Christmas
Downtime
I usually continue to read and post reviews during the holidays, but this year I’m taking a little time to enjoy my family. Instead of working on the blog or reading, I’m wrapping gifts, getting things ready for guests, shopping…well, you know everything the holidays include. Last night, we went to look at Christmas lights for a second time with our three-year-old grandson. He gets so excited! And for the first time in many years, we should have a white Christmas in southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri.
I wish you all joyous holidays.
What to Give Me For Christmas
It’s Not What’s Under the Christmas Tree
Book Review: In the Nick of Time Too by Deedee Cummings
Book Title: In the Nick of Time Too by Deedee Cummings/illustrated by Charlene Mosley
Category: Children’s Fiction (Ages 3-7), 40 pages
Genre: Children/ Holiday (Kids older than 7 will love this too.)
Publisher: Make A Way Media
Release date: November 2022
Format available for review: print (USA), ebook (PDF)
Tour dates: Dec 5 to Dec 16, 2022
Content Rating: G. Children’s Holiday Book.
Nick Saint and his best friend, Cooper, reunite in this warm holiday story about the magic of Christmas. A surprise visit leads to a journey of self-discovery and a deeper understanding of the true meaning of the holiday spirit. Nick and Cooper receive a charge to spread kindness and hope in their everyday lives. Will Cooper listen to his friend and help Nick save the day again? Will you also be moved to action and accept Santa’s challenge to spread kindness wherever you go?
Children of all ages and backgrounds will be inspired by this story and will understand that love, hope, kindness, and Christmas miracles come to us in many shapes and all colors.
Buy the Book:
Amazon
My Review
I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy from iRead Book Tours. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. I read In the Nick of Time a couple of years ago, so I was happy to read In the Nick of Time Too.
Nick and Cooper are best friends, and Cooper spends the night at Nick’s house on Christmas Eve because Cooper’s family celebrates Christmas on Christmas evening. Nick’s parents have a Christmas Eve party for all of their neighbors no matter their faith. After the party, the boys get to meet Santa!
This is another sweet Christmas story by Deedee which teaches children about Christmas miracles as well as the important things year-round like kindness, being non-judgmental, and including everyone in what we do. The illustrations are realistic, and the colors are vibrant.
In the Nick of Time Too is a holiday story that children will enjoy all year long.
About the Author
Deedee is a professional dreamer. She is also an author, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. The books she writes focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, Well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. Deedee is also the founder of Make A Way Media and The Louisville Book Festival. She believes literacy is a fundamental human right. Her work highlights inspiring messages that remind us all it is never too late to begin again. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children and an extreme lack of stories that reflected their life experiences. Follow Deedee on Instagram for fun and informative updates as she continues to chase her dreams and bring them to life.
connect with the author:
website ~ make a way media ~ twitter ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ facebook ~ pinterest ~ instagram ~ instagram ~ goodreads
Follow the Tour
Dec 5 –Lisa’s Reading – books spotlight
Dec 5 – Splashes of Joy – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 5 –Bigreadersite– book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 5 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 6 –Cover Lover Book Review – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 6 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 7 –Liese’s Blog – books spotlight
Dec 7 –Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 7– Cover Lover Book Review – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 8 –Books for Books – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 8 – Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 9 –Paws.Read.Repeat – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 9 –Books for Books – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 12 –Reading Authors Network – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 12 – A Mama’s Corner of the World – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 13 – My Reading Getaway – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 13 – Reading is My Passion – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 13 – Reading Authors Network – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 14 – I’m Into Books – books spotlight
Dec 14 – My Reading Getaway – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 14 – Bound 4 Escape – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 15 – fundinmental – books spotlight
Dec 15 – Library Lady’s Kid Lit – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME
Dec 15 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 16 – Library Lady’s Kid Lit – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Dec 16 – Paws.Read.Repeat – book review of IN THE NICK OF TIME TOO
Book Review: Would You Rather Game Book for Kids Christmas Edition by Leo Willy D’Orange
Get your kids off their phone and into the moment, laughing and having fun every step of the way!
Struggling to connect with your kids in a meaningful and happy way can be gruesome.
Fighting with them to actually do something (anything) that doesn’t involve a screen in their face can be hard.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Would You Rather Game Book for Kids | Christmas Edition! is the perfect game to play on Christmas Day!
The whole challenge of trying not to laugh at the funniest questions you’ll ever encounter and the silliest scenarios you could ever imagine, with a bonus of 50 funny trivia as the cherry on top, says good-bye boredom, ho ho ho fun-filled Christmas night with the kids!
Guaranteed to provide hours of fun for the whole family, now spending Christmas with your kids in a way that is both enjoyable and memorable has never been easier.
The rules are easy-peasy:
- The youngest player starts with the first question (after that, anyone can read in any order)
- Take turns and each person asks the other a question — the best answer gets a point
- If your answer makes the other person laugh you even get double the points!
