REGINA Inspiring. Intelligent. Catholic.
Masterpieces 2014
by Bridget Green
REGINA’S
Top 10 Children’s
Christmas Books For Advent and Christmas 2014 By Bridget Green Ah, Christmas. That magical season that starts in late October and ends promptly on December 27th. Oh, wait. No. That's the secular season that I like to refer to as "Chrissssmas." Christmas, the liturgical season of the Catholic Church, begins on December 24th and goes at least until January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany. Some of the more hard-core folks even celebrate straight up until Candlemas, also known as the Feast of the Presentation, February 2. This doesn't mean that the weeks leading up to Christmas are nothing. Liturgically speaking, they are, in fact, quite important. Advent is a time of preparation and even of reparation. Advent is a time for us to make ready our homes and hearts to receive Jesus in a special way. It's a time for us to sit back from the craziness that is our busy world, take a breath, and renew our commitment to living a Christian life. And this is why I think it is so important to keep Advent in our homes, especially with our children. At our house, we try our best to stay focused on expectant preparations during the weeks leading up to Christmastide. We stay busy by cleaning our apartment, making treats and presents to put away until the blessed day, and by reading, a lot. I find the reading is what really helps my own kids remain in Advent rather than allowing their little hearts to skip all the prep work and jump straight into the much-awaited party.
Here’s my top 10 list of great Advent and Christmas books to share with the childr their lives. These books are beautiful and funny, sweet and silly, and most of all, focused true meaning of Christmas.
1. The Jesse Tree Kit
By Lynn M. Simms and Betsy Walter
Okay, I know I just said they were in no particular order, but this one is actually at the very top of my list. We will be doing a Jesse Tree for the third time, and I’m honestly not sure who is more excited, me or the kids. I put off doing a Jesse Tree for several years because it just seemed like so much work, not to mention the space it would take up in our apartment. Then, my sister-inlaw mailed me a copy of this beauty from Pauline Press and it all became infinitely easier. There are pre-printed “ornaments” to color in, and it even includes a poster sized “tree” to hang up anywhere there’s enough wall space. The whole program is laid out for you, including the prayers and Bible verses you’ll need for each day’s ornament. All you need to add is crayons, tape, and your child’s imagination.
2. Who Is Coming to Our House?
By Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
A delightful little board book where each animal shares how he will prepare the barn for the mystery Guest of Honor who will soon be making an appearance. By the end of the book, all of my children are repeating the refrain of the little mouse: Who is coming to our house? RATING: 4/5 Advent Wreaths because it can get a tad bit repetitive.
3. The Drumm
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RATING: 3.5/5 Advent Wreaths beca pum pum pums” can nerves sometimes, an make up for so much
Top 10 Childrens Christmas Books
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4. The Christmas Bird By Sallie Ketcham & Illustrated by Stacey Schuett
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The Christmas Bird. By Sallie Ketcham. Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. This is tale of a little bird who takes on a big job, and earns himself (and all his descendants) a beautiful red breast for his trouble. His self-sacrificing love is something even the youngest child can appreciate, plus it gives them a renewed interest in the world around them. The vibrant illustrations also help to hold their interest throughout the tale.
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RATING: 4.5/5 Advent Wreaths because it’s different from the standard Christmas book fare.
5. The Donkey’s Dream
By Barbara Helen Berger
Told as a dream of the humble donkey who carried Our Lady to Bethlehem, this book is actually introducing young children to much of the traditional symbolism surrounding Mary and several of her titles. The illustrations are gorgeous, especially those of the Blessed Mother, making it well-worth the read. RATING: 3.5/5 Advent Wreaths because it can go a bit above the heads of the young audience for which it is intended.
Top 10 Childrens Christmas Books
6. Four Friends at Christmas By Tomie DePaola
I know, I know. Tomie DePaola. The controversy. The “secularness.” But, this one is, quite simply, adorable. It’s a charming tale friendship and giving in the spirit of Christ. It’s sweet, and sometimes, that’s enough. RATING: 3.5/5 Advent Wreaths because it is, just a little, too sweet at times.
7. An Angel Came to 8. Mortimer’s Nazareth: A Story of Christmas Manger the First Christmas By Karma Wilson and By Anthony Knott. Illustrated by Maggie Kneen.
Jane Chapman
Maggie Kneen. Another book about the humble donkey and his precious cargo, this one highlights the dichotomy between the lowly beast of burden and the King of the Universe he carries, not because he is great but because he is lowly. Plus, the illustrations are not only textured, but gilded, which is pretty close to glitter, and we all know glitter makes everything better.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for a cute mouse with a quirky name. This sweet story follows little Mortimer’s attempt at making a home for himself only to realize that making a place for Jesus is far more important. Nothing earth shattering, but not every story needs to be earth shattering.
RATING: 4/5 Advent Wreaths because -sparkle.
RATING: 4/5 Advent Wreaths because this little book keeps all of my kids, even the nine year old, entertained from start to finish.
BONUS BOOK
9. The Baker’s Dozen: A Saint Nicolas Tale By Aaron Shepard Illustrated by Wendy Edelson
As Christmas stories go, it doesn’t get much better than this one. It has equal parts enchantment and history, and tells the tale of how a “baker’s dozen” came to be counted as 13 out of one baker’s realization that generosity of spirit matters more than strict legality. Bonus: There’s a killer cookie recipe and a template for a St. Nicholas cookie cutter in the back of the book. A story plus cookies? How could I not have this on my list? RATING: 4.5/5 Advent Wreaths because -cookies.
10. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey By Susan Wojciechowski Illustrated by P. J. Lynch
This book should come with a warning label: Do not read without Kleenex. A beautifully written story of the redemptive quality of love and its ability to heal all wounds, the real miracle may be the uninterrupted silence from start to finish as your children sit still and listen, rapt in the tale. RATING: 5/5 Advent Wreaths because I love a tearjerker with a happy ending.
11. Our Lady of Guadalupe
Retold by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand. Illustrated by Tonya Engel.
While not strictly either a Christmas or an Advent book, Our Lady of Guadalupe is perfect to read on her feast day, December 12th, which just so happens to be right smack dab in the middle of the Advent season. Also, since she is the only known apparition of a pregnant Mary, it makes sense to read about her as we prepare once again for the birth of the Savior. RATING: 5/5 Advent Wreaths because Our Lady of Guadalupe is my favorite. So sue me. There you have it. My top 10 11 books to read to children during the Advent and Christmas Seasons. May they bring you as much joy (and peace and quiet) as they have brought me and my little ones
Meditation The Irish & Their Religion
The Irish are known for their humor, their storytelling, their singing. As Chesterton famously wrote, “The great Gaels of Ireland are the men that God made mad, for all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad” (Ballad of the White Horse).
T
hey are also known for their Catholicism. Growing up in a family of 16 children in New Jersey, I can attest to this. We were often asked if we were ‘Irish Catholics.’ Speaking as an Irish Catholic (with some Scots, English and German in the mix as well, according to my genealogically-inclined father), I can confidently assert that the Irish like things their own way. And if that way happens to be contrary to others — for example, the English — that’s fine by them. Their ability to cling, to hold on, to never let go to what is theirs is, by far, their most prominent trait. It’s a fact: we Irish don’t let go of things once we take them as our own. Take, for instance, the land itself. The British have tried taking it more than once. It hasn’t gone well for them. The famous joke is that the conquest of Ireland was begun in 1066 and has never been completed. The English knew that depriving the Irish of their
land and their language would not suffice; without depriving the Irish of their Church, they would never defeat them. It’s a fact: we Irish don’t let go of things once we take them as our own. Take, for instance, the land itself. The British have tried taking it more than once. It hasn’t gone well for them. In response, the Irish held even faster to their Faith. They taught their children in secret; they shared their faith through symbols and secret meetings. They refused to let go. Irish Catholic Americans, who have never set foot in Ireland, share this feeling of ownership over their Catholicism. The immense celebration of St. Patrick’s Day each year is bigger in New York than it is in Dublin. Thousands upon thousands attend each year, packing St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the morning and 5th Avenue by lunchtime.
The Irish & Their Religion
Perhaps it was the tragedy of leaving their land which made the diaspora Irish cling to their Catholic identity? When they first came to America, the Irish were derided for being different, for being poor, for being Catholic. Just as they had clung to their land at home, they clung to their Faith in America. In times of hardship, they turned to the Church. In times of joy and celebration, they turned to the Church.
trol, abortion and feminism. More recently, the sex abuse scandals have driven a sharp wedge between the Irish and their ancient religion.
Just as they had clung to their land at home, the Irish clung to their Faith in America. In times of hardship, they turned to the Church. In times of joy and celebration, they turned to the Church.
And yet the Irish hold fast to the idea of being Catholic. They refuse to let go, even if they are Catholic in name only. To them, it is not “simply” their religion. It is, instead, a part of being Irish. It is St. Patrick and St. Brigid, soda bread and shamrocks, roast and Rosaries, and everything else that is so closely associated with being Irish Catholic. In a rootless America adrift among many pieties, perhaps it is the only form of authentic identity left to them?
When the “locals” (read: slightly senior Protestant immigrants) mocked them for their ‘popery,’ they packed the churches even more. They formed tightknit communities in their neighborhoods, centered on the local parish, which was almost always led by an Irish priest. It’s clear that the Irish in America kept their Catholic identity partly because everyone from the English to the Americans had tried to take it away from them. But why do the Irish cleave to their Catholic heritage today? It’s fascinating that the Irish in both Ireland and America still cling to this Catholic identity, although many no longer participate in the life of the Church. For the Irish – and for all the faithful, everywhere – it is clear that the lack of rigorous religious education over the last four decades has taken its toll. Left to their own devices in a secular education system and a media-driven world, Irish Catholics now are often among the most passionate supporters of birth con-
Left to their own devices in a secular education system and a media-driven world, Irish Catholics now are often among the most passionate supporters of birth control, abortion and feminism.
The Irish are a stubborn, contrary people and it is exactly this that has helped them to keep at least their culturally-Catholic identity. I wonder, perhaps if it will be this national trait which will be the very thing that introduces a resurgence of the Church in Ireland. God willing, perhaps even a return to the days when the Irish were as Catholic as Ireland’s hills are green? And yet the Irish hold fast to the idea of being Catholic. They refuse to let go, even if they are Catholic in name only. In a rootless America adrift among many pieties, perhaps it is the only form of authentic identity left to them?