One of my favorite Christmas carols has to be The Friendly Beasts. It's a song that seems to have originated in 12th century France and is about all of the beasts that were in the stable the night Christ was born and the gifts that they gave him. The words are beautiful and the tune lovely. My daughter, Emily, even has a Little Golden Book vintage copy of The Friendly Beasts which has the story and the lyrics.

So you can imagine my delight, when I offered to read a new book by a fellow Ohio author, I have recently become acquainted with, and found it to be an extension of that ancient song. That author's name is Deb Boerema and her book is titled The Innkeeper's Dog.




Beautifully written and illustrated, this book takes us on the journey of a pup named Thaniel the Spaniel who thinks that he is not special.  As Thaniel listens to the stories of the other animals in the stable and what they had to offer the new born king, he feels small and insignificant because he had not been old enough to offer anything of value. In the end, however, Thaniel discovers that he had been special and valuable to the new king in ways he never even imagined.

This is a perfect book for reading at Christmas and seems appropriate for children ages five to ten. Currently Deb is still in pre-release, so if you want this darling book be sure to order it through her publisher's website.

So ends an other episode of Kids Korner, with me, children's author Aileen Stewart. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal website, Fun With Aileen, any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, and my very own early grade chapter book Fern Valley. And be sure to watch for Return To Fern Valley coming summer of 2014! 

Add a Comment