Quiet, reflective scenes of Chanukah rise off the page, coaxing readers to linger and reflect, in this spectacular pop-up about the eight-day Jewish festival.
Celebrated author Michael Rosen leads readers around the world to imagine different times and places where the Festival of Lights was celebrated as each night's menorah is lit.
Then acclaimed paper engineer Robert Sabuda echoes Rosen's lyrical words with intricate pop-ups that rise off the page like silent exclamations.
In one scene, readers see the blended shades of a sunset sky and in another, a lush green landscape deepening in fading light as a menorah lit at a window casts a golden glow on the ground.
Rosen conveys the Jewish experience so beautifully that, Jewish or not, readers will feel connected to it on a very human level. His words speak of things everyone values: freedom's promise, hope rekindled, unflagging faith.
With each verse comes a new scene and another candle lit, and a glimpse at what this holiday means to Jewish people.
On the fifth night of Chanukah, six lights flicker in a little house in a shtetl, a small Jewish village, "where families huddle, the gleam of a future -- free and safe -- reflected in one another's eyes."
Looking at the scene evokes the kind of reverent feeling that occurs when walking into a church, irregardless of whether it's associated with your denomination.
The book begins 2,000 years ago, with Herod's temple where Jewish freedom first was fought, and ends with a modern c
Written & illustrated by Jane Ray
$16.99, ages 3-6, $16.99
In this beguiling edition of The Twelve Days of Christmas, a suitor woos his love next door with a series of gifts that reflect his deepening affection.
The suitor, an elegant man with twinkling eyes, watches his gifts arrive from his window until the last one is delivered, and he feels brave enough to a walk over and declare his love.
As the first of 12 gifts come, tiny puffs of snow float down outside a row of color-washed houses by a canal. A postman knocks at flat #4 and the woman, her hair swept back with a ribbon, answers the door and gasps with delight.
There on the step is a potted pear tree, each branch perfectly positioned as if espaliered, and a partridge with mottled feathers perched on a limb. A tag dangles from another branch addressed, "To My True Love X."
Every day greater numbers of things arrive on her stoop, each more whimsical and grand than the last.
On the fifth day, five children in hats and mittens run by the woman's door, rolling golden hoola-hoops at their sides, and on the tenth day, ten lords-a-leaping, dressed in pinstriped pants and top hats, shuffle about on the roof swinging their arms.
Jane Ray's pictures are sumptuous, delicately ornate and folkloric, with gilted stars, sleek birds that glide into scenes and perch, and charming details, subtly adorning the page.
When the nine ladies dancing arrive on a boat in the canal, shimmying in fur-lined coats, a banner curves between masts that's as playful as the man's glances. Hung among triangles of fabric are socks and pantaloons.
Every spread captures the magic of young, new love. Houses have a rosy luminous glow that ties in with the blushing cheeks of the woman, and the air sparkles with possibility.
Ray even flirts a little with readers. On the first spread, s
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By: Jenny Miller,
on 12/8/2011
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Text based on the King James Bible
Illustrations by Pamela Dalton
$17.99, all ages, 32 pages
In this reverent retelling of the nativity story, illustrations look as if they were pulled from the walls of a church.
Using a technique rooted in 16th Century folk art, Pamela Dalton scissor-cuts designs from a single piece of paper, then watercolors in details and mounts the scenes on a black backdrop.
Each design is a fragile tapestry of paper and has a mural-like quality. Ornate and naturalistic, it conveys a feeling of antiquity that works beautifully with the story, retold here from the King James Bible.
In one spread, readers see the angel Gabriel alighting before Mary, an Easter lily being offered in his hand, and later, three shepherds arrive at the manager to see baby Jesus, each of their gowns elaborately cut in repeating patterns.
At times, Dalton frames scenes with trees, their bows weighted by apples as flowers vigorously climb up around their trunks. Other times, carved stone fences, bridges or rolling paths define the background, as birds and butterflies angle here and there, or stars shimmer in the sky.
Each scene feels like a fresco commissioned for the wall (or ceiling) of a chapel, and is painted in delicate, earthy hues that evoke feelings of profound respect and peacefulness.
