I have NOT been offered a free product to write this blog post nor any other compensation.
The views expressed here are completely my own.
It's Christmas time again and it's Christmas Book Review time.
Today it is a book for young children about the real focus of Christmas.
We have always felt that books are very special to our family and share a love of reading but now that Fred and I have got to the "grandparent stage" we are once again looking at, buying and reading books that are suitable for the "0 - 5 years" age group.
So when I heard about this title and the fact that these books can be got cheaply - more about that later I - and knew the people who were recommending them were reliable (very important!) I was quick to tell my friend at church and if you read on you will find out what that resulted in.
Well back to testing out the book.
If a book is meant for that young age group then it should be tested with children of that age.
We have 3 grandchildren Matthew just turned 4 at the start of last month, Ruby 2 yrs 5 months and Sarah 10 weeks old, all of whom fall in this age group.
Unfortunately Sarah was fast asleep when we arrived back with Matthew to his mum and dad from having a sleepover at our house so we did not lift her out of the cot to disturb her but it will not be long before she is on Nanny or Granddad's knee as we read other stories to them all.
(I forgot to get a picture of Sarah in her cot asleep but here is one from a few days previously when she was asleep in my arms.)
So you can see this book was very apt for Matthew and Ruby because of baby Sarah and Yes even though we were reading the book together and mum & dad were chatting & laughing in the kitchen we didn't wake Baby Sarah.
We had cuddled into the big corner of our son & daughter-in-law's sofa in their living room where we always go in their house to read our storybooks together.
Ruby gets very serious when she is looking at a new book and always seems like she is trying to take in everything on the pages.
At first I think Matthew thought maybe this book was better suited to Ruby's age than to his but it wasn't too long until he was sitting forward to see the great illustrations.
At one stage you have to turn the book round in a circle to read the spiral writing and this really got Matthew's attention
plus he then decided that he needed to check something from the previous pages before he would let me continue reading.
The book goes back and forth between referring to a baby in the family and the baby Jesus and this did not confuse either Matthew or Ruby at all.
We have a saying in our family - one which was started by our children when they were young
"No Hugging, No Kissing!" they would shout when Fred and I would get too close to each other - and it is still chanted all these years later.
So we laughed when we got to this page
The book was just a nice length for Ruby who was very attentive the whole way through.
Matthew however was a bit sad that it wasn't longer and didn't want me to close it after I read the final words.
The book is a lovely size (6ins x 6ins) for slipping into a handbag or for little hands like Ruby's to hold.
There is also a hardback version of the book which is approximately 9ins by 9ins but I have not seen this in person. It would be an ideal size and a sturdier type book for using to read to a group of children.
Here you can see the back cover of the book
So back to the point where I had told my friend in church about this book BEFORE I even had a copy.
In fact the copy I had for this review was given to me by her because once she had looked it up on the website she just felt it was the right book to get for our church to give to all the children who come to our "Sonshine Club" each Tuesday (our Mums & Tots group).
She ordered 60 books to have today for our Christmas Party and because this book focuses in on Jesus as a baby and the special reason for this baby it is an ideal gift for the children to learn about Jesus, the true reason of Christmas and also for the mums and dads and grannies and granddads who sit cuddled up with the little ones they love and read of the love of God at Christmas.
Now what would be the point in me telling you about this beautiful book which would make an ideal gift for any young child if I did not tell you where to get it.
This book is written by Helen Buckley and illustrated by Jenny Brake and can be ordered from 10 of Those a company which sell many of their books at great discounts in fact if you order now there is something like 40% off the retail price.
This company also sell some books in large quantities and when these were bought for our church event we got them for only £1 each.
So Deciding thought on this book?
Yes it's a big Tick from me and Fred and the grandkids.
Please note the book is not available through Amazon.co.UK or .Com however you can find other books by the same author on Amazon HERE
Disclaimer:
I have NOT been offered a free product to write this blog post nor any other compensation.
The views expressed here are completely my own.