Seasonal children's books to uplift our spirits...

Hi all. I'm having a bit of a melancholy morning. You know how it is - one things goes a bit crappy, and suddenly as if the universe is conspiring against you. ;-) It's just one of those days, tomorrow will be better!

At any rate, I was on Amazon checking my shopping list for any drops in prices on the Kindle books I have my eye on, and I was struck by inspiration for a writing topic today: Cranberry Autumn.

Last Saturday I took Anne to our public library. She picked out some books (several of the ADORABLE Gossie & Friends series), and I picked out a few. The children's books are arranged by author last name, so it's difficult to browse unless you know what you're looking for.  Cranberry Autumn caught my eye because it was shelved near the beginning of the of the alphabet, and because of the title. I LOVE autumn. It's my very favorite time of the year, so I snapped it off the shelf and added it to our pile.

When we got home, we made our way through the books, and truly, I enjoyed them all. I don't know about you, but my kids always want/wanted the EXACT SAME BOOKS READ TO THEM, OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. It's nice when the library brings a bit of variety in our lives. ;-)

I LOVE Cranberry Autumn, it is super charming and quaint, with quirky, fun characters. And indeed, it is part of a longer series entitled Cranberryport, all focused on the same seaside town. The autumn installment of the series has this as its description:

A search of Grandmother's attic turns up a valuable item for Cranberryport's fall antique sale while, at the same time, the wily trickster, Cyrus Grape, threatens to spoil everything, bringing Mr. Whiskers and the rest of the town to the rescue.

Not all of the books are still in print, but you CAN procure them through Amazon's Marketplace. The more popular installments are indeed available new, such as the Christmas and Halloween volumes. I put those on Anne's wish list, but we're heading back to the library this weekend to see what else our branch has in their collection, and we're nerdily excited. 

Do YOU have any favorite children's books, dear reader? Either from your own childhood, or one that you read currently to the children in your life? I would love to add some titles to our library list!

Tea Time with Tiffany #46 - Introverted penguins & spiritual attacks. I promise I'll explain :0

Hello ALL! I'm so glad to have you with me for a very peaceful installment of:

Today I talk about spiritual challenges and how I'm coping with them. I tie in a story about a penguin. I promise, this makes sense in the podcast. ;-) Listen on, dear listener!





**To subscribe to the audio version of Tea Time with Tiffany, just search for it in iTunes or use this link to subscribe via Feedburner in your podcatcher of choice. Intro music is "Tea Ceremony" from PlayonLoop.com

Items mentioned in this episode:

• Tuesday's post about spiritual darkness.
• Baby Penguins Everywhere! board book. I found it, HUZZAH! *pats librarian bun*
• Next Catholic Book Club selection: Church of Spies.  If you want to buy this book rather than going the library route, it is $15.99 for Kindle, and about $20 in hardcover. The paperback version doesn't release until November, as I suspected.

What are your practical suggestions for dealing with spiritual darkness? Also, don't forget to chime in about how we should structure our Church of Spies discussion. Over one month or multiple? Melanie had a great suggestion in the comments of yesterday's post. Leave yours as well!

Catholic Book Club: The Sign of the Carved Cross

Happy book club Wednesday everyone! This month we're doing something a little different and discussing a children's book, part of Lisa Hendey's Chime Travelers series. I chose The Sign of the Carved Cross, since it features St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and you all know that she is one of my very favorites!

This series intrigued me from the outset for two reasons: (1) it is for middle readers (ages 7-10), which is exactly the age group that my son Henry is in now.  So, these are chapter books, but written for kids that are newer to such books; (2) it involves actual encounters with saints via time travel. I mean...I am so jealous of this idea, it's fantastic!! :0

The Sign of the Carved Cross is book 2 in this series, the first being The Secret of the Shamrock and featuring St. Patrick.  Here is the back cover description from the book we chose:

Katie joins her friends in being mean to the new girl, Lily. But suddenly, Katie becomes the new girl—in 1675! She has no idea how she traveled in time to a Native American village, but she’s hoping the young woman she meets will be nicer to her than Katie was to Lily. Tekakwitha is a quiet girl with scars on her face from a terrible disease. Tekakwitha’s family doesn’t accept her because of her faith, and soon she and Katie have to run away in the middle of the night. Will Katie ever find her way back home? Find out in The Sign of the Carved Cross.

So, my impressions. In an totally expected development, given how much I loved the premise from the outset, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. :-) I like the different layers in the story: we have a contemporary piece at the beginning of the book, with Katie, her brother Patrick, and their daily lives at school and home. We identify with Katie, and empathize with her burgeoning desire to fit in with her group of friends, particularly her insecurities about the way she looks. We as the reader can see right away that Katie is jealous of Lily, the new girl, and how this causes her to behave in an uncharacteristically cold fashion. The faith aspect of the story is woven nicely into the intricacies of the plot. It's there in a way that kids can relate to, without it being heavy handed.

