Disclosure:Penguin Random House Books
gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review
are
my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my
reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
It is starting to get cold outside here in New England (it has been unbelievably warm this year) and winter is just around the corner. Although most people I know feel we had enough snow last year for a few years to come, we also know the season is coming. Today I am going to share with you two new books from Penguin Kids that bring winter into our focus!! The first book is Max and Marla by Alexandra Boiger.
Disclosure:Penguin Random House Books
gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review
are
my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my
reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
Today I am going to share with you one of our favorite picture books, The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers. Now I know I shared this book with you this summer when it first came out along with the first book, The Day the Crayons Quit. But today you can enter to win your own copy at Penguin Kids Facebook Page!! I just had to share the chance with you since we LOVE this book. We are giving this book and The Day the Crayons Quit to two of Hazel's younger friends for the holidays!! They would also make great teacher gifts for elementary teachers!! Plus if you can enter yesterday's 12 Days of Picture Books Sweepstakes for our other favorite book, The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak, through midnight tonight!! This book is an extremely funny read aloud book!! Hazel wanted it so badly that I bought it for her earlier this year!!
In many parts of the world church services or masses are an important part of Christmas. Many countries have traditional times for the service. Does yours? Growing up we always went to what was called the midnight candlelight service. It started at 11:00 p.m. and ended around midnight. The service always ended with singing Silent Night and having each person light a candle from the flame of the Christ candle in the Advent wreath. Now we usually go to the earlier Christmas Eve service so Hazel can stay awake.
Novena
For many the celebration of Christmas takes place in the church. In some countries the church servicesbegins on December 16th. In Venezuela there is an early morning church service called Misa de Aguinaldo held every day from December 16 to December 24. Often there are bells and firecrackers to wake the parishioners for the early services. In the capital city, Caracas, it is tradition to roller skate to these services. As a result the streets are often closed to cars until 8 a.m. On December 24 the mass is at midnight and is called Misa de Gallo. (Source) Chile also celebrates with a Novena. There are church services throughout December in Chile, but on the 16th special prayers begin the day as well as visits to local churches. (Source) The Philippines also have early morning or pre-dawn masses for the nine days prior to Christmas. (Source) In Puerto Rico it is called Misa de Aguinaldos and is held from December 15 to December 24th. The mass is held at dawn (around 6 a.m.) and the services are usually sung with traditional Puerto Rican instruments accompaniment. On the 24th the mass is at midnight and is called the Misa de Gallo. (Source)
Disclosure:Wisdom Tales Press
gave me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review
are
my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my
reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
Recently we decided to switch churches. As a family we are going to an Episcopal Church now. Steve is Catholic and I was raised in a United Church of Christ church and have always gone to one. We found the Episcopal Church to be a combination of the two and fit us all. We love being able to go to one church as a family and go almost every week together. Not having grown up in a church that focuses on the saints I do not know much about them. Now that we go to a church that focuses on them more I would like to learn more about them and teach Hazel more about them. I was happy to see this new book at Wisdom Tales Press, Saint Anthony the Great by John Chryssavgis and Mailyn Rouvelas and illustrated by Isabelle Brent.
Disclosure:Candlewick Press
gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review
are
my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my
reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.
Have you discovered Peg + Cat? Hazel loves the television show and I love that it makes math fun for kids. So many this make math seem like it is a horrible or boring subject. Peg + Cat seems to at least take that image away for younger kids. I was very excited to see this book by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson called Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem.
