5 comments about Wee Sing for Christmas (Wee Sing).

1. Our family loves the Wee Sing CDs. The kids love the music and it isn't too annoying for the adults. I actually find myself singing along. This Christmas CD has both traditional Christmas songs and new, fun songs too. The book has ideas for movement games and recipes to go with the holiday.



2. After purchasing the Wee Sing Halloween and LOVING it...I was disappointed when I played the Christmas CD. My daughter was as well...there aren't very many songs where the children are singing. If my daughter wanted to hear adults sing Christmas songs, I could just turn on the radio. I highly recommend Halloween but I think that they could do better for Christmas.



3. My 4 kids, ages 2,4 6 & 7 loved the Wee Sing Halloween music and have been listening to it way past Halloween, so I thought I would get them the Christmas one so we could get geared up for Christmas. They like it, but not as well as the Halloween. It has Christmas songs that they like and it also comes with a song book that my oldest child likes to follow along with the words now that he is reading. This is a good one, but I recommend the Hallween one even more.



4. I am a Wee Sing fan and own many of their CDs and books, but am a little disappointed with this album. The song selection is not the best, with many familiar Christmas songs missing, and the written songs are not as catchy as some other Wee Sing songs. The singing is not as good and cute as other Wee Sing albums too.
   
   But all in all, it is still a good album to keep. I still like the idea that there is a book for my kid to flip, and notes to follow.



5. I bought this after having bought the Halloween wee sing and my kids loved it. This one is disappointing. A lot of the songs are sung by adults unlike the Halloween music which is fun and sung by children. Some of these Christmas songs are sung by children but overall I wasn't very impressed with this cd. Most of the songs are slow not fun songs. Not that I'm opposed to the songs but for a children's cd it's not very fun. My kids always wanted to listen to the Halloween cd on but they don't really care about listening to this one.

2 comments about One Special Christmas Eve (Paint with Water).

1. Water color books were a great thing but this one was over priced and poor quality. I guess it was too old. The paint didn't work great and was not vibrant. My daughter lost interest.



2. I love this. I remember having these as a kid myself. They are not easy to find. They are great for youngsters. My two year old loves these types of paint books, not to hard. Fun, lots of colors. Clean up is easy. I put this one away until closer to Christmas, but can't wait to bring it out for my daughter.

3 comments about Harold at the North Pole (Harold and the Purple Crayon).

1. The Harold and the Purple Crayon Series are wonderful. Harold is a little boy with a round head (around long before Charlie Brown) with a little purple crayon and a big imagination. In the North Pole book, Harold has set out on Christmas Eve to find a Christmas tree. Along the way, Harold ends up helping Santa but needs to hurry to find a tree to have it ready for Santa's visit. The simple line drawings are wonderful for younger readers yet there is always a charm to them. Harold inspires kids on so many levels; he's great for children who are timid, he's great for the mighty little explorers and he's great for kids who like to draw but feel intimidated by other artists.



2. It's Christmas Eve, Harold doesn't have his tree yet and he decides he needs one before Santa arrives. So armed with his imagination and his purple crayon, Harold sets off for the north woods to find the perfect tree. He follows the north star, encounters a blizzard, meets a snowman and continues to "draw" his way to the North Pole. There he finds Santa in trouble. He's snowed in and can't get his sleigh, reindeer and sack of toys out of his workshop, which is covered by drifts. Lucky for us, Harold comes to the rescue and lends Santa a hand, sending him on his way to deliver presents to boys and girls all over the world.....Crockett Johnson has created a simple, gentle and really ingenious story, showing the very clever Harold at his best. Those who love Harold and the Purple Crayon, will find this holiday adventure just as wonderful and inventive. Harold at the North Pole will delight and amuse all pre-schoolers, as he helps your youngster welcome in the holiday season.



3. My three year old loves this book. He brings it to storytime everyday! My five year old will even sit through this one.

4 comments about Christmas Wish (Little Einsteins).

1. With a sheet of 23 stickers stapled into its spine, this ought to be a sure-fire hit for any "Little Einsteins" fan. Unfortunately, the story is weak. It doesn't teach much of anything, and its plot doesn't make much sense.
   
   It's Christmas Eve, and when Santa arrives with gifts, he leaves one for each of the kids except Annie. Hers must have fallen off his sleigh! So off they go -- finding the gift on top of Mount Everest, where it's guarded by a mountain goat. Annie's present? An empty box. But she's happy, because she's with her friends.
   
