Holidays & Festivals Books

A Very Marley Christmas

John Grogan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Hilarious Christmas Story 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Reviewed by Cayden (age 4) and Max (age 2) Aures and Mom for Reader Views (6/08)

"A Very Marley Christmas" is the fun holiday story of Marley the dog's first Christmas. Marley is a very mischievous dog and decorating for Christmas with him around can be very interesting! He gets into everything from the Christmas lights that the mom is hanging, to the paper snowflakes that Cassie cut, to the paint that baby Louie is using to paint a snowman, and makes a huge mess!

Cayden: "Look at the cover! I think that dog was naughty! He has wrapping paper in his mouth. I hope he didn't open all of the presents!"
Max: "No!"

Cayden: "He knocked over all of the ornaments that you are supposed to hang on the Christmas tree! Some are broken!"
Max: "Oh no!"

Cayden: "He knocked the tree over!"

Cayden: "Why does he keep knocking things over and breaking things?"
Max: "Break!"

Cayden: "I like this book! It is real funny! Can we read it again?"
Cayden: "Marley is a funny dog! He does lots of naughty things!"
Max: "Naughty dog!"

Parent's comments:

"A Very Marley Christmas" was definitely a hit with both of my children! They really enjoyed the adventures of Marley and all of the trouble that he got into. The story is very amusing and Marley's antics had my children laughing on almost every page. The illustrations in the book do an excellent job at conveying the humorous situations. We definitely recommend this book for the holiday season and we look forward to reading more Marley books in the future!

Editorial Review:

With all the excitement of Christmas approaching, it's no surprise that Marley, the lovable pup with a nose for trouble, wants to get in on the action. Anticipating his very first snowfall and Santa's arrival, Marley jumps in to help his family every way he can. But Marley, being Marley, always ends up on the wrong side of right. It's not long before he tears down the twinkle lights, attacks a chain of paper snowflakes, and mistakes the Christmas tree for . . . well . . . his very own indoor bathroom. Will Marley's good intentions ruin everything before Christmas begins? Or will he manage to share some Christmas magic with his family after all?

This follow-up to the #1 bestselling Bad Dog, Marley! delivers a heartfelt holiday story with many hilarious Marley mishaps along the way.

Gingerbread Friends

Amazon Price: $12.23 List Price: $17.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Putnam Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $9.89

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Gingerbread Friends 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

My first graders loved Jan Brett's new book, Gingerbread Friends. It is a great sequel to Gingerbread Baby. A must buy to add to a Gingerbread book collection

Jan Brett Scores Again! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Gingerbread baby needs some friends but can he make them? Can he talk to them? Where do you find friends for gingerbread babies? Well, let's go to town and find out! What a wonderful story and so charming too. Jan Brett has some secrets for us in the corners of her books. It hints at the ending but you have to pay attention to find out!

Editorial Review:

That popular little character is back looking for friends, in an adventure he’ll never forget.

Confident and cocky, the Gingerbread Baby happens upon a bakery, where he dances and prances in front of a sugar cookie girl, trying to make friends. But she just stares and doesn’t say a word, like all the other sweet treats he tries to meet.

Discouraged, the Gingerbread Baby runs home, chased by a long line of hungry creatures, where Mattie has a fantastic surprise for him—gingerbread friends that fill a giant fold-out page.

Irresistible images inside the confectionery and outside in the snowy Swiss countryside will delight Jan Brett fans.

The Polar Express

Chris Van Allsburg

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin - Model: HO-0395389496 Amazon Marketplace: 183 new & used starting at $1.50

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Features:

• Christmas Accessories
• For use with your scale model railroad

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 237 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Another outstanding Van Allsburg treat! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

What can one say about an illustrator like Van Allsburg? The Polar Express is almost not a children's story but for the child with a vivid imagination (and may there still be a few in existence!!) they will identify with the little boy who travels in his dreams by the Polar Express. I know they have mad an animated film of this book and done it well but it really is more a nostalgia trip for adults. I have never seen a Van Allsburg done badly they are always incredible books and I would love to own the lot. Highly recommended!

A Family Tradition 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My uncle gave me this book as a gift many years ago. I loved the fact that it came with a cassette (read by William Hurt) and it even has a little bell just like the boy in the story. This story is probably my absolute favorite Christmas book. I am buying it for my Nephew to pass on the tradition.

The Polar Express 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book's quality is made well. The art work most colorful and fits well with the movie and gives a great visual adventure for parent and child to share a holiday favorite in the cold winter season of Christmas. A book to indeed have each year to make a tradition.

