Bargain Priced Books :: Little Blue Truck's Christmas, Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree & More

I'm in the middle of putting together a post with some pictures from St. Nicholas Day and happened to notice that one of our New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas is 47% OFF right now over at Amazon! I posted additional pictures of Little Blue Truck's Christmas here.

Kristoph and the First Christmas Tree is also on sale. At 25% off, it's currently a better deal than I received (20% off), but not quite as good as Little Blue Truck's Christmas. You can combine it with the coupon code below for a great deal! 

While I was looking through Christmas books I also noticed a few we don't own at great prices: Humphrey's First Christmas (Paperback) 42% off and only $4.63; 30th Edition of The Polar Express (Hardcover) 49% off and $10.28; and this 2014 edition of The Twelve Days of Christmas (Hardcover) 33% off and $11.98. A couple of these might end up in our Stacks of Books on Christmas morning or saved for next year's feast of St. Nicholas.

Amazon also has another great promotion that can be used to receive an additional 25% off any ONE (1) book, with a maximum discount of $10, using promo code "BOOKDEAL25" at checkout. Valid December 7, 2015 at 12:00pm EST and December 8, 2015 at 02:59am EST.

I'll be back later with the rest of the pictures from St. Nicholas Day. Don't forget to enter the Christmas Giveaway by tonight, if you haven't already! 

Christmas Mosaic :: A Review & Featured Book List

Like Catholic Mosaic: Living the Liturgical Year With Children, author Cay Gibson's Christmas Mosaic, An Illustrated Book Study for Advent and Christmas is so much more than just a book list! It was an invaluable resource for me when I was building our family's collection of Christmas books and, in the meantime, trying to sift through all the books at our local library and decide which ones were worth bringing home to read to our children.

In addition to the included book list "as endless as the possibilities for Christmas tree decoration" (over 200 suggestions!), Christmas Mosaic also provides study guides for 30 picture books about Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany! Vocabulary Words, Discussion Questions, and Copy Work are provided for each of the featured selections. On the "Parent's Help Page" for each title you will find observations, discussion answers, and enrichment activity suggestions. The appendix in the back has a number of crafts, recipes, and coloring pages which may be reproduced by the original purchaser for your family or classroom.

I purchased my copy of Christmas Mosaic when the first (spiral bound) edition was published in 2007 and still return to it every Advent for ideas and inspiration. I am sure I will continue to do so for years to come.

ADVENT WEEK ONE
Theme: Advent/ Decoration/ Preparation Stories

• The Christmas Cobwebs by Odds Bodkin/ Terry Widener*
• Cobweb Christmas by Shirley Como/ Jane Manning *
• The Cobweb Curtain by Jenny Koralek/ Pauline Baynes*
• Waiting for Christmas by Kathleen Long Bostrom/ Alexi Natchev*
• The Twenty-Four Days before Christmas by Madeleine L’Engle/ Joe DeVelasco*
• The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski/ P.J. Lynch*
• A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote/ Beth Peck

ADVENT WEEK TWO
Theme: Giving/St. Nicholas/Santa Claus

• The Christmas Coat by Clyde Robert Bulla/ Sylvie Wickstrom (OOP)
• The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans/ Jacob Collins*
• The Shoemaker’s Dream by Masahiro Kasuya/ Mildred Schell
• Why the Chimes Rang by Raymond MacDonald Alden
• The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry*
• The First Christmas Stocking by Elizabeth Winthrop/ Bagram Ibatoulline*
• The Bears’ Christmas Surprise by Bruno Hachler/ Angela Kehlenbeck*
• A Small Miracle by Peter Collington*
• Santa’s Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki/ Ivan Gantschev*

A Small Miracle tells a beautiful story using only illustrations. My children love that their Dad will make up his own story each time he "reads" this book to them! I feel bad that I didn't include it in our books to unwrap this year! 