   Say it with me: "Huh?"
   
   Better choices are, for Little Einsteins books, Leo's Baton, or for a Christmas book, The Night Before Christmas Pop-up.



2. Another reviewer wrote "huh?" about the book's ending, but it makes perfect sense: The reason Annie's wish box was empty was because HER WISH ALREADY CAME TRUE! Her wish was to spend Christmas with her best friends--it's that simple (even my preschooler got it!).



3. This is a very cute book with a good lesson about what's important -- friendship! It's a little more advanced than I expected -- a bit over the 2- and 3-year-old mindset, but still a great book.



4. We just received this book yesterday, and have already read it twice! My one year old son especially loves drumming the beat to move the toy soldiers. I like the fact that each child is unselfish, and uses their wish to help Annie.
   
   I think this is a wonderful little Christmas story, that has the potential to teach your child to be unselfish with their Christmas Wishes.

5 comments about Priscilla and the Pink Planet (Priscilla Series).

1. Gosh, why do people only want to read this book to girls? It's a great, great book that happens to star a girl. And yes, she lives on a pink planet. So? My son loves this book and so do I (his father...). I wouldn't hesitate to read "Where the Wild Things Are" to my daughter, I don't know why anyone would shrink from reading "Priscilla" to their sons. Great pictures, great text--just read it with your kid(s)!



2. All Pricilla's book are wonderful, innovative, creative and unique. I baught more book from this line and loves each one of them. I wish there were more great books like this. Go get it!



3. My 5 year old girl loves this book. It's a cute story about a girl who lives on a pink planet and wants to see other colors. It's fun to read this Suess-type style writing. Perfect length for her attention span.



4. The text falls flat with me. The author was trying a little too hard to hit her meter and rhyme scheme, and some of the verses go on too long. People say that she's imitating (in the good way) Dr. Seuss, but, like most imitators she doesn't seem to realize that the good doctor knew when to break his own rules! He varied his meter and rhyme scheme, and made his books more readable in the process.
   
   When I read this book to the nieces, I'm in the habit of skipping four lines at a time as I go along, they just grate on me that much and it just takes so long otherwise.
   
   Honestly, if they didn't love it as much as they do, I'd rate it a star lower. I love the artwork, I think it's darling and delightful and all sorts of other great d-words - but the text just isn't for me.
   
   But my nieces (aged 5 and 2.5) love it, and that's the important thing, isn't it?



5. For all you moms of little girls who have tons of pink: this book features a little girl who is sick of it. She goes to look for other colors. She is very thoughtful and wise. Just the type of things I want to teach my daughter.

5 comments about The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story.

1. A marvelous little book by lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler). In it, Snicket once again uses his humor and his wit to enchant and delight. Well worth the read! (Especially, if you buy it on sale).



2. I loved this silly Christmas book about an irritated and misunderstood latke in December. It took me all of five minutes to read it, but it was funny enough that I went back and read it a second time right away.
   
   I think little kids would really enjoy the sound effects ("AAAAAAAAAAHH") and big kids and adults will enjoy the wry humor.
   
   The art is VERY simple, though the cover is stylishly embossed, and the text takes just a few minutes to read, so it isn't a stand-out selection by any means. If you have a stash of Christmas books you pull out each year for the kids, this might be a fun one to add to the stack. Just be aware that you are purchasing a novelty book and not one that will last for years and years of re-reading. I bought my copy for a couple bucks and that is about how much pleasure I got from it.



3. I love Lemony Snicket and I love this book. It is whimsical, funny, and written for all ages. Everyone in my family read this book--even the little ones.



