Children's Christmas books

Wombat plays baby Jesus, originally uploaded by G a r r y.

A friend asked me to buy two children's books about Christmas. She gave me a generous budget - she just wanted them to be overtly "Christian". This type of shopping fills me with much delight. I love reading and reading books to children is one of my passions. I recall hours spent reading book after book to my children when they were small.

We have four good bookstores within walking distance of my home, so I thought I would have no problems at all spending this money. Alas, much to my dismay, I have discovered that the first two had no books in them that I thought were appropriate. I don't recall having this difficulty when my children were small. I am yet to visit the other two shops, so I am hopeful I will find something that will appeal.

My sister in law Julie asks me every year for the names of the books that I have for children about Christmas. She was a primary school teacher and is now a Mum with two small children. I thought I would share my list of books with you, as once again, she asked me for this information. I have given the links to details about each book on Amazon. I am sure they are available locally and could be ordered in, but Amazon is incredibly quick and it is so easy to fill that online basket....

For younger readers, but they will beg you to return to them year after year

The Story of Christmas by Jane Ray. (Orchard Books) This has the lushest illustrations. Mary and Joseph look middle-eastern and Mary actually looks pregnant. There is an earthiness and richness to each picture. For small children, it is the illustrations that tell the story - but the words let the pictures tell the story.

A Christmas Story by Brian Wildsmith. (Oxford University Press) The illustrations are magnificent.

Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki and Ivan Gantschev. Santa shares the story about the birth of Jesus and that it was God's gift to us on the first Christmas. The illustrations are soft and mellow, its simplicity makes it a wonderful book to read again and again.

Tale of Three Trees by Anglea Elwell Hunt. If you haven't come across this book before, I won't spoil it for you, but it is a wonderful book that can be read at Christmas and Easter - and can be read and understood at many different levels. It moves me everytime I read it.

For the older reader

The Worst Kids in the World by Barbara Robinson. We had a tradition of reading this book every December. It is quirky, funny and filled with unexpected surprises. Christine Jensen gave this book to our family and it has been a wonderful friend to us since then. Christine has introduced my family to many wonderful books and I am forever grateful to her enthusiasm and love for books.

The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. This is a beautiful story about a crippled lamb who witnesses the birth of Jesus. The illustrations are simply beautiful.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski. We read this book each December, and each time, I was reduced to tears - it will still move me.

Star of Wonder by Pat Alexander is a delightful anthology of Christmas Stories and Poems for Children (Lion Book). This book was given to the Condie family by the Jensen family.

During December, we would also read the story of Christmas from each gospel. The bible we used depended on rsthe age of our children. When they were very little we used the Beginner's Bible. I might put this pile of books on the table in our lounge room so we can all look at them and be reminded of the wondrous story of Jesus' birth and arrival into our world.

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, originally uploaded by elycefeliz.

I first heard about this book after reading an article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Thomas Friedman titled "We cannot abandon the children of Afghanistan" (23 July 2009), in which he refers to this book written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

The author had just watched Mortenson open one of his schools for girls that he has built in both Afghanistan and Pakistan over the last few years. I love reading books about Afghanistan and I love cups of tea, so I promptly found the book on Amazon and put it in my shopping basket ready to buy when the dollar was stronger. The dollar finally reached 92 US cents, so I decided it was time to purchase my collection of books in time for some summer reading.

Greg Mortenson grew up in Tanzania with Christian missionary parents. During their time there, his mother built a school and his father built a hospital. He also had a sister Krista who had poor health who died quite young. Each of these things have shaped the type of man Mortenson has become and the decisions he has made about living his life.

In his late twenties, Mortenson was in Pakistan after attempting a climb of K2 one of the most difficult mountains to climb and on failing this was returning to base camp. He stumbled upon the village of Korphe, and was the first white man the villagers had set eyes on. In his state of near collapse, they took him in and cared for him while he recovered. In a serendipitous moment, he realised the children had no school to attend and vowed to raise the money, return and build it for the children he had befriended.

This is the amazing story of the building of this school and many more in the most remote parts of the world. Mortenson learnt a valuable lesson while building his first school in Korphe. Haji Ali is the village leader and he has been watching Mortenson twitching with anxious energy channeling all his efforts into getting the school built as quickly as possible. Haji Ali finally takes him aside to his home where Salika his wife brews makes them a cup of tea. He then says:

"If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways, the first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honoured guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die, Dr Greg, you must make time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."

That day, Haji Ali taught Mortenson the importance of the sharing of three cups of tea, to slow down and make building relationships as important as building projects. He took this lesson to heart and from it worked on getting to know the people of this area, befriending them, learning about their traditions and religion. Since this time, Mortenson has built over eighty-one schools. This book has become compulsory reading for senior US military commanders, Pentagon officers in counter-insurgency training and Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan. Having just read it, I can understand why. It is an eye opening and inspiring story of what this unique man has achieved. I felt transported to the remotest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, I could even smell the room he slept in while in Korphe. This would make a wonderful book to discuss for a book group. The Three Cups of Tea website has additional information and discussion questions.

His new book "Stones into Schools" is being published today. I am adding it to my Amazon basket, but I don't think I will be able to wait....

An Education

An Education, originally uploaded by AsceticMonk.

