Our December Holiday Storytime at the base was great fun. We had treats, acted out "Five Little Trees" and had a very special visitor. The room was packed with excited children and their parents and everyone had a marvelous time. Oh, and I even managed to read a few stories:
Merry Christmas, Splat by Rob ScottonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Splat is one of my favorite modern children's characters. He is wonderfully illustrated, and kids can easily identify with his fears and insecurities and wants and desires. In this book, Splat wants a very special present but isn't entirely sure that he has been good enough to deserve such a gift. He tries desperately to be extra helpful and demonstrate his very best "good" with less than perfect success. This book is humorous and beautifully illustrated and the kids at storytime enjoyed it. I was bothered a bit by the focus on the somewhat crass materialism, but this book does have a happy ending.
Reindeer Christmas by Mark K. MoultonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a charming book with beautiful illustrations about a family who cares for the animals that live in the forest near the family home during the winter, making sure they have seed and berries and apples. One day they stumble upon a magical visitor and nurse him back to health. The visitor turns out to be Donner who got lost in a blizzard. All turns out well, when Donner recovers after a nap by a warm fire and a bucket full of food fit for a deer. The family receives a beautiful letter of gratitude written by Santa himself (I invited our library director read the letter from the back of the room, which was very effective!) and the book has a very happy ending, which the assembled audience enjoyed.
Hoppy Hanukkah! by Linda GlaserMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a very endearing and fun book about a family of rabbits preparing for their Hanukkah celebration. I conducted a pretty thorough search to find a book for toddler/preschoolers that would capture the fun of Hanukkah and teach them a little about the holiday, while still holding their interest. This was the best book I found.
Three days later I delivered a Winter Holiday Storytime at the branch of the public library where I was substituting. I read these last two books there also and the "Snow Tree" which I discussed in my last post. Again the books were well received, the audience engaged and everyone had a good time. They participated enthusiastically in the rhymes and fingerplays and songs that were a part of this storytime.
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