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Thursday 11 December 2014

Christmas Books for Children

For us, the best thing about Christmas is being snuggled up in new PJ's on Christmas Eve, with a book in hand and treats to eat and drink. Of course, Christmas Day is tons of fun and to see children's faces light up when they get their gifts from Father Christmas is priceless but we love the anticipation of it all. It is easy to get caught up in the mayhem of toys, turkey and tinsel on Christmas Day, so Christmas Eve is a great way to take time out as a family to relax and get in the mood for what is to come. Once you have finished wrapping all of your presents and prepped your sprouts, pop on a pair of PJ's (Kyna Boutique is our favourite for kids and we can't resist a pair of Cath Kidston's for adults)


For a cold winter evening, Cleo in the Snow is a fun book to read to babies and young toddlers. The book sees friends Cleo and Casper playing outside and discovering magical white flakes falling out of the sky. It may not snow in your region of the world this year but children will delight at the thought of what the first experience of snow may feel like. We dream of a white Christmas each time we read this book!





If you are looking for a traditional Christmas Stories with a twist, Babushka is a fun story that can be simply read aloud or acted out in the style of The Nativity. The book introduces children to Babushka, a woman who is so busy focusing on the little things, that she hardly notices the miraculous events going on around her. This touching Christmas story shows that the more you give away in love, the more you will receive. We love the bright and engaging illustrations, by the brilliant Sophie Fatus, in this book as they really help the book come alive.


For Independent readers Winter Shadow is a glorious tale to be read on a cosy night in by the fire. We read this at out first book club of 2014 and it left the whole group in tears, bittersweet tears nothing too deep! The book follows the story of a young girl who stumbles upon a wolf cub and goes on to raise it, until it finally needs to return to the wild. A book that adults and wolf lovers will enjoy just as much as children.



Other favourites for Christmas and winter include, A Skip Through the Seasons, a great book for toddlers and young children to learn about the changing weather and what to expect during winter. For older children, The Abominable Snowman' is a modern retake on the traditional tale and The Snow Queen is one of the most well known fairytales of all time, particularly as it was the base story children's favourite Frozen.






All of these books are wonderful tales that will give children the gift of stories for Christmas, something that cannot be replaced.



Thursday 4 December 2014

December Book of the Month

With Christmas upon us, there will be lots of people looking for books as gifts for children. Books for bedtime, annuals and  anthologies are top of the list for many people, with hundreds of books to choose from. To help you out with your choice, we have chosen My Big Barefoot Book of Wonderful Words as our December Book



The book follows a lovely family throughout their busy dat, with pages filled with everyday activities and products. Each scene is filled to the brim with people, places and things, and you’ll meet people of all races, cultures, lifestyles and abilities as you go. With images of children and adults with disabilities, breastfeeding, baby wearing, different types of family and much much more, children's eyes are opened to all that is diverse in our wonderful world.




This book is vibrantly illustrated and immerses children in detailed scenes of daily life, which are followed by simple spreads of labelled illustrations to help with vocabulary building and word recognition. It is a great choice for a Christmas gift as it will last for years and can be passed drown to younger children. We would not wait to get our copy when it was released during the summer, it has not been put away since we opened it! Another Barefoot Books gem.