The most exquisite cuts resemble intricate carvings and look as if they might tear if they were touched.
On one page, baby Jesus is swaddled on an oval bed of wheat, its stalks as fine as feathers. On other pages, angel wings in tan tones look like thin wood filigree that's been cut with a laser.
Once again, the result is astounding: images that suggest the look of aged materials, parchment or plaster or wood, as if the pictures themselves were as old as the story.
0 Comments on 9. The Story of Christmas as of 1/1/1900
How the Holiday Classic Came to BeWritten by John Harris
Illustrated by Adam Gustavson
Peachtree, 2011
$16.95, ages 6-10, 32 pages
A minister lifts the spirits of a downtrodden congregation with the sound of sleigh bells and a flurry of snow-white feathers, in this charming twist on history.
John Harris, the co-writer of A Giraffe Goes to Paris, weaves a tender tale of how John Lord Pierpont came to write the holiday song Jingle Bells in the sticky heat of Georgia in 1857.
Though little is known about what spurred Pierpont to write the beloved carol, Harris gathered what facts he could, then pieced them together with his imagination to create this heart-warming story.
Many historians believe Pierpont wrote the song in Medford, Massachusetts, but others like Harris believe he was more apt to have written it in Savanna while serving as a church music director.
Since Pierpoint was a Unitarian and grew up in the North, Harris believes he was a strong abolitionist and warmly welcomed former slaves into his congregation.
But doing so probably would have come at price. For in 1857, the Civil War had yet to begin.
Perhaps one day confederates threw a rock through a window of his church and while he was cleaning up the glass, Pierpont felt a sticky breeze blow in.
Nostalgic for the cool north and wanting to distract a little girl from the hate that rock represented, he might have sat down at his piano and tapped out the jingle.
"Plink-plink-plink," went a key of the pipe organ, just like sleigh bells. "Then he did it again," Harris writes, and note after note, the tune came to him.
Now that Pierpont had the perfect song to transport his congregation into horse-drawn sleighs, he needed something light and fluffy to float down to the pews.
They could toss white blossoms in the air, he thought, but where could they find them?
Then one day as his chorus practiced Jingle Bells for a Thanksgiving concert, a feather in a lady's hat caught his eye. Bags of feathers, that's what they need.
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Written David Martin
Illustrated by Valeri Gorbachev
Candlewick, 2011
$15.99, ages 2-4, 40 pages
It's Christmas Eve and Little Bunny is fed up with being the shortest bunny in his family.
His younger but taller twin brothers have hung his fire engine ornament out of his reach and his big brother is calling him "Teeny-Tiny" bunny.
So Little Bunny does what any frustrated little bunny might do: he dives under the Christmas tree and refuses to come out.
But being mad is tiring and while he's under there, Little Bunny drifts off to sleep.
Then something magical happens.
In the night, Little Bunny feels a tiny scarf land on his shoulder and hears a teeny voice.
Could that really be the snowman ornament calling down from a branch above?
Little Bunny wonders if he's dreaming, but quickly decides he couldn't be, and looks up see the snowman reaching down.
The problem is, how will he ever get up there to return the scarf?
Even with a running jump, he can't reach the snowman's stick arms. And if he were to climb the tree, it might topple over.
For once, could Little Bunny actually be too big?
Maybe if Little Bunny thinks small he'll shrink to just the right size to climb up the tree.
He might even reach his favorite ornament, and be little enough to climb inside and take it for a spin.
Imagine that! Driving the fire engine ornament around and around to the tree's tippy top.
It seems like a dream come true, but wouldn't this adorable fellow miss his family?
In this sweet tale, Little Bunny discovers that sometimes the best size to be is the size you are.
One of my very favorite places to shop is Kidorable. They carry rain gear, hooded towels, hangers, and snow accessories. Here is Baby Co sporting the dinosaur towel.
I have received more compliments on my girls Kidorable clothes than anything else - ever. Random people stop me all of the time asking where I got their rain clothes.
So when Bid went through a growth spurt a few months ago and outgrew everything, I knew I needed to check in at Kidorable. While looking around she found a raincoat that she absolutely loved.
