Holidays with Crystal Bowman

Crystal Bowman is the author along with illustrator Claudine Gevry of a series of over sized die-cut board books that celebrate the seasons and Holidays with a Christian perspective. The illustrations are engaging and simple as is the storyline of these books. We own a few of these books one of which is An Easter Gift for Me. In this book with rhyming text Bowman shares the story of Jesus from birth, his life, his miracles on to his death and Resurrection. Of the stories I read the ideas are clearly presented for the preschool audience. These are great starter books to share about the different Holidays, seasons and traditions we hold.


Other books in this series include: My Happy Pumpkin, My Thanksgiving Prayer, Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree, Christmas Angels, My Christmas Stocking, My Christmas Gift, J is For Jesus, A Star for Jesus and My Valentine Story.

Thanks for Thanksgiving

The last Thanksgiving read I'm going to be able to share with you before the Holiday is here this year is Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes and illustrated by Doris Barrette, and is probably my favorite Thanksgiving read. It's a simple read which follows a brother and sister as they share what they are thankful for. It's truly a child's list with such items as play dates with friends at the playground, cuddles with Mom and sled rides with Dad. It's a fun read to share with your kids to get them started on their own list of what they are thankful for! The illustrations are beautiful, bold, bright, vivid, I could go on and on. I love the scenes of family, friends and home that they depict, very warm and inviting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

One is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale

One is a Feast for Mouse: A Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox and illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler, is a new addition to our Thanksgiving reading line up this year. It's a cute concept for a Thanksgiving book that's a little different from your usual giving thanks, turkeys, pilgrims and such. You meet mouse, who like many of us during Thanksgiving, finds that his eyes are bigger than his stomach. He's so busy grabbing as many of the leftovers that he can he forgets to watch out for the family cat. Mouse escapes safely back to his hidey hole but alas his stash of leftovers do not, will he have his Thanksgiving feast this year or not? The illustrations are cute too, you are met with the familiar after Thanksgiving scenes like leftovers on the table, snoozing in front of the football game and mouse is expressively drawn with so much personality!

Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92

Happy (early) Thanksgiving to you all! I'm very excited to start sharing some of our favorite Thanksgiving reads here this week! I love celebrating the Holidays! I don't know if I could really say that I have a favorite, I love all the festivities. But Thanksgiving would definitly make a top list for me.


First up I have a trio of books by one of my favorite children's book authors, Karma Wilson and illustrated by Amy June Bates. I thought I'd start with Give Thanks to the Lord: Celebrating Psalm 92, but all three are very fitting for this time of year as we offer our thanks and praise offerings to the Lord. Beautiful fall toned water color illustrations depict a young boy and his family as they gather to celebrate their Thanksgiving together. The text highlights all that we have to be thankful for, such as family, home, Thanksgiving dinner and so on. The phrase 'It is Good to Give Thanks to the Lord' is repeated throughout the story about this warm family celebration that is focused on the Lord and his abundant goodness.



Also from the same series by Karma Wilson and Amy June Bates comes the next two books, I Will Rejoice: Celebrating Psalm 118 and Let's Make a Joyful Noise: Celebrating Psalm 100, they don't make the direct connection as the first book to the Thanksgiving Holiday. In fact the water color illustrations depict more summer/springtime days. I think it's very appropriate to focus not just on thanks giving to God over this Holiday, but also to offer our praises to Him. I think the contrast of the seasons in the illustrations are actually a great talking point about how we should be offering God our thanks and praise not just at Thanksgiving but throughout the year. Thanksgiving makes a perfect time to focus on this and talk about what it means to live a life of thankfulness. I Will Rejoice recounts the verse Pslam 118:24: 'This is the day that they Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it', a great theme for our thankfulness in each day that we are given and for all the simple moments that make up our days. Make a Joyful Noise shares about a family headed to Sunday worship. Along the way a young boy notices all the joyful noises around him, from birds singing to the worship service itself. The sounds heard, build on themselves making it a fun read of sound effects. It's a great read to share the joy there is in praising God. Another perfect theme for your Thanksgiving celebration as well as all year round.

In November

I have another Cynthia Rylant book for you here today and will again. So, why not do a feature on the author you might ask? Well, for one her body of work is extensive. Second these books deserve a feature of their own. Last so many of them work well with themes and topics that we enjoy to study, that it's fun to include titles as they are appropriate to my post series. There will be some authors that I just decide to slowly share our favorite reads of.

In November, the aptly titled book for this month by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jill Kastner has become a staple read for us. This is a wonderful book that looks at the transitions that take place as the seasons start to change from Fall into Winter. It ends with the celebration of Thanksgiving, a time for family and cherished memories. It's a great cozy read and the realistic oil painted illustrations are warm, vibrant and detailed.

Thankful Together

Well, its been a busy few days with off topic posts. So I'm very thankful to get back to book reviews and something else I'm very thankful for is good Christian Children's books. I love books that are based on a scripture passage and tell the story from that perspective. One of our favorite books which is also a book on being thankful is: Thankful Together, by Holly Davis, Illustrated by Valerie Sokolova.



There are sweet illustrations of a mommy squirrel and her little one as they go about their day being thankful for the many blessings the Lord has provided. This is a great read for giving thanks and being prayerful throughout the day. There are so many things each day that we can thank God for and this book focuses on just that, the small blessings of our days. Which are really the best blessings. I love this for a summer read, as it is clearly a wonderful summer day that they are sharing and a Thanksgiving Holiday read. Plus you and your kids can have fun finding a mommy and baby snail on each page. Very cute!

I'd like to also share the scripture verses used in the book:

O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalms 30:12

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34