On Story Bent

"The exciting quality of Christmas rests on an ancient and admitted paradox. It rests upon the paradox that the power and center of the whole universe may be found in some seemingly small matter, that the stars in their courses may move like a moving wheel around the neglected outhouse of an inn." G.K. Chesterton ~ (with some slight adjustments, reposting the review below from 2023) "Experience the warmth of Christmas through the winsome wit and wisdom of beloved writer G.K. Chesterton. This devotional -- perfect for the Christmas season -- includes selections of Chesterton's writings, accompanied with commentary, Scripture readings, and reflections. Be encouraged by Chesterton's insight, charmed by the Victorian-inspired artwork, and delighted by the traditional English recipes. Make Chesterton's poetry, short stories, and essays a part of your Christmas tradition! A festive celebration of childlike wonder..." Fresh off the press, my sister sent me this...

(reposting from 2023) I read this book over this past Advent and I'm so glad I did! It's just beautiful... Thoughtful, reflective, contemplative, and deeply encouraging.  We always want to be on guard against experiential eisegesis (i.e. exegeting a text through our own experiences) and/or reading ourselves into a passage and -- given the premise for this particular title -- I kept an especially scrutinizing eye open for that throughout. At the same time -- given all the rich complexities of our existence -- there is a place for colloquial communication, and God's words and ways should also be on our tongue night and day, spilling over... So taking all the above into consideration, all in all I think the author does a good job using each beginning anecdote as a springboard to the biblical text.  She does an excellent job continually pointing us back to Christ, to what He  has  done, what He has already fulfilled -- and is doing still. It brought me to tears in numero...

I kept wanting to like this one soooo much! And actually, I did like it -- about half of it rather enormously. The problem: the whole premise of a 'simple Christmas' in many ways typifies much of how I actually grew up celebrating Christmas and quite a few things I incorporate now in our own home. So therein lies the problem, because the little protagonist in the book isn't sure she'll enjoy it all -- the "focusing less on getting and more on giving", the making of homemade gifts and the giving away of cookies -- (and then, of course, she comes to find out that she has a marvelous time and it's all wonderful ;)), but you can see the issues that might create for a child who hasn't ever experienced... I don't know... a "normal crazy Christmas" (I guess ;)). It's all about frame of reference.  And note: personally, we're not against the purchasing of gifts and the layering on of festivities, because on the flip side we also don't...

From the dust jacket summary: "A is for Augustus, emperor of Rome.... And so begins this lovely journey through the Nativity story, using the letters of the alphabet to highlight the people, places, and events associated with the birth of Jesus. Graceful couplets are paired with richly textured mixed-media collages to create a warm, yet reverent depiction of the first Christmas."   Another of my top favorites, I remember this one from when I was little -- so much so that I was still able to mentally conjure up the title recently and find it. :) From A to Z (for Zest and living life with joy), the words are lilting and lovely. It's like a waltz, where the entire thing is just beautiful. I'm so happy to have it in our growing Advent book collection! This one apparently goes in and out of print (I was able to buy a new hard back copy for around $10 last year), so it's worth keeping an eye on it. For toddlers and up Reviewed for The Literary Christmas Reading Challeng...

This book was a ginormous part of my childhood and is still one of my three top favorite Christmas picture books. Possibly my tip top favorite. (It's a close call and I really can't pick one for the honor, but this sure comes mighty close.) (Please overlook any fuzziness in the pictures, I was working with some tricky lighting but really wanted you to get a little taste. ;)) The summary is simple: a group of carolers comes into a tiny little community and, family by family, the residents join them. Each stop is accompanied with the first verse of a different traditional carol and an artfully done cutaway scene of the Nativity story.  The illustrations are so colorful and endlessly fascinating, packed with all sorts of details. Looking at it now -- with the families of all different sizes and with different cultural heritages, family traditions, activities, etc -- I'm realizing it was actually one of the first books to shape my understanding of just how huge Christmas is: ...

From the dust jacket: "Here, depicted in loving detail, is Christmas celebrated at the beginning of [the 20th] century in England, indoors and out, upstairs and downstairs... Family and friends gather at the large, comfortable house in the country, and the festivities begin! What bustle and fun there is from Christmas Day and its lavish plum-pudding dinner on through the holidays that follow, with activities galore for one and all. Riding to hounds, ice skating on the pond, dancing at the great, fancy dress ball, watching the pantomime, playing Blindman's Buff--all this and much more springs to life in John Goodall's exquisitely executed watercolor paintings. As he did in An Edwardian Summer , Mr. Goodall portrays an era now long gone. This is a remarkable recreation of a special time, a special way of life, and an invitation to join in a spirit of joy that transcends time itself." While the name Goodall rings a bell, I just recently discovered this immersive, wordle...

This is a cute classic -- the story of a Christmas tree that keeps getting lopped smaller and smaller, finding it's way around the neighborhood and spreading good cheer. It's a recent addition to our family library and hasn't quite hit the top tier of favorites yet, but the rhyming text is fun to read and gives lots of room for using different dramatic voices. :) In a spirit of complete honesty, the main sticky bit is that it uses a couple phrases once each, 'good heavens' and 'jolly, by golly', which I agree are pretty innocuous on a scale, but I try not to use in toddler level reading. Generally it'd be easy to just drop them, but in this case (to paraphrase Wodehouse) it plays merry havoc with the rhythm of the thing. xD Anyhow, that quibble might not bother other folks at all, and it's obviously stood the test of time and earned its classic status. If I was using the star system I'd say four out of five stars. Now I didn't grow up on The ...

From the author's note at the beginning: "At Chrismastime, in the New Hampshire town where I live, it is traditional for white electric candles to be put in house windows and in the windows of the Baptist Church. It is a beautiful sight. But the early residents of this New England town and other villages weren't always so festive. [some early settlers] tended to avoid any observance of the holiday whatsoever. In fact, one source tells of an Irishman being chased out of a New England town in 1755 because he was 'a Christmas Man.' All of this set me to thinking, 'What might have happened in the early 1800s if a family accustomed to celebrating Christmas moved into a New England town? Using historical fact and my research as a departure point, I began to imagine that it could have happened this way..." I grew up with this story and it's just delightful. Tomie dePaola is, of course, well known in picture book circles and this one fits right in with his be...