I saw this film last week and it provides an insightful look into the life of England in 1961. Jenny is working towards her A levels at school. She is sixteen, beautiful and highly intelligent. Her parents have lofty expectations for her, including being offered a place to study at Oxford University. She studies hard, learns the cello and plays in a youth orchestra - all because they will lead "somewhere", not because in and of themselves they are worthwhile activities. However she is bored. All this changes when a chance encounter introduces her to David - an older man who is handsome and very wealthy.

She falls in love and is prepared to abandon "an education" for love and the wild life that includes parties, visits to Paris, sex, lying and deceit but she enjoys it - she is having fun and that she is alive.

Then something happens, which in and of itself is "an education" and Jenny learns about life the hard way.

The film raises a number of questions. One of them includes the pushiness of parents who singlemindedly push their children towards something. One of the more moving moments in the film is when Jenny's father apologises to her and explains that he has been driven by fear and he doesn't want his daughter to be afraid - of what is not clear, but I wonder if it is success, wealth, status and being accepted. Jenny's parents are forced to think about what they really want for their daughter.

The english are so good at indirect communication that is understated and round about. This film is filled with such conversations. I loved it!

There are some delightful moments. Jenny is learning latin, which she loathes and is not particularly good at. One of her new friends, who is a little "dippy" says "in 50 years no one will be speaking latin, not even the latin people". I found this particularly amusing as Keith has been teaching himself latin for the last ten years. I don't know anyone else who takes palm cards to the gym to memorise latin words and phrases.

This is a wonderful movie - enjoyable and thought provoking.

Delighting in the Lord - 1

I have spent much time pondering and meditating on what delighting in the Lord looks like. I read Psalm 37 on New Year's Eve last year and was struck by this verse: "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." ( 4). I have given two talks on this topic and in my devotions have returned to Psalm 37 again and again. I have not had an easy year healthwise, and at times I wondered if God had a sense of humour in challenging me to think about this topic in the midst of a foggy and dysfunctional head. However, I have found that God has continually reminded me to delight in Him and it has really helped me survive.

For my birthday a dear neighbour gave me the book "Bible Delight" by Christopher Ash. It looks at Psalm 119 in 22 bite sized pieces with a couple of questions at the end of each section. I have enjoyed reading this book enormously and my understanding of delighting in the Lord has been enriched.

This morning I was looking at section 10 - verses 73-80:

73 Your hands made me and formed me;
give me understanding to learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you rejoice when they see me,
for I have put my hope in your word.
75 I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous,
and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
77 Let your compassion come to me that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause;
but I will meditate on your precepts.
79 May those who fear you turn to me,
those who understand your statutes.
80 May my heart be blameless toward your decrees,
that I may not be put to shame.

This section and the last one have been about the place of affliction in the Christian life. These verses suggest that God uses times of great difficulty to develop our faith and trust in God and that God uses these times for good - often to help us develop our Christian character. This year I have learnt about delight and appreciating the good things in life - of which there are many, to take the time to savour small moments such as the jacarandas in flower or the smell of a rose in our garden.

I have also been thinking about my bible study group. What a wonderful group of Christian women. During the year, we took it in turns to share about a time of difficulty in our lives and what God taught us through it. I found out so much about these women, but more than this, I was enormously encouraged by seeing how they have persevered - I rejoice in them and from their stories I have gained much encouragement to persevere myself - because they have!

Julie and Julia

poached eggs - 5, originally uploaded by not a hipster.

I confess, I have never poached an egg, until last week when I attempted to poach an egg and it was a complete disaster. I wasted four eggs in the process and was left feeling rather frustrated. After all, I thought I could cook anything. They are my favourite way of eating eggs and this is what I order when eating breakfast out at a cafe. So, it was with much enjoyment that I watched Julie in Julia and Julieattempt to poach an egg with similar results to mine.

It is a delightful film that combines my interests of letter writing, blog writing and cooking together. However, it is more than this, it is also about two relationships between couples who love each other deeply. It is refreshing to see a film that portrays relationships positively. There are two stories that merge. The first is about Julia Child, set in Paris in the early 1950s. Julia is encouraged by her husband to pursue an interest that will occupy her days. She tries hat making, before she settles on learning the art of french cooking - because, as she and her husband both know, she loves food and eating! Julia then begins an eight year journey of writing a cook book in English explaining how to cook french cuisine.

The second story is set in 2002, in Queens New York during the aftermath of 9/11. Julie had been traumatised by this event and is taking time out from writing to answer phone calls for an insurance company. However, her real passions are cooking and writing. She is fascinated by Julia Childs, who wrote the first book for American housewives in english explaining the intricacies of french cookery. With the encouragement of her husband, she creates a blog in which she endeavours to cook every single recipe in Julia's cook book in the next year and document her efforts.

If you love the idea of living in Paris or living in New York, this film will appeal, as there are wonderful glimpses of both cities and their food. I am inspired to get a copy of Julia Child's cookbook - I am not sure that I have ever wanted to bone a duck, but this book will explain how it is done. However, there are all sorts of other tips such as drying pieces of meat with a dry cloth or paper towel to help the meat brown. I might even learn how to make that poached egg, so that I don't have to go out for breakfast to eat one!