The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski

Ever since I asked Divya to enable me to post at her blog, there has been only one question that was bothering me - what book do I review because I have read tons in 2014 and purchased equal amounts. Thankfully I found the answer when I went to work on Jan 2nd after a much deserved break .

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski is what I happened to pick at a Best deals on books  facebook page recently , little knowing its story . From its cover it seemed to be a story about a little boy and his family  and a boy probably who was all of 5 .

Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows that he is grappling with the loss of his young wife and infant son,whose mementos he keeps locked in an unopened drawer

However one early winter's day, a widow and her 7 year old son knock at his door with a gentle request -  she requests him to crave a new manger scene for them by Christmas and requests that her son watch him work since the child hopes to be a woodcarver one day.

So stern and strict is the wood carver that the little boy  even dreads moving his leg while watching him carve , while his mom sits at another corner knitting

You would probably let out a little gasp as the boy gathers courage to correct the best wood carver in town by stating that the sheep he is carving look a tad bit sad and they were supposed to be cheerful because they were meant for baby Jesus

The widow and her son show up often at his door, the little boy not mincing words in letting the best woodcarver know that his carvings were not perfect because the cow in the manger was supposed to be proud because it was meant for baby Jesus.

By now Jonathan has gotten used to the little boy and him pointing out mistakes in his carvings so much so that Jonathan asks the little boy how exactly he wants the rest of the scene to be presented before he begins working on them.

There is also a beautiful scene where Jonathan holds the little boy's hands and teaches him to carve a robin.

You would tear up when the woodcarver cannot get the drawings of Mary and the baby right
and finally pulls out a portrait of his dead wife holding his infant son. He holds it close to his chest , sheds a tear or two . He finally takes this picture to his workbench and his fingers work quickly and surely .  He works all though the night.


Early next morning,  on Christmas, the widow has a surprise at her door . It is the wood carver with the  nativity scene complete .  The nativity scene is exactly what the little boy had envisaged - 2 very happy sheep because they were with Jesus, a proud cow and an angel , a serious and a caring Joseph, Mary wearing a rough woolen shawl , looking down and loving her precious baby son. Jesus was smiling and reaching up to touch his mothers face

The story ends with the wood carver holding hands with the 7 year old and his mother and making it to Christmas service.

The village boys no longer called him Mr.Gloomy  because for the very first time they see Jonathan throw back his head, showing his eyes as clear blue as an August sky and laugh.

This is a delightful Christmas story with a touch of romance.

Booked!

'Picking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you'd most like not to lose.' 

I was reminded of this quote by Neil Gaiman when Divya contacted me to pen a post on some of our favorite children's books. My four year old is an avid reader who loves to read anything from 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' to a blender instruction manual (true story!), so picking out a few of her most-loved books is not easy.

While 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'Goodnight Moon', the Olivia series etc have been through repeated readings in our house, nothing is more dog-eared than the Mouse books by Ellen Stoll Walsh. I first found 'Mouse Paint' at our local library when Saachi was two. The story is about the adventures of three mice having fun with paint while outwitting a cat. The book also introduces concepts of colour and what happens when primary colours are mixed. With big bright collage illustrations and just a single line on every page, this turned out to be something that Saachi easily understood and enjoyed when read to. 

Her fondness for the simple narrative and colorful pictures in this book led me to look for more by the same author and I was happy to find 'Mouse Count' and 'Mouse Shapes' that follow similar themes about mice outsmarting their predators while playing with numbers and shapes. 

Though its been more than two years since we discovered these delightful stories, Saachi is yet to get bored of them. These much-loved books have been thumbed through many, many bedtimes - so much so that they are nearly in tatters but she refuses to get rid of them. 






I highly recommend these simple, colourful books for your little ones. Watch out for the cat!





Congrats to Divya, Abhay and this blog for sharing Abhay's reading journey with us for four years! I hope to enjoy many more years of posts and suggestions on reading material and resources. Happy Birthday and a very Happy New Year!