Editorial Review:

A magical train ride on Christmas Eve takes a boy to the North Pole to receive a special gift from

God Gave Us Christmas (God Gave Us...)

Lisa T. Bergren

Amazon Price: $9.99 List Price: $9.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: WaterBrook Press Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $5.48

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

God didn't give you diddly 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 17 people found this review helpful.

Especially not a holiday that's nothing but a mish mash of other holidays, including evil scary pagan rituals.

A lovely Christmas story. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Little Cub wants to know who invented Christmas. Mama takes Little Cub on a polar expedition to find God & see how He gave us Christmas.
A beautiful story showing God in creation (enhanced by wonderful illustrations), discovering the true meaning of Christmas & how very much God loves us all.

Editorial Review:

As Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear begins to wonder…
“Who invented Christmas?”
Mama’s answer only leads to more questions like “Is God more important than Santa?” So she and Little Cub head off on a polar expedition to find God and to see how he gave them Christmas. Along the way, they find signs that God is at work all around them. Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns about the very first Christmas and discovers that…
Jesus is the best present of all.
This enchanting tale provides the perfect opportunity to help young children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and to discover how very much God loves them.

Bats at the Library

Brian Lies

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $6.71

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Bats love this library 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.

And librarians and the kids they share it with will love this book. The detailed pictures beg for young readers to take a closer look. Baby bats wear swimmies on their arms. A water fountain is turned into a great splashing pool. Characters from books kids know and love make frequent appearances, and the library setting reminds us of the venerable institutions we all remember, or at least wish we'd grown up with. This librarian says the book is not to be missed and I'm off to order my copy now.

Editorial Review:

Houghton Mifflin Company Another inky evening's here—
The air is cool and calm and clear.
Can it be true? Oh, can it be?
Yes!—Bat Night at the library!

Join the free-for-all fun at the public library with these book-loving bats! Shape shadows on walls, frolic in the water fountain, and roam the book-filled halls until it's time for everyone, young and old, to settle down into the enchantment of story time. Brian Lies' joyful critters and their nocturnal celebration cast library visits in a new light. Even the youngest of readers will want to join the batty book-fest!

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks

Margaret Sutherland, Sonja Lamut

Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $3.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Grosset & Dunlap Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $1.16

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cute Book 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

I buy my kids a new book every week .They both love this book my daughter is five and my son is seven.My son has autism so it's sometimes hard to find books that he can try to read on his own.Unlike other books this one has a few sentences on each page nice bright colors.He takes this book to therapy and the kids there like the book as well.

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Loved the book, kids did too! Great to read all year long, but especially at Thanksgiving.

Very cute 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

We bought this to teach our son about Thanksgiving (he loves books) and he really liked it. It's a cute little book to read around the holidays especially since there aren't a lot of Thanksgiving books out there. I would recommend it to anyone.

Lovely concept, decent execution..bonus for multicultural illustrations 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Overall, I'd recommend this book. It's nice to have a Thanksgiving book to read to kids the brings in the Thanks-giving piece of Thanksgiving.

The things that are mentioned to be thankful for are things a kid would relate to -- mom and dad, grandma (other family), teacher, friends, their room, hot chocolate on a rainy day, dogs and cats to pet, favorite books, sunny days, lollipops that color tongues -- and of course days like Thanksgiving to be thankful with family. It's really very nice.

I could have done without something more interesting than the my parents "love me when I'm good...and even when I'm not" notion, especially because you have to get over to the facing page before you get to the facing page for the second part of that sentiment, and so for a second I thought -- This is a horrible book! But thank goodness they finished the thought, and it comes off more cute than objectionable.

The book does a great job with being somewhat multicultural, representing white families, Asian families as well as a black father reading to his daughter. And while they don't go as far as depicting any mixed-race families, they do show children of different races playing together on many pages. One caveat is that it isn't necessarily the best for divorced or even more so single-parent only or other "non-traditional" families, as it has a pretty early emphasis on being thankful for mom and dad, which a cute-cutesy drawing of mom/dad/kid on outing complete with balloons, basketball and ice cream.

All and all, I definitely recommend this as a sweet and inexpensive little Giving Thanks on Thanksgiving book if you don't have issues with the nuclear family thing. Enjoy!

Editorial Review:

Sure, Thanksgiving is about pilgrims and history-and turkey, of course!-but most importantly, it's a holiday all about everything that we are thankful for. Cheerful, colorful illustrations accompany the simple text in this celebration of family, friends, and the holiday that brings them all together.

