at the chance to read and review this. It’s a very unique book. In some ways, it’s a bit of a crime novel, since it’s about a kidnapping, but all the usual elements of this sort of novel are missing, perhaps since it’s told from the perspective of the criminal.

I couldn’t help but feel that Duncan wasn’t too bright. Even so, it was possible to feel some empathy for him. He doesn’t seem entirely evil. This is helped by the child’s indifference to being kidnapped. Even though he experiences many things I think would be terrifying, he seems to have tremendous empathy for Duncan and interested in bringing hope and healing into his life.

The ending is a bit predictable, but this is an enjoyable and hopeful read…perfect for the holiday season.

You can visit Stephen’s website here.