Congratulations to Divya - Our favourite Children's Book!

          Hello all. First of all, Season's Greetings to all of you and wish you a very Happy New Year!

          It's a great privilege for me to write a guest post for Divya whose blog I used to follow religiously when I was new to parenting and children's literature or whether I used her blog as a reference point for setting up my children's book library! Heartiest Congratulations for completing four years of this blog and looking forward to something more from you - maybe transitioning to chapter book reviews perhaps! Who knows? And lastly, a big thank you for inviting me and giving me a chance to write on your blog!

          Well, my daughter is just 3 years old. But, I have read extensively to her and I literally thank my stars for making her love books like me! All our bonding moments revolve around books! It's a herculean task to pick our favourite book but as promised to Divya, I have chosen one.

          So our most favourite book is No, David by David Shannon. An almost wordless picture book, it tells the story of a young boy called David doing all sorts of things which infuriates his mother. Often, her mother prohibits him doing all wrong things or admonishes and advises him to behave properly (and almost always shouts No, David). But, kids being kids, they really test our patience and the boundaries we set for them. But, they also know that at the end of the day, everything will be ok and their mom loves them! So, yes, David is also caressed and loved by his mom despite acting so naughtily.

          I had read many books to Swara but this will always be special because it struck a chord between us and that was the first time we laughed hysterically! When I was reading to her, we were just two balls of giggles and chuckles. She immediately took to this book as a fish to water. For many days to come, whenever she behaved like David, I made it a point to yell "No, Swara" at the top of my voice. And then, we both used to laugh like insane girls. Until now, no book made us bond so well and gave an opportunity for hysterical laughter!

           This book was conceived by the author when his mom presented him a set of pictures which he drew when he was a kid. And, thus the book No, David was born which went on to become a Caldecott Honor Book. David Shannon has done all the illustrations beautifully in such a way that one reading of the book is enough for the kids to understand what is 'naughty behaviour'. It's a must-read if you are feeling blue or want to bond with your children! And I'm sure even after repeated readings of the book, you will not be able to say 'Noooo, not again!'  

The Elephant in the Tree - A Guest post by Shalini

Heartfelt congratulations to you Divya for completing four years of  this amazing blog of one story a day! Though I confess I have not read every post on this, I have read quite a few of them and each one has been a complete reading delight for me and my daughter Ananya. In fact she has a section in her book shelf which she calls Divya aunty's books. You have used your strength of language and passion for books to perfection in this blog. I am sure many parents have used this blog to introduce their kids to the beautiful world of stories and inculcate the joy of reading in them. 

Using this opportunity I wish this blog takes the next step and gets compiled into a book very soon. 

For this occasion I have chosen a book which is as much my favourite as Ananya's called " The Elephant in the Tree" by Mallika Nagarajan. This is the story of a little girl called Mahi. One day while enjoying her favourite fruit, a Mango a question pops into her innocent mind as to what would happen if there were no mangoes to eat? What would she do? 

That night when she retires to bed she see a strange little elephant with seven trunks on tree outside her window. The elephant called Airavat has come to seek Mahi's help. Airavat pleads to Mahi that there is no water in his world and the Tree of Life which sustains all forms of life is sick and he needs her help. Airavat then gently sucks up Mahi and takes her to his world where everything like the Tree of Life is brown, dry and sad. Airavat and Mahi both get down to work immediately and start planting trees to make rain. They plant innumerable trees and water them. Airavat sucks up the water and blows them into big swollen clouds. soon it starts raining with large shimmering drops of water. The Rain works its magic and slowly the Tree of Life comes alive and soon a new beautiful world starts forming in front of Mahi. Even Airavat turns pale green covered with green leaves and flowers. Both Airavat and Mahi flop to the ground tired but happy and satisfied with the world they helped spring back to life.

Airavat and Mahi decide to create this magic in Mahi's world too, so they go around planting trees night after night and show people how to use the tree magic to bring in rain. Mahi plants the seed of every mango she eats and her friends and family join in too.