The Sweet Smell of Christmas (Scented Storybook)

Patricia M. Scarry

Amazon Price: $8.99 List Price: $8.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Golden Books Amazon Marketplace: 53 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 110 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

scratch & sniffs defective :-( 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

My child loves this book ( she assumes it is the Little Bear from the TV series she loves too) and after enjoying it at someone else's house, I bought it only to find only one of the scratch & sniff stickers that works (the pine tree). One was entirely missing (chocolate) , and the rest have absolutely no smell and are shiny like they never had the microencapsulated smell particles applied. Such a disappointment, since the story is all about smelling the smells! Seems like others have had this problem too.
I decided to buy smell stickers myself from a website and put them in the book. More expensive, but at least it will work for sure. We will have to get by with cinnamon smell for the gingerbread boy as I couldn't find gingerbread stickers.
I also wrote to Random House, but am not really expecting them to have replacement stickers.

Editorial Review:

Christmas is almost here! Little Bear can smell it—and so can you! The air is filled with the aroma of gingerbread cookies, minty candy canes, the piney Christmas tree, and yummy hot apple pie. Celebrate the holiday season with this classic Golden storybook which includes six scratch-and-sniff scents.

A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree

Colleen Monroe

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sleeping Bear Press Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $9.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

wonderfully illustrated 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

A very nice story, with great illustrations. Good for all ages. It's not often that you see a book this meaningful, finished off so nicely.

Consider age of child 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book but from the cover art to the copy there is a tone of sadness. I bought it for a niece who is particulalry sensitive and it bothered her from the beginning. While I stressed the 'happy ending' the cover art really held her captive but in a sad way. It is a beautifully illustrated book but just know the child you are buying for. She is 6 and capable of understanding the difference between a book and reality so I tried to make it a teaching moment. Sadness is a real emotion so we talked about it in the framework of how life can be sad but it also often works out just fine.

Editorial Review:

Book Description
This charming tale of an overgrown pine always being passed by for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him, is sure to become a Christmas classic. With delightful illustrations by wildlife artist Michael Monroe and enchanting text from Colleen Monroe, the birds, deer and squirrel of this story help make their special friend's wish come true.

Card catalog description
Feeling sad because no one chooses it as a Christmas tree, a bedraggled forest pine discovers the importance of being appreciated all year long.

10 Fat Turkeys

Tony Johnston

Amazon Price: $3.99 List Price: $3.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cartwheel Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $0.21

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Silly & Fun! 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

If you're looking for a serious book about Thanksgiving, then 10 Fat Turkeys is not the book for you. This book is about ten fat turkeys walking along a fence, when one by one they fall, break the fence, and perch on a tree instead. It's funny, and intended to appeal to the very young, or young at heart. The illustrations are bright, and bold, and will appeal to young children say 1 to 5-years. My son laughs when I read this book, and now at five he's starting to read it to himself.

10 Fat Turkey's mimics the pattern in Melanie Gerth's, Ten Little Ladybugs, although Gerth's book is sweet, this work is just plain silly.

10 fat turkeys fooling on a fence.
"Looky!" says a silly turkey, swinging from a vine.
GOBBLE GOBBLE WIBBLE WOBBLE whoops! Now there are...9.

It's a lesson in simple subtraction, and one we enjoy reading after Halloween. It's not a Thanksgiving book per se, there is no mention of the holiday, or even the season. It just a fun, nonsense book for little tykes.

Editorial Review:

"Looky!" says a silly turkey swinging from a vine. Gobble gobble wibble wobble.Whoops! Now there are nine.Girls and boys will gobble up this hilarious story about ten goofy turkeys and their silly antics: swinging from a vine, strutting on a boar, doing a noodle dance, and more. Veteran author Tony Johnston has written a joyful text, which first-time illustrator Richard Deas brings to life as wild and wacky fun!

Christmas in Camelot (Magic Tree House, No. 29)

Mary Pope Osborne

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A cup, a compass, a key: the magic tree house has brought siblings Annie and Jack to Camelot, where they embark on a mysterious mission to find these enigmatic gifts. In this special hardcover addition to the bestselling Magic Tree House series, the young adventurers must travel to the Otherworld, an "ancient, enchanted land beyond the edge of the Earth, the place where all magic began" to save Camelot from dark wizard Mordred's evil spell. If they fail, Camelot will be forgotten forever. Fans of the beloved, highly readable series by Mary Pope Osborne will rise to the challenge of this longer, more complex companion to her other titles, which include Earthquake in the Early Morning and Twister on Tuesday. As in every story in the sequence, Jack and Annie bravely plunge into their quest, learning about a culture and time very far removed from their own, and prove once again that children can make a difference. (Ages 6 to 9) --Emilie Coulter