4. Lemony Snicket surely must have been one of those children who saw the story of the Gingerbread Man in a different light. The fate of a talking cookie eaten by a fox and suffering horrible agony offers a myriad of macabre scenarios to a certain type of kid. Now he brings his particular brand of wry adult humor to the story of Hanukah by introducing us to an unfortunate latke with a doomed destiny. The very amusing story takes place at the time of year "during which children pressed their faces to the windows looking for a glimpse of a man who they suspected of bringing them wonderful gifts". The children of the village hear a terrible noise. The droll narration explains that this is the noise of a newly born latke "slapped into a pan full of olive oil and heated to a very high temperature". As the potato pancake runs screaming through the village, he passes various secular items that relate to an unnamed winter holiday, such as flashing colored lights, a candy cane, and a pine tree. Each successive encounter provides the latke with the opportunity for a hurried explanation of his life's purpose. "My mouthwatering smell is part of the cozy feeling of Hanukah...It reminds us that things are better now then they were in 175 BCE, when my people were not allowed to practice their religion." Unfortunately for the latke, the symbols prove to be a bit daft, and fail to grasp that the poor guy has nothing to do with Christmas. This infuriates the misunderstood latke, who continues screaming, although by now he has traveled far from the boiling oil. Eventually a cheerful (Jewish) family enters the pine forest where the exhausted latke is trying to explain to a tree why the concept of presents for Hanukah is not such a big deal. They scoop up the latke and bring him home. The last page is worth printing in its entirety for the author's dry take on the modern Hanukah/Christmas Dilemma:
   
   It is very frustrating not to be understood in this world. If you say one thing and keep being told that you mean something else, it can make you want to scream. But somewhere in the world there is a place for all of us, whether you are an electric form of decoration, peppermint-scented sweet, a source of timber, or a potato pancake. On a cold, snowy night, everyone and everything should be welcomed somewhere, and the latke was welcomed into a home full of people who understood what a latke is, and how it fits into its particular holiday.
   
   And then they ate it. AAAHHHH!! Reviewed by Lisa Silverman



5. I immediately bought one for each member of my family. My son, who is too young to really understand the humor, loved yelling "ahhhhh!" along with the story each time. Great book-great message.

4 comments about Christmas Stories (Little House Chapter Book).

1. This is a collection of the chapters about Christmas in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books; Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prarie, On the Banks of Plum Creek, and By the Shores of Silver Lake. The chronological sequence is easy to follow and whets the appetite for reading the series. Excellent black and white illustrations in this historical family book. Recommended for students from K through the 5th grades



2. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

   This book is a "Chapter Book", and as such, is an adaptation/collection of Christmas scenes from the other books in the "Little House on the Prarie" series. The time of Christmas, especially in the past, was a joyous, at times quiet and spiritual, celebration. Unlike our modern times of going to Disneyland or loud parties, "Christmas Stories" reveals the simple but true pleasures of family gatherings and preparing meals together, or even the excitement of merely "trimming" the Christmas tree. This wondrous time of simple family life is brought out in revealing and heartwarming details from the viewpoint of a little girl progressively getting older as the chapters go by.

   Don't get me wrong, not all was fun and celebrations. The book revealed hard times and hardship, but all faced by a family working together and trusting in God.

   I especially recommend this book to parents longing to raise their kids with just a bit more traditional flavor than what our modern politically correct public schools would allow. A chapter a day, read to and discussed with your kids (elementary through middle school) a week before Christmas would do an awful lot to instill the heartwarming feeling of a cozy traditional family Christmas.

   Blessings... TLam




3. I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

   This book is a "Chapter Book", and as such, is an adaptation/collection of Christmas scenes from the other books in the "Little House on the Prarie" series. The time of Christmas, especially in the past, was a joyous, at times quiet and spiritual, celebration. Unlike our modern times of going to Disneyland or loud parties, "Christmas Stories" reveals the simple but true pleasures of family gatherings and preparing meals together, or even the excitement of merely "trimming" the Christmas tree. This wondrous time of simple family life is brought out in revealing and heartwarming details from the viewpoint of a little girl progressively getting older as the chapters go by.

   Don't get me wrong, not all was fun and celebrations. The book revealed hard times and hardship, but all faced by a family working together and trusting in God.

   I especially recommend this book to parents longing to raise their kids with just a bit more traditional flavor than what our modern politically correct public schools would allow. A chapter a day, read to and discussed with your kids (elementary through middle school) a week before Christmas would do an awful lot to instill the heartwarming feeling of a cozy traditional family Christmas.

   Blessings... TLam




4. My daughter received this last year for Christmas. It is a wonderful adaption of the Little House books. The stories are touching and emphasis in my mind how commercial christmas has become.

5 comments about Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas (Can You See What I See?).

1. This series of of books is terrific! Fantastic art work, and the book can be enjoyed by many ages. A definite "must-buy" for Grandmothers!



