It is hard to believe December is already here. Last year, 2020, was a very tough year on the world. This year, 2021, had glimpses of normalcy but really wasn't much better. In fact for me personally it was even tougher than 2020. However, that is not what I want to focus on today. Today I get to share a sweet new Christmas picture book with you. It is The Gift Shop Bear by Phyllis Harris. It is recommended for ages 4 to 7.
Hazel always makes gifts for the holidays for family members. This year she is struggling with ideas and time. In 2020 when our library was only allowing door pick-up and drop-off of books, I picked up a craft bag that the Children's Department left for patrons. I figured Hazel and I could do the craft some time. It sat on my desk for over a year. Inside it had tissue paper in different colors, two 5" x 7" flat canvases, a small container of Mod Podge, a sponge brush applicator and instructions. The idea behind the craft was for the kids to create a picture by cutting the tissue paper into different shapes and gluing it on to the canvas. This craft sparked my interest. I wondered how my Cuttlebug would be with tissue paper. I am a bit obsessed with butterflies right now. Since Hazel is turning 13 this year and I see that age as a big metamorphosis year, I thought her birthday party should be butterfly themed. I have some beautiful butterfly dies to cut with my Cuttlebug. I tried it out with four pieces (different colors) of tissue paper and got some beautiful butterflies. The largest ones had some tears in some of the layers but otherwise were great. Using the craft idea and my tissue butterflies, I wanted to make Hazel a butterfly picture. I found a pink square canvas that we had in our craft supplies and came up with this.
Today I am very excited to share with you a new picture book about race, racism and racial pride. When I read this book for the first time I knew I had to share it with you. It is that amazing!! The book is The Proudest Color by Sheila Modir and Jeff Kashou and illustrated by Monica Mikai. It is recommended for ages 5 to 8.
Do you have a budding artist in the family or perhaps are you one? In our house Hazel is our budding artist and one of her favorite forms of art is drawing. Over the summer she went to a weeklong art camp at her school. Her art teacher is truly amazing and he ran it. I wanted to review this book for her or actually I wanted her to review the book. She did try some of the projects for me to write the review. The book is The Complete Guide to Drawing for Beginners by Yoshiko Ogura.
Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Krueger Wallace Press and Riven Rock Project for this post and will receive a small stipend from them.
Christmas is such a magical time of the year. I know some people do not think kids should learn about Santa or his magic, but I think it is part of the fun of Christmas. Today's book shares a bit of the magic. We head to the North Pole where we meet one of Santa's elves, Eve. She begins to search for the spirit of Christmas in hopes of saving Christmas and all of Santa's elves. The story is Merry Christmas, Eve! by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Lena Bardy.
