Christmas Learning Through Literature: Our Favorites

Well, I had big plans to do a lesson plan a week on great Christmas books.  But, well, here it is one week before Christmas and I only wrote out one.  If I wait to write a blog post for each of our books, it will be Valentines, lol! I still wanted to share with you our favorite children's Christmas books this year!

Our overall theme was Christmas around the world.  You can read about our lesson for Christmas in Mexico with 9 Days Before Christmas.

Tree of Cranes, by Allen Say, takes place in Japan.  Using our Continent Map, we discussed where Japan is at.  Before I read the book to my children, I looked up Japanese Christmas customs online.  Turns out, only 1% of Japanese people celebrate Christmas.  This is because only about 1% of the population are Christians!

In addition to the discussion of the differences in Japanese life and ours-floor mat beds, sliding doors, paper crane wishes-we also talked about what it would be like to live in a country where people did not believe in Jesus and did not celebrate Christmas.

After we read Tree of Cranes, we tried to make our own origami animals.  Lets just say that THIS American isn't very good at making them!

Annika's Secret Wish, by Beverly Lewis, is an absolute gem of a book!  It takes place in Sweden sometime before the advent of electricity, likely in the late 1800's.  This was a special treat since my Great-Great-Grandmother immigrated from Sweden in the late 1800's.

The story line blends information about Swedish Christmas traditions with the true meaning of Christmas.  Annika gives away her wish so that her brother can have his wish.

"It is more blessed to give then to receive," Acts 20:35 is the heart of Annika's Secret Wish.  And, I loved the line that author Beverly Lewis adds "the almond could bring smiles and laughter, but only God could make a miracle."

Jingle Bells, by Iza Trapani, was a complete surprise to me!  We already had this title on our shelves and I thought it was just the text of the song Jingle Bells!  Well, thumbing through the book I was pleasantly surprise to find out that it is actually a quick sleigh ride around the world through different cultures and Christmas celebrations!

If you are looking for a quick way to discuss Christmas around the world with little ones, I recommend this title!
I used it with our Co-Op 3's play group and they enjoyed it very much.

After reading the book, we still got out our jingle bells and sang the song.


Some other stories we liked that weren't about cultures:

If you wanted to do a sort of Jesse Tree without working too much at it, the Jesus Storybook Bible has the perfect solution!  Each of the Old Testament stories end with a reference to the coming Messiah.

The story of Jesus' birth and the visit of the angel, shepherds, wise men, and everything about the story of Jesus' birth is perfectly written for little eyes and ears.  We have completely enjoyed reading the prophesy of Isaiah, the parallel of Jonah, and the birth of Jesus with this Bible.  If you don't have one-get one.  It's a must :).

The Berenstain Bears Christmas Tree is just simply adorable.  It is funny, festive, and has a great message of sharing and putting others first.

There are actually many extra discussions of animal habitats that can be discussed in this story, as well as the truth of listening to your mom :).

Certainly one of our favorites!

And while we are on the subject of Christmas trees, I wanted to bring you one last book.  The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston.  It may or may not be one of my children's favorites.  But, it's certainly one of mine.

Make sure you have a tissue handy the first time you read the story, because you are likely to need it.

After we read this story, we discussed that some children would not have their daddy's home this year because they are fighting in a war.  We talked about how lucky we are to have our family all here and how we should be thankful.

Do you have a favorite Christmas book?  I am already on the look out for more to add next year.  I'd love to hear your suggestions!!

Merry Christmas!

Just a note:  Do to the laws in my state, I am not an Amazon affiliate.  I provide links simply to help you find the product you are looking for.

Christmas Learning through Literature: Nine Days to Christmas

Maybe it has to do with our current journey to minimalism, or maybe it has to do with our busy Christmas schedule, or maybe it's that we are technically 'off school' in December {but there's no way I will let my kids run loose all day}, but I wanted something slower and easier for December.  I decided I wanted to learn through books, only, this month.  I liked the way that our Five in a Row lessons were laid out, and decided to do something similar with the Christmas books on our shelf.

The first book I chose was Nine Days to Christmas, A Story of Mexico by Marie Hall Ets & Aurora Labastida.  I picked it up this summer at a yard sale, and had no idea the treat we were in for!

Nine Days to Christmas is a book about a sweet little girl named Ceci who was celebrating her first Posada-a Mexican Christmas party.

I decided to write up a mini 'Row' lesson for Nine Days of Christmas in case you would like to do this for your children.  We did this in just one day, but could easily be spread out to 5.






The first thing we did was to pull out our North America Continent Map.  We looked over our continent cards and located all the countries on the map.  Then, we focused on our 'neighbor' Mexico.  After we established where Mexico was, we were ready to read.  You can do this with any map, but I do think the continent maps are worth their money!

The first page of the story (page 5) mentions that Ceci is in Kindergarten.  So we discussed how old that made her.  After realizing that Ceci was 5 just like Charger, he was very interested.

On page six, and throughout the book, there are various Spanish words.  Pinata, tortilla, and Posada.  I had my children repeat the words and we discussed their meaning.

Pages 8 and 9 offer a beautiful picture of children playing in a garden.  This has so many possibilities, but I helped bring attention to how they were dressed.  Short sleeved dresses in November?  A great opportunity to talk about the weather and various climates-even at Christmas.

On page 10, Ceci's brother, Salvador, tells her that her party is in 21 days, and 9 days before Christmas.  We used our calendar to determine that Ceci's party would be on December 16th and the discussion took place on November the 25th.

Pages 14-17 bring examples of Ceci's yard in Mexico.  She has a stone wall and a gate, which no one around here has.  This was a great opportunity to discuss different types of living quarters.

We discussed different types of church services with the mention of mass on page 18.

Page 18 and 19 have a beautiful spread of a pond with ducks swimming.  Ceci feeds the ducks.  On pages 20 and 21, she tries to BE a duck.  She feels sorry for how cold the ducks must be.  We brought in our lessons about ducks from The Story of Ping that we rowed earlier this year.  We knew that ducks don't get wet, so they don't get cold.  LOTS of great ways to take this part!

Ceci and her family have a servant named Maria.  On page 22 and other pages, it discusses what kinds of work she is responsible to do.  Obviously, this is a big culture difference not only between countries, but between economic groups.

When Ceci's mother takes her to the Mexican market on pages 26 and 27, there is a lot to be discussed.  We talked about the beautiful market, bartering, and I tried to help my children understand what a market is. Hopefully we can go to a big one someday.  I've been to a few, and it's just hard to describe!  The picture is beautiful!  Also, if you know Spanish, or want to look up the words, each of the areas of the market are labeled in Spanish.

Ceci gets to pick a pinata, which goes on for about 6 pages.  The pinatas 'talk' to Ceci and make animal noises, ask questions, and beg for her to choose them.  My children enjoyed picking out their pinatas from the pictures.  Charger even picked the same one that Ceci did-maybe it's a 5 year old thing :).

Pages 34-37 Ceci and her family prepare for the Posada.  We discussed preparing for parties here and there.  We talked about the fruit and candy that Ceci was putting in her pinata.  My children had never heard of fruit in a pinata-I liked the idea :).

Pages 38-41 have a wonderful description of the Posada itself.  Ceci is dressed in 'traditional' Mexican clothing, and she and another boy carry a tray with Mary, Joesph, and the donkey through her yard.  The others at the party follow behind them.  They walk to the door of the house and knock, behind the door people sing back that there is no room for them in the inn.  What a lovely way to remember the Christmas story.  We also discussed different traditional clothing.

The last 7 pages of the story focus on Ceci and her pinata.  She doesn't want it to be broken and is sad that everyone will be trying to break it to bits.  In the end, her star becomes a real star and stays in the sky forever.  I appreciate that, though there is a 'hint' of magic here at the end, stars are real.  It's not like her doll came to life or anything :).

All we did was read and discuss, but you could take this SOOOO much further.  Making-or buying-your own pinata, dressing in Mexican clothing, reading about ducks getting wet, making and eating tortillas and much, much more!

Overall, we simply loved this little book.  Of course, it left me scrambling for more great living books for Christmas around the world!  So, we will be reading Tree of Cranes next.  I hope to have some 'rowing' ideas for you for it soon.

Merry Christmas!!