2. We bought this for our three-year old daughter last year and she found it challenging. But at four she loves it. She insists we go through a few pages every night. I love how excited she gets when she finds something. My husband and I sit down and find items with her making for good family time.



3. I have the entire series of "Can You See What I See?" and my son at 4 1/2 really enjoys these. I bought his first book when he was about three. It has helped his visual skills so much that he can find some of the objects faster than I can.



4. Walter Wick books are a favorite of my 5-year old, and this one is a favorite of mine. The photos are absolutely beautiful and full of Christmas spirit. Although kids love the repetition of finding the same things over and over in hidden picture books, adults can get tired of it fast enough. But the photos in this book hold your attention like a coffee-table art book, making it a pleasure to find five Santas in the Gingerbread house for the umpteenth time.



5. Excellent for spotting the finer things in pictures. My 7 year old loves to look at these books over and over again.

No comments about We Believe in Christmas.

5 comments about Kit's Surprise: A Christmas Story, 1934 (The American Girls Collection, Book 3).

1. Kit's Surprise quickly became one of my favorite books about Kit when I read it the first time. Easily the best of the first three books about Kit, the story tells about Kit's first Christmas with her father unemployed.
   Kit, like the other American Girls, has plans for a great Christmas--but she knows that there will not be many presents under the tree. Then Kit and Ruthie overhear Ruthie's father talking to Kit's parents regarding the Kittredges' mortgage. Mr. Smithens tells Kit's parents that the bank will foreclose on the mortgage if the Kittredges don't catch up on their payments.
   Then kIt finds herself caring for grumpy Uncle Hendrick and his dog Inky. When she gets home for the night, she ends up having a fight with her best friend Ruthie over Kit's pride. Kit begins to feel that this Christmas will be the worst, with her best friend not talking to her, her Uncle bossing her around, and the bank threatening to take the Kittredges house. But, as a result, Kit finds hope where she least expects it.
   The third book about Kit Kittredge helped develop all the characters better, and Kit's story is a great one.



2. Kit's Surprise is my favorite American Girl Book! The setting is nineteen thirty four in Cincinatti. Kit's dad has lost his job and her family is struggling to have enough money to pay their bills. Kit is highly discouraged because she is asked to care for her nasty uncle. He always has a list of jobs ready for Kit. She becomes even more sad because she and her best friend Ruthie get into a huge fight. Can Kit find a way to brighten up the holidays? Read this book to find out!



3. In this book, Kit Kittredge is living during the great depression in the 1930's. She and her best friend, Ruthie, get into a fight one day and don't speak to each other. Kit has to take care of her Uncle Hendrick who is grumpy and rude and has a dog that is as mean as he is. At the end, all works out fine for Kit, and she realizes that it is not the worst Christmas ever.



4. Kit's Surprise continues the story of nine-year-old Kit Kittredge, who is growing up during America's Great Depression. Kit's Dad has lost his job. Since the family can't pay the bill for their house, Kit finds out that they might be evicted (kicked out of their house)! To make things worse, Kit and her best friend Ruthie have gotten into a fight, and she has to care for her cranky Uncle Hendrick and his dog Inky, who is just like him. But then Kit finds a way to make the holidays bright, and a way to get her best friend back. Includes "Peek Into the Past," which tells about life during the Great Depression.



5. Nine-year-old Kit Kittredge is growing more and more concerned about her family's welfare, now that the Great Depression is getting increasingly worse. The fact that Christmas is slowly creeping up, only brings more worry into her life, as Kit's best friend, Ruthie - whose family is doing quite well in the midst of disaster - is counting on Kit and her mother to accompany her and her mother on a lavish day-after Christmas excursion - a tradition that can't possibly continue this year. The idea makes Kit upset, and soon the two girls are no longer speaking. Now, with the extra free time on her hands, Kit has begun doing various odd jobs for her rich Uncle, and is pocketing the money, in an attempt to give it to her mother as a surprise on Christmas morning!
   
   I have taken up reading about Kit's adventures over the past few weeks, and each story makes me a bigger fan of the hopeful-reporter. Kit is a wonderful character, whose imagination, accompanied by the many obstacles she must overcome in life, create a marvelous story that will be loved. Valerie Tripp has done a wonderful job with this series, and the stories keep getting better and better. I am now very excited to read HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIT! A lovely holiday story for the history fan in your life.
   
   Erika Sorocco
   Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper