Reading the first page of this sweetly illustrated book I realize that this is a poem in book form. With that I mind I continued reading page after page. A problem surfaced when turning a page and reading the stanza but it didn’t match the “tempo” of the previous pages. Simply saying, “”it didn’t sound right”. The rhythm and rhyme don’t match from page to page. For a book for young children they like repetitive structure in a read aloud and this book is a good choice for a read-a-loud. However, if you pre-read the book and prepare yourself for those seemingly “out of sync” pages
The illustrations are cute and are geared for very young children. The illustrations are bright and very festive. In fact the illustrations come across as lyrical as is the poem it illustrates.
At the end of the book there are several pages of devotions that includes questions to ask your children or students, related scripture, a prayer and an activity for your family to participate in.
As a retired public school librarian I would present this book two different ways. The first “read through” I would not read the book nor even concentrate on any of the poem. I would share the illustrations. Let the children explore the illustrations. Point out the particular decorations on the Christmas tree, see if they know the names of the people portrayed, mention the Christmas colors, the animals, the angels, and even the clouds. Only after exploring the darling illustrations should you go back to the beginning and read the book aloud.
My children are all teenagers now but I sure wish I had this book available to me when they were just little toddlers. We certainly would have had a great family time with it.
The illustrations are cute and are geared for very young children. The illustrations are bright and very festive. In fact the illustrations come across as lyrical as is the poem it illustrates.
At the end of the book there are several pages of devotions that includes questions to ask your children or students, related scripture, a prayer and an activity for your family to participate in.
As a retired public school librarian I would present this book two different ways. The first “read through” I would not read the book nor even concentrate on any of the poem. I would share the illustrations. Let the children explore the illustrations. Point out the particular decorations on the Christmas tree, see if they know the names of the people portrayed, mention the Christmas colors, the animals, the angels, and even the clouds. Only after exploring the darling illustrations should you go back to the beginning and read the book aloud.
My children are all teenagers now but I sure wish I had this book available to me when they were just little toddlers. We certainly would have had a great family time with it.
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