Some other Christmas book recommendations that I've seen on other blogs and which I intend buying, include:
Les' The Gift of the Magi
Booklogged's The Forgotten Carols
Jenclair's The TALL book of Christmas
Joy's The Autobiography of Santa Claus
Nessie's The Christmas Carol
Repost from Dec 2005
It's the First of December and in our house that means we get to open the first window of the chocolate advent calender! (The kids and I love the idea of having a piece of chocolate first thing in the morning)! This year, along with the advent calender, we have decided to read Jostein Gaarder's book, "The Christmas Mystery" which is the story of a boy and the mystery he encounters as he opens the windows on his magical advent calender.This review has been taken from the South Ayrshire Library reviews:
(sorry for not being able to provide one of my own - so rushed for time)
This is a fascinating story within a story. Set in present-day Norway, this is the story of Joachim, a young boy who finds a faded, handmade Advent calendar. He begs to be allowed to take it home. The next morning, when he opens the calendar's first door, Joachim discovers not just the expected picture but also a tightly folded piece of paper, the first instalment of the fantastic tale of Elisabet who has been missing for over 50 years. Soon the girl's story is making unexpected intrusions into Joachim's own life, and he races to solve the mystery of the calendar before Christmas Eve. The book is about peace and love and tolerance and is perfect for reading aloud. Like an advent calendar there is 24 'doors' to open, you could read one a day to savour the story in the run up to Christmas. (Suitable for 9 - 12 years)
19 comments:
it sounds like such a wonderful way to pass the long days before christmas! better than prying apart two bickering children, for sure :) i'll have to remember this book when the kids are a little older.
I looked for this at the library the other day. No luck; but just scanned the new book shelves. It may be in the children's or YA section.
Have you read Sophie's World by Gaardner? I loved it! Definitely adult just because of the complexity, but a wonderful book!
Melissa This was your comment from last year just in case you're wondering! :)))
Jenclair The girls and I had so much fun reading this Gaarder book last year; we started on Dec 01st and read a chapter every day until Dec 24th. This year we're starting late, so we're going to have to rush to catch up! I have heard so much about "Sophie's World", I am definitely going to have to pick it up soon.
What a lovely tradition! I love the choice of reading material.
My kids have read the first and the last books.Rest of them are probably too young for my kids!:)
Great list thiugh ,thanks for the idea.
Lotus, this is wonderful! Zoe definitely needs some Christmas reading material. I think she and I are paying a visit to the book store today.:)
The illustrations in that book look great.
Sophie's World is a great book for adults as well as kids. My own Sophie (now 21) has read all the Jostein Gardner books.
Sorry if this a repeat. I once had a really weird experience when I was reading the book. I took it onto a flight only to find two of us had the same seat (a mistake in the ticketing). We compromised and she took the seat next to me. We sat down to read our books, only to find we were both reading Sophie's World. Since we both knew it was about parallel and overlapping worlds, we thought this was really funny.
Sorry I had to delete that one and the next. I must be tired,smelly socks came out as some other word.lol
Great list if books. I miss the days of advent calendars and little footed PJ's. Now all I have are smelly socks.
Got your card, hope you get mine soon.
love-bd
Hey look at you and your new blogpaper! Very nice! I'm intrigued by ther story of Joachim too, what ever happened to Elisabet?
I'll second (or third, or fourth) the recommendation to read Sophie's World. And then I'll go out and try to find the Christmas one...Gardner is wonderful.
I also read this last christmas and it was a great way to lead up to christmas.
ml Thank you!
Asha You're welcome. The nice thing about these books is that while they may have been written for children, the message knows no age bar.
Beenzzz Hope you and Zoe got lucky at the book store! I'm going this evening.
carl They are, they are!
Varske Thanks for sharing that - what a great coincidence! I make a habit of constantly checking what my fellow travellers are reading whether it's on the plane, bus or train, but I have never had an experience like yours, what fun!
Beloved I liked your previous comments better! ;) I've saved them just in case you change your mind! :))
Susan Don't get used to this, it's only a temporary makeover! ;)
Kimananda That's it! I'm going to buy a coopy of "Sophie's World' NOW! Thanks!
kucki Have you made any Christmas book discoveries this year? Going to stop by your blog to find out.
While I was waiting for the comment popup window, I just studied the cover for awhile. Isn't it remarkable how they have so precisely portrayed the little girl's excitement at seeing the baby Jesus? And it's just a silhouette.
I've never heard of Jostein Gaarder, but now I'm going to definitely look her up. Thanks for sharing this neat family tradition, Lotus.
BTW, you are such a cutie. Love the picture on the sidebar.
You're welcome booklogged! I haven't read anything else by Jostein Gaarder either, but everyone's been recommending an earlier book, "Sophie's World" so I am definitely wanting to read that one! And, heehee, glad you liked the picture. My 11-year old took that one of me about a month ago! :)
Lotus I'm still 12 na ;) would love to read & agree with others "Sophie's World" is a great book :)
Stay Beautiful...!!
This is one of my favourite books! Unfortunately I lent it to a friend about six years ago - we decided to give each other a favourite book each and read them and see what we thought. Stupid really, because she gave me Irvine Welsh, who I detested, and then she left college with my book and I never saw her again.
Sugarlips Aap bhi? "Sophie's World" is calling to me loud and clear now! :)
The Traveller Ohhh, I know how you must feel. Losing a favorite book creates such a vacuum. If I ever see a copy at a library sale (which is where I bought mine) or some bargain place, I'll pick it up for you.
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