Airavat in this story is borrowed from mythology where Indra the rain God rides on Airavat and brings rain on earth by sucking up water in its trunk and spraying it into clouds.

This amazing story book is also a visual delight with its colourful illustrations and is a must read. A very simple story to teach kids about conservation and saving trees so that the "Tree of Life" can work its magic and life on this planet can go on and every kid like Mahi can delightfully enjoy the mango fruit in abundance.

Thank you Divya for inviting me to write this guest post. I enjoyed it thoroughly and looking forward to read more of your posts.

'Tis the season!

First appeared on  Parent Edge blog

I cannot believe that we are already onto the end of December this year! In a way, December is special for various reasons – December signals the onset of winter which ranges from mild to severe depending on which part of the country one resides in and thus is touted as one of the best times for travel around tropical destinations. December is a month to reflect on the turn of events in the year that has gone by and may be plan for what’s to be in store in the year ahead! Well, December also is a time to get into the spirit of Christmas and lose oneself in its trappings. Whether one celebrates Christmas or not at home, you cannot miss the season’s specialties – the carol singing at a near-by church or at a neighbour’s house, star mounted houses, malls and restaurants with Christmas decorations, sinful Christmas treats galore at bakeries or Santa sightings that excite not just the little ones  - the fa-la-la fun is everywhere!!!:-) 

So how about a few Christmas reads to get warmed up for the Christmas season ? Besides the regular Christmas reads such as “The Sweet Smell of Christmas” by Patricia Scarry  or “The Night before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore  or “The Polar Express”  Chris Van Allsburg or any of the Christmas specials on popular children’s books’ characters, I came across the vintage Little Golden book series on Christmas stories brought out by Random house publications. As many as six titles centered around Christmas, this series is ideal for younger kids to get acquainted with the story of how Christ was born in a stable in Bethlehem in “The Christmas Story” by Jane Werner and Eloise Wilken, or the story of the darkhorse reindeer named Rudolph who became Santa’s guiding light in “Rudolph, the red nosed Reindeer”  by Rick Bunsen and Arkadia or  story with a Disney twist in “Disney’s Mickey Mouse flies the Christmas  Mail” by Annie North Bedford and the story of how animals welcomed baby Jesus in “Animals’ Christmas eve” by Gale Wiersum and Alexandra Steel Morgan. This classic series throws light on the spirit and meaning of Christmas with the aid of poetic texts and simple yet charming illustrations that are sure to engage your little one!     

 

If you are looking for a Christmas read for older kids who read by themselves, then “Cool Christmas stories”  compiled by Elizabeth Holland is a worth a look. This book includes Christmas stories by Sam Hay, Dyan Sheldon and Martin Waddell. While some of the stories seem to thrive on traditional seasonal trappings like Santa sliding down the chimney to fill up the stockings with gifts, or the concept of Man on the moon, something I feel the young readers may have outgrown, the stories however do make an interesting read. The book can also double up as a read-aloud, if you have an emergent reader not yet comfortable with devouring a chapter book on his own. Though minimal, the illustrations are whacky enough to make our ever jaded/skeptical  younger generation take notice!:-) Stories such as the hilarious  fantasy-within-a-fantasy adventure of Santa facing trouble during the delivery of gifts in “Troublesome year for Father Christmas” by Sally Grindley  or the relatable story of a young girl who’s persistence gets her parents to give in and almost celebrate Christmas in “Not quite Christmas” by Dyan Sheldon  and the daring story of a girl spreading the warmth and cheer of Christmas that wins over a  fire-spitting dragon in “Imelda and the Dragon” by Martin Waddell  or the realistic take on the reason behind Stagger, one of Santa’s reindeers, being Santa’s weakest link in “The Clumsy Reindeer” by Elizabeth Holland - are all sure to make it a cool  Christmas vacation for young readers this year! So here’s wishing everyone a merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!!!