ADVENT WEEK THREE
Theme: Family

• An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco*
• Silent Night by Will Moses*
• The Christmas Promise by Susan Bartoletti/ David Christiana (OOP)*
• One Christmas Dawn by Candice Ransom/ Peter Fiore (OOP)*
• Night Tree by Eve Bunting*
• Toby Belfer never had a Christmas Tree by Gloria Teles Pushker (Hanukkah)

ADVENT WEEK FOUR
Theme: The Nativity/Epiphany/Angels

• The Christmas Bird by Sallie Ketcham/ Stacey Schuett*
• The Christmas Donkey by Gillian McClure (OOP)
• The Christmas Bird by Bernadette Watts (OOP)*
• Mortimer’s Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson/ Jan Chapman*
• Father and Son: A Nativity Story by Geraldine McCaughrean/ Fabian Negrin*
• The Trees Kneel at Christmas by Maud Hart Lovelace*
• Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers by Andrew Clements/ Kate Kiesler*
• Danny and the Kings by Susan Cooper/ Jos. A. Smith (OOP)

The Christmas Bird by Bernadette Watts has been reprinted as Katy's Christmas Gift!
I had no idea when I posted about the deal last week... No wonder the author/illustrator's name sounded familiar. It's one of my favorites! I wish I would have bought more copies while it was priced so low. It is definitely worth adding to your collection, or at least checking out from the library.

*Books in our family's Advent & Christmas Collection

Our 2013 Advent Book Basket was almost completely filled with the featured selections from Christmas Mosaic. You can view additional pictures of these books here.

Note: Remember, this list is only of the "Featured Selections". There are so many other wonderful books mentioned in the complete Christmas Mosaic book list, as well as reflections, poetry selections, and even a section on "Celebrating December Birthdays" which I need to go reread now that we have two birthdays in December!

Order a copy of Christmas Mosaic here, or enter the giveaway by November 28, 2015 for a chance to win a copy!

Our 2015 Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels {and a Christmas Mosaic Giveaway!}

Last year I had trouble finding the usual purple and pink wrapping paper at our local stores and ended up wrapping our Advent books, for our annual Christmas countdown, in simple (and easy to find!) brown paper, adding labels I created for each day. I loved how they turned out and decided to do the same this year, updating the labels and using purple and pink ribbon instead of the white.

If you'd like to use my little labels too, you can download my Advent Book Basket Labels for 2015 over at Dropbox.

In the past I have filled our basket with Christmas Mosaic titles and our children's 35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books...  (Years ago, when we didn't have enough Christmas themed picture books to wrap one for each day, I would check some out from the library just before Advent, using Christmas Mosaic as a guide.) This year I decided to go through our Advent & Christmas book collection and pull out 26 of MY FAVORITES to wrap up this year!  

Our basket also includes one NEW purchase this year! I usually won't pay full price for a book, but I made an exception for this (expensive but gorgeous!) picture book, since we love the author's other book about St. George (pictures from the feast of St. George here).  I'm looking forward to reading Saint Nicholas & the Nine Gold Coins on the feast of St. Nicholas this year! 

Saint Nicholas & the Nine Gold Coins by Jim Forest

As always, we'll unwrap and read one book each night during Advent, following our family rosary. The rest of the books will be placed in additional baskets for the kids to read whenever they'd like during the Advent and Christmas season.  They will also each receive a new Christmas picture book on the feast of St. Nicholas. I'll be back with that list (and another giveaway!) soon!

Here are the 26 picture books that I am wrapping up for our 2015 Advent Book Basket:

November 29 - 1st Sunday of Advent: The Nativity

November 30 - St. Andrew: The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey* 

December 1: The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

December 2: A Wish to be a Christmas Tree

December 3: The Christmas Cobwebs*

December 4: The Nutcracker

December 5: The Baker's Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale

December 6 - 2nd Sunday of Advent / St. Nicholas: Saint Nicholas and the Nine Gold Coins (NEW) 

December 7 : The First Christmas Stocking (OOP)*

December 8 - Immaculate Conception: Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

December 9 - St. Juan Diego: The Miraculous Child: A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia

December 10 - Our Lady of Loreto: The Donkey's Dream (OOP)

December 11 - Our Lady Queen of the Angels: Christmas in the Trenches

December 12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady of Guadalupe (Pop-Up Book)

December 13 - 3rd Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday / Santa Lucia Day: Lucia, Saint of Light

December 14: Marta and the Manger Straw: A Christmas Tradition from Poland (OOP)

December 15 - Rose's Birthday: Angela and the Baby Jesus (OOP)

December 16: The Christmas Bell (OOP) 

December 17 - O Sapientia: The Gift of the Magi

December 18 - O Adonai: Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas

December 19 - O Radix Jesse - Bud's Birthday: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

December 20 - 4th Sunday of Advent / O Clavis David: Bethlehem (Catholic Edition)

December 21 - O Oriens: The Miracle of Saint Nicholas

December 22 - O Rex Gentium: The Christmas Bird (reprinted as Katy's Christmas Gift!)  

December 23 - O Emmanual: The Last Straw

December 24 - Vigil of Christmas: The Night Before Christmas illustrated by Tasha Tudor

* = Study Guide Available in Christmas Mosaic

Bonus: December 25th - Christmas Day: A Child's Story of the Nativity (OOP), Such a beautiful book! 

Bargain Priced Books :: Katy's Christmas Gift

Katy's Christmas Gift

I'm always on the lookout for great deals on books and wanted to share one I found on Katy's Christmas Gift. I haven't seen this book in person (I added it to my "possible Christmas books to buy" list when it was published last year) and it doesn't have any reviews on Amazon yet, but for $2.82 (84% off and Free Shipping with with Amazon Prime) I'm willing to take a chance. It sounds sweet:  

Katy sets out in the snow to visit the new baby born in the innkeeper's stable. She is bringing gifts: a loaf of bread, her cat Sasha and, most importantly, her favourite toy -- a wooden bird whistle. But Sasha doesn't want to play in the cold snow, and the animals of the forest eat the bread. Soon Katy's carefully chosen gifts are gone -- except the most special one of all. As the snow gets deeper and she gets colder, Katy wonders whether she'll ever have the chance to give her gift to the baby? Katy's Christmas Gift is a heart-warming and original version of the Christmas story for young children. Bernadette Watt's lively illustrations are full of colour, light, joy and festive feeling.

Amazon prices change frequently so I'm sharing the link now, in case any of you are interested.

For additional Christmas book suggestions you can find some of our lists in the archives: 

Feasts & Seasons :: Advent & Christmas Collection

35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books for Children

New Christmas Books for the Feast of St. Nicholas (2014 Edition)

Stacks of Books on Christmas Morning (2014 Edition)

You can find the rest of our booklists here.

Stacks of Books on Christmas Morning

I realized, while putting together this year's Baskets of Books for Easter, that I never did share the list of books our children received for Christmas. Since I already had this post almost completed in my drafts folder, I decided to finish it up and share it with you all now. Hmmm… I also need to finish the post with the rest of the boys' books/bookshelves… and many others!

Anyway, in 2013 I was inspired by Charlotte to give each of our children a "Stack of Books" as one of their Christmas gifts. Our children loved the stacks of books (at least most of them!) and we ended up giving them more this last Christmas! Here are the books they unwrapped: 

.: Captain - Age 14 :.

• Word to Caesar
• Door to the North
• Belisarius: The First Shall Be Last
• Saint Patrick: Apostle of Ireland (perfect for the month of March!) 
• Spring Tide
• Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest (Captain asked if his dad picked this book… Why, yes, he did... It isn't exactly one I would have chosen, but he has enjoyed reading and discussing it with his dad.) 
• A Child's Introduction to the World: Geography, Cultures, and People - From the Grand Canyon to the Great Wall of China (He loves History/Geography and has really enjoyed this book!) 
• Scorpion Mountain (Brotherband Chronicles Book 5) (This was definitely the biggest hit in the stack, even before he noticed what was inside!) 

.: Ranger - Age 13 :. 

(he was still 12 when he received these for Christmas)

• Sun Slower, Sun Faster
• Ethelred Preston: Or the Adventures of a Newcomer (He loves all the books by Fr. Finn!) 
• Claude Lightfoot: Or How the Problem Was Solved
• That Football Game: And What Came Of It
• Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (This was the first he read and he really enjoyed the story! Thanks for the recommendation, Charlotte!) 
• The Ruins of Gorlan (Ranger's Apprentice Book 1 - a hardcover to replace the paperback. He received the rest of the hardcovers to complete he series for his Ranger's Apprentice Birthday!)
• Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare
• The Mad Libs Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel

.: Twinkle Toes - Age 11 :. 

• Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children
• The Tasha Tudor Book of Fairy Tales
• Molly: An American Girl (OOP Box Set)
• The Christmas Barn
• The Crystal Snowstorm
• Betsy's Up and Down Year
• Willow Wind Farm: Betsy's Story
• Legends and Stories of Italy
• The Mitchells: Five for Victory, Canadian Summer, and Friendly Gables (I've had these stashed away for years! So excited to finally give them to our oldest daughter!) 

.: Chiquita - Age 9 :.

• Little House Nine-Book Box Set
• Shakespeare's Storybook: Folk Tales That Inspired the Bard
• Lucy's Christmas
• The Bantry Bay Series: The Cottage at Bantry Bay, Francie on the Run, and Pegeen (I've also had these for years too!) 
• A Child's Book of Saints
• Monastery Fred

.: Snuggles - Age 7 :. 

• A Tree for Peter
• Saint Francis and Brother Duck
• Brother Juniper
• The Adventures of Loupio, Volume 1: The Encounter and other Stories
• The Adventures of Loupio, Volume 2: The Hunters and Other Stories
• The Adventures of Loupio, Volume 3: The Tournament
• Caedmon's Song
• Ambrose and the Cathedral Dream
• See Inside The Second World War

Ambrose and the Cathedral Dream is currently listed at a great discount! 

.: Rose - Age 5 :. 

• Goldilocks and the Three Bears
• Rose Red and Snow White
• Snow White
• The Princess and the Pea
• Red Knit Cap Girl
• The Snow Queen
• Mary's Song
• Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree

.: Bud - Age 3 :. 

• A Wish to be a Christmas Tree
• The Little Shepherd's Christmas
• Snowmen at Christmas
• Song of the Stars
• Brother Sun, Sister Moon
• The Little Drummer Boy

You can find additional booklists in the archives. 

{Be sure to enter the Easter Book Giveaway!}

Our 2014 Advent Book Basket and Printable Labels

I finally gave up looking for purple wrapping paper and wrapped all the books for our Advent Book Basket in brown paper since I had plenty... It's the first year I haven't been able to find the purple paper locally and I couldn't bring myself to order it online... I ended up making little tags for each and am loving how they are turning out! Almost done, just in time for‪ Advent.

If you'd like to use them too, you can download my Advent Book Basket Labels for 2014 here.

This year the books in our basket are a mix of some of the children's 35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books with a few new ones mixed in to surprise them… We'll unwrap and read one book each night following our family rosary. The rest of our Advent & Christmas book collection is in additional baskets for the children to read whenever they'd like.  The children will also each receive a new Christmas picture book on the feast of St. Nicholas. You can find this year's picks here. 

Here are the 25 picture books that ended up in our 2014 Advent Book Basket:

November 30 - 1st Sunday of Advent: Waiting for Christmas: A Story About the Advent Calendar*

December 1: The Christmas Cobwebs*

December 2: Marta and the Manger Straw: A Christmas Tradition from Poland

December 3: The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey* 

December 4: Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel* 

December 5: The Miracle of Saint Nicholas (study guide in Catholic Mosaic)

December 6 - St. Nicholas: St. Nicholas: The Legend of St. Nicholas (NEW) GREAT new book for the feast! 

December 7 - 2nd Sunday of Advent: The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (NEW) details here

December 8 - Immaculate Conception: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

December 9 - St. Juan Diego: The First Christmas Stocking*

December 10 - Our Lady of Loreto: A Small Miracle* 

December 11 - Our Lady Queen of the Angels: The Donkey's Dream

December 12 - Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady of Guadalupe

December 13 - Santa Lucia Day: Nutcracker  (NEW) Purchased on clearance last January. I also hope to take the girls to see the performance on either the 13th or 14th. 

December 14 - 3rd Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday: Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

December 15 - Rose's Birthday: The Legend of the Christmas Rose 

December 16: Katie's London Christmas (NEW) Love all the Katie Books and look forward to reading this one too. They have been a great addition to our art course. 

December 17 - O Sapientia: Christmas at Stony Creek

December 18 - O Adonai: The Doll's Christmas

December 19 - O Radix Jesse - Bud's Birthday: Christmas in the Barn

December 20 - O Clavis David:  A Christmas Carol: A Pop-Up Book (NEW) This will wrap up our December Christmas Carol Literature Unit Study and we'll be going to see the performance at a local theater. 