The
Lucky Cat Raincoat is adorable. I love the hot pink color and the fact that the jacket has cat ears. With it Bid can crawl around the house pretending like she's a kitty. The coat has two different pockets, one a cat face and one a goldfish.
Kidorable has coordinating products in every style. Besides the rain jacket, there are also lucky cat umbrellas, rain boots, backpacks, hangers, and towels.
Kidorable just released a new Dragon Knight style and it is definitely my absolute favorite. I can't wait till Baby Co gets bigger so we can get him some knight gear.
Now they just need a princess style to go along with it!
To Buy - Kidorable products are whimsical and more importantly fun to wear. Right now on Kidorable.com there is a fun
holiday gift buying quiz that gives parents a little insight on the perfect Christmas Gift. Go check it out and see how you do!
Until December 11th, use coupon code
DRAGON7 to receive a free Dragon Knight umbrella with your order over $20 (make sure and add the Dragon Knight umbrella to your cart first).
Also Kidorable is partnering with the Children’s Cancer Research Fund to help support a great cause. 100% of the proceeds from the purchase of a Butterfly umbrellas on www.kidorable.com will be donated to the Research Fund through Christmas.(No coupon necessary)
To Win - Kidorable is giving away one of the New Dragon Knight Umbrellas to one of you!
To Enter complete Any of the Entries on the Rafflecopter form Below. *Note* Javascript must be enabled to view the form. If you are on the main page of my website, you may have to click read more to see the form.
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As part of their Library of American Comics series, IDW Publishing just released Chuck Jones: The Dream That Never Was, a spectacular must-have book reprinting all (and more) of Jones’ ill-fated 1977-78 newspaper comic strip, Crawford. It’s an absolutely beautiful volume that recounts the story behind this character, which apparently Jones felt very close to. Editors Dean Mullaney and Kurtis Findlay reprint every strip, published and unpublished, of the daily and Sunday feature – mostly scanned from original art loaned by the Jones estate. Additionally, there is a complete storyboard to an unproduced 1969 Crawford TV pilot, and lots of rare photographs and Jones art that accompany Findlay’s introduction – which discusses in fine detail Jones’ post Warner Bros. experiences with Tower 12, MGM and ABC – new information overlooked in previous histories, including those by Jones himself! Crawford wasn’t one of Jones’ great creations, but it was a concept he never gave up on because the character was essentially a younger version of himself. This volume is essential for those who admire Jones as an artist and it will add to your understanding of his creative process. Highly recommended. Get it. 
That “Mad, Mad” Rankin-Bass historian/enthusiast Rick Goldschmidt has done it again! After already throughly examining the “Enchanted Worlds” of Rankin Bass via books, websites, dvds and CD compilations, Rick has just self-published another volume that is the last word on my second-favorite R-B production (Rudolph will always be first): Mad Monster Party. It’s not so much as history as it is a celebration of all things Animagic, containing the entire MMP script (co-written by Harvey Kurtzman), chapters devoted to artists Jack Davis and Don Duga, voices Alan Swift, Gale Garnett, and Boris Karloff, musician Maury Laws, a b/w reprinting of the entire Dell comic book (above), the pressbook, lobby cards, posters and stills. It’s everything EXCEPT the movie itself (which Goldschmidt had a hand in restoring). You’ve seen the movie – now read the book. It’s also a great gift for the stop-mo maniac on your Christmas “chopping” list.
retails for just $19.99. It's a great fit for anyone who's a fan of the other DaGeDar products or just likes racing games.
for the Wii has a SRP of $39 but you can get it right now on Amazon for just $32. If you like Country Music or dance games, this game is definitely worth trying out.
retails for $19.99 and is a great gift for young girls! Everything in the game is pink and pretty, and the game can be played with little help.
Wii version retails for $43 and the Ds for $31 on Amazon.com. One thing I really liked was that although the game is technically a "fighting" game, it is very clean and appropriate for kids to play. 
retails for jus $20 and is a great gift for kids!
retails for just $29 on Amazon. I definitely recommend this game as a good fit for players of all ages.
Great idea!
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