Beautiful New Advent and Christmas Books for Children

The Catholic Saints Advent Calendar for Kids is a perfect Advent and Christmas book for the whole family. It truly prepares the heart for Christmas. It works as a read-aloud for younger kids and older kids will enjoy doing the activities: color the picture, do a crossword, find hidden pictures, etc. We live a liturgical life at home, so I especially appreciated that not only do saints appear on their feast days, but the author has included some Old Testament saints and prophets as well. This is the first Advent book for kids I've seen that also includes the 12 days of Christmas!!! I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy. I loved it so much, I bought multiple copies for my own home and as gifts. 

My First Saint Nicholas Book: Celebrating St. Nick's feast day and Christmas story by Amanda Lauer and illustrated by Julia Seal is such a cute little board book for little hands to hold. The story is in rhyme with bright illustrations for babies and toddlers. Thanks to the author and publisher for an ARC.

Heyward the Horse is back! This time he rescues Christmas in Charleston! This is Andrew Barton's third picture book written in rhyme with bright illustrations. It's a delight for children of all ages, and such a fun way to learn a bit of Charleston history. So get your copy of A Charleston Christmas before they're all gone! I know my grandbabies are going to love it--of course, I still have to prevent them from devouring them.

My dear friend, Evelyn Christensen passed away this fall. She was a mathematician, a teacher, a writer, a puzzle-creator extraordinaire, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, who loved our Lord Jesus. We met through the now-defunct Blueboards that we moderated and shared so many stories over the years. I always wanted her to write a memoir. Here's her obituary. She maintained a page: Resources for Writers and was so very generous with her time and talents. I had the chance to meet her when we were moving from WA to SC 15 years ago. We had such a good time visiting, making music, and taking a walk around her neighborhood. I was looking through my album and so sad to discover I didn't have a picture of her amidst the flowers, rocks, and butterflies. But this is how I remember her, always with a smile. My kids enjoyed her stories very much. 

I saved every Christmas card she made--each a unique creation with original art and poetry. These are just a few of them. It was so wonderful to touch them, read the poems inside, because they were once touched by her. I'm going to miss her very much, but our faith assures us we will meet again in heaven. Requiescat in pace, Ev. And have a grandest Christmas in heaven! Her beautiful adaptation of the traditional song: The Twelve Days of Christmas in Kentucky illustrated by Kent Culotta is one of my favorite Christmas books.