- The game has 10 rounds, and at the end of each round you add up the points to see who gets crowned the Leader of Laughter
And besides hours of belly-aching laughter, in Would You Rather Game Book for Kids | Christmas Edition!, you’ll discover:
- A fun, family-friendly game that you can play anytime, anywhere, especially during Christmas eve
- Unforgettable memories that’ll last a lifetime, created with those you love most
- Friendly competition to spice up the bore of the weekdays — see who claims the crown!
- The perfect activity for when you want to spend quality time with family and friends (but don’t know what to do)
- A fool-proof way to add a sprinkle of laughter into everyday
My Review
I chose to read this book after receiving a free e-copy from BookSprout. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
What a fun game for the whole family! This is one of those games that the more people who play, the better. There is a chart at the end of each section to keep scores of each player, then one for the total scores at the end. That’s handy, but you can always keep track on paper which I think would be easier, especially if there are quite a few people playing.
There are a LOT of questions but since they’re broken down by section, if kids get tired of playing, you can always stop and play again at another time.
My favorite section is the last one which is trivia questions. All of the rest of the questions in the game are “would you rather” questions.
Our family (around 20 of us) gets together on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we always play several games. This will be a great addition!
Book Review: An Advent Carols Countdown: Stories Behind the Most Beloved Music of Christmas by Michael D. Young
Release date: September 6, 2022
Get in the Christmas spirit with this unique collection of the most beloved Christmas carols, from the warmly nostalgic to the majestically solemn and uplifting. The book features one carol for each day from December first to Christmas Eve, and presents both the lyrics and the fascinating stories and interesting facts behind the creation of the songs. Each entry deepens our understanding of the music and enhances our appreciation of why these songs are culturally important and dearly treasured.
From popular, familiar carols to lesser known but cherished hymns, author Michael D. Young combines his musical expertise with information specific to each song.
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” was written by an American preacher, Philip Brooks, after traveling to Bethlehem in 1868 to find peace after the horrors of the Civil War and assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Brooks’s original poem, with one largely unknown final verse, is included along with the lyrics of the beloved carol.
“In the Bleak Midwinter” was voted the best Christmas carol by a BBC survey of experts, but the song was actually created from a poem by Christina Rosetti and did not become a carol until decades after her death when it was paired with music by Gustav Holst. Today, Rosetti is considered one of the most important poets of the nineteenth century, and the carol she unintentionally penned is one of the most haunting and beloved of all time.
An Advent Carols Countdown is a beautiful gift book for the whole family to enjoy along with the music of the holidays. Each entry also features a QR code that will link to an audio or video performance of the carol performed by the choir most associated with Christmas, the world-renowned Tabernacle Choir.
My Review
I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy from the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
The Christmas season is my favorite time of year. From the celebration of Christ’s birth to being with family to singing Christmas carols, I enjoy every moment. So, I was happy to read this book. It contains the lyrics to 24 carols and the stories of their origins. A few of the carols are ones I haven’t heard of, but it contains many favorites such as “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and “Silent Night.”
The book is set up to be read during Advent from December 1 to December 24. I plan on reading it again during that time and listening to each song as well. Each song has a QR code that takes you to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s audio or visual performance. I love it!
About the Author
Michael is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Western Governors University with degrees in German Teaching, Music, Educational Leadership and Instructional Design. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and their three children, where he teaches in a German dual language immersion program. He enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
He is the author of the novels in The Canticle Kingdom Series, The Last Archangel Series, the Chess Quest Series and the Penultimate Dawn Cycle (The Hunger, The Thirst, and The Longing), as well as the non-fiction work, The Song of the Righteous. He has also had work featured in various online and print magazines such as Bards and Sages Quarterly, Mindflights, Meridian, Nugent Magazine, The New Era, Keeping Tab, Allegory, Liahona, and Ensign. He has also won honorable mention three times in the Writers of the Future contest.
He runs several podcasts, including “Chapter and Verse” and “Songs for All Seasons”.
Merry Christmas
Abridged Christmas Classics
Holly by Andrew Blakemore
I love this!
Holly
By ANDREW BLAKEMORE
Artist Alida Akers
At the edge of the field in a hedgerow so tangled,
So thick and so dense where the holly does grow,
Berries of scarlet are caught in the sunlight,
Its leaves sharp and shining and all is aglow.
The birds make their home inside
Safe and secure there,
They rest in peace and harmony
And all should do the same.
I cut several sprigs there to take home for Christmas,
To lay by the candle the season of love,
The berries the symbol the blood of our Saviour,
And life that he gave for all glories above.
The leaves like the crown he wore
Upon the wooden cross,
They mirror his eternal light
Beneath the burning flame.
At the edge of the field in a hedgerow so tangled,
So thick and so dense where the holly does stand,
The snowflakes start falling and rest on its leaves now,
So pure and so gentle like God’s loving hand.
And I turn and I head for home
For now the day grows cold,
And look upon my holly sprigs
Such passion they do hold.
Bound 4 Escape 