December 21 - O Oriens: One Christmas Dawn*

December 22 - O Rex Gentium: Christmas in the Trenches

December 23 - O Emmanual: Bethlehem 

December 24 - Vigil of Christmas: The Night Before Christmas (NEW) So excited to see this book back in print this year. It's the version I remember from my own childhood.

* = Study Guide Available in Christmas Mosaic

I also purchased A Tree for Peter (and pre-ordered The Chestry Oak for Snuggles' Easter Basket). I've had these book on my wish list for years and had been unable to find a reasonably priced secondhand copy. I'm so excited to see that it was re-released last week! It will end up in one of the children's Stacks of Books on Christmas Morning. 

I hope you all have a blessed First Sunday of Advent! 

35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books for Children

Our Advent and Christmas Book collection has really grown over the past 14 years. I've been getting quite a few requests to share our favorites (not to mention the fact that I was having a hard time choosing which books to wrap up for our Advent Book Basket this year!) so over the weekend I asked each of the children to choose five favorites to share.  They all had such a hard time deciding, and I really thought we would end up with some duplicates, but in the end I was given this big stack of our children's 35 Favorite Christmas Picture Books! 

.: Captain's Favorites :.

(age 14) 

Christmas in the Trenches

The Miracle of Saint Nicholas

Stephen's Feast

Christmas at Stony Creek

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Note: Letters from Father Christmas was in the boys' room on their bookshelf with the rest of their Tolkien books otherwise it would have been included in this list, for sure! 

Christmas at Stony Creek

Stephen's Feast

.: Ranger's Favorites :.

(age 12) 

Waiting for Christmas: A Story about the Advent Calendar 

War Game: Village Green to No-Man's Land

A Small Miracle 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey 

Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

A Small Miracle tells a beautiful story using only illustrations. All the children love this book! 

.: Twinkle Toes' Favorites :.

(age 11) 

The Legend of the Christmas Rose

The First Christmas Stocking

The Little Fir Tree

Marta and the Manger Straw: A Christmas Tradition from Poland

Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing

 

.: Chiquita's Favorites :.

(age 9)

One Christmas Dawn

Lucia: Saint of Light

Lucia Morning in Sweden 

(we have the hardcover but you can find an affordable paperback version of Lucia Morning in Sweden here)

Hanna's Christmas

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

Note: Hanna's Christmas is out of print and hard to find at a reasonable price, especially this time of year, but you can watch the author read it aloud on Youtube!

You can also find an audio version of Lucia: Saint of Light online here. 

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

.: Snuggles' Favorites :.

(age 7) 

The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher

The Christmas Cobwebs

The Cobweb Curtain: A Christmas Story

An Orange for Frankie

The Baker's Dozen

Christmas Cobwebs? I'm not sure if I'd be smiling to wake up to our tree covered in cobwebs! ;) 

The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher is such a fun book to read!  And I love that I'm not in tears by the end, like I am after reading so many other Christmas picture books. 

In the Archives: 

The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher

The Baker's Dozen :: A Saint Nicholas Tale and Baking Cookies for the Feast!

.: Rose's Favorites :.

(age 4) 

Mortimer's Christmas Manger 

Mary Engelbreit's Nutcracker

The Doll's Christmas

The Story of Holly & Ivy 

The Three Gifts of Christmas

The Doll's Christmas

Mortimer's Christmas Manger

.: Bud's Favorites :.

(age 2) 

The Donkey's Dream

Christmas in the Barn

My Wonderful Christmas Tree

The Stable Where Jesus Was Born

Bethlehem (Catholic Edition)

My Wonderful Christmas Tree

The Donkey's Dream

Bethlehem

I still need to pick up some purple paper so I can finish wrapping 25 of these books for this Advent (Nov 30th -Dec 24th), but at least I had a little help narrowing down my options! 

.: Giveaway :. 

Christmas Mosaic
(Note: My copy pictured above is the original spiral bound version. The winner of the giveaway will receive a new autographed copy directly from Cay Gibson.)

Study guides for many of our favorite Christmas picture books can be found in Christmas Mosaic. Cay Gibson, author of Catholic Mosaic and Christmas Mosaic, has generously offered to send one of my visitors an autographed copy of Christmas Mosaic! You can also click over to Cay's blog to learn more about Christmas Mosaic!

Please enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter box below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can find the updated post with our current complete list of Advent and Christmas Books here.