Then we move into the historical component, when Katie travels back in time, and one cannot help but fall in love with the future St. Kateri Tekakwitha. We feel anxious for Katie, who is so turned upside down by this unexpected journey, and her worries about getting home to her family. At the same time, however, we see the sweet and welcoming nature of Kateri, and slowly Katie comes to realize how her own unfriendly behavior must have caused a newcomer in a different time period to feel: Lily, back in her contemporary life. The book teaches an important life lesson through the story in a way that is poignant and exciting. The reader can also see how this realization, along with how reverently Kateri practices her Catholic faith despite the persecution she faces, have caused Katie to have a new understanding and appreciation for her own faith.

I absolutely loved the book, and have bought additional copies of the first two books in the series for other children in the targeted age range. Fantastic First Communion gifts, I would say. At $5.99 a book, the price cannot be beat! Lisa Hendey has two new titles in the series coming out in the spring (here and here), and they're available for preorder over at Amazon. These focus on Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi!

Has anyone else read these books with their kids? Either the St. Patrick title or this one? Do chime in with your thoughts!

"No you may NOT drink the holy water!" - An evening with my Catholic children...

I was home with Anne yesterday, and sometime in the late morning I saw her setting up a station of some kind in the dining room. There were wooden cupcakes and pieces from her Melissa & Doug pizza set, a small box, an (unlit) tealight candle, and a few prayer books. When I asked her what it was, she said:

"A stable. Baby Jesus is in here, sshhhhhh Mommy! YOU DON'T WANT TO WAKE HIM UP."

*serious face*

Ah. Baby Jesus was sleeping, and apparently, like toddlers everywhere, he wishes to eat nothing but frosted cupcakes and pepperoni. She begged me for an actual baby Jesus to put "into the fresh straw" (the straw being the small box, she explained) so I allowed her to raid her packed away nativity set for baby Jesus. She was quite happy after that, and placed him adoringly atop her small purple box.

And I think all of this stemmed from our newly embarked upon venture into the Bible storybook that she received from her Godmother (my older sister) back at her baptism. I had tucked it away because it's not a board book, and I didn't want her to destroy the pages when she was smaller. But I came across it the other day and popped it onto her book shelf, since she is now very good with taking care of books. She discovered it literally minutes later ("Look Mommy, a new book!!") and we've been reading it before naps and bed. I have to say, I love this particular Bible storybook. If you're wondering, it is Catholic Bible Stories for Children, put out by Our Sunday Visitor press:

We've owned Bible story books that skip *the Crucifixion* and I'm certain it's because the publisher didn't want the material to be upsetting for children, but really. This book tells the whole story, tough parts in the Old and New Testaments alike, but does it in a gentle and understandable way for children. I give it a thumbs up.

At any rate, Anne really took to the story of the nativity, and hence the stable that now exists in our dining room. Later in the day, I had a spark of inspiration, and asked Anne if she wanted to wear a veil, like Mary. Well, as you can imagine, that went over pretty big:

I mean, did you ever? SO PRECIOUS. I figured all of this pious reenacting would make it a good night to do the house blessing that I keep forgetting to do. At first, Anne was more interested in her Frozen puzzle than in participating, but once she saw Henry wielding the holy water bottle, she quickly took notice:

"Ok, let's move into the living room. Henry, do you have...no! You are not supposed to DRINK the holy water!"

*Henry looks sheepish*

"Holy water?! I WANT TO SQUIRT THE HOLY WATER!"

So now we have little Mary on the scene, demanding to be a part of things, and I will say that she did not attempt to drink the water. She did, however, squirt out enough in small puddles in each room that our socks were wet for the rest of the night. You can't have everything, I suppose. :0 

How are you today, dear reader? :)

Book recommendations from our Christmas & Epiphany stash...

Morning all! I had a better overnight and wake up this morning, my second day of being back to work post-holiday break. Sunday night, I woke up every 60 minutes, looking at the clock in a panic. I HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. Last night was much improved, even after staying up a little later than planned with Mike and my glass of wine to catch up on Downton Abbey.

But I digress (no surprise there...) Before I get on with the main topic for today's post, I wanted to mention the lovely write up Cam has over at A Woman's Place for an Epiphany blessing for your home. There is a link for the prayers to bless a piece of chalk with Holy Water and then bless your house with it, and you can do this yourself in the absence of a priest. Today *is* technically the feast of the Epiphany, although the Church observes it on the Sunday following the feast of the Holy Family. I printed all of the prayers, and so long as I can scare up some Holy Water and a piece of chalk tonight, I plan to do this with the kids!

Ok, so books. I wanted to mention some of the books that I received this Christmas, and some that I gifted this Christmas and Epiphany, since I'm so pleased with them. And yes, I did an Epiphany gift for each child this year! We're celebrating all 12 Days of Christmas over here in our efforts toward incorporating the liturgical year into family life more. Fun. :)

Here are the books that I wanted to mention, figuring that one or more of them might capture your attention as well. I'm going to get all librarian on you and organize them into categories, it's a regular Readers' Advisory over here..

*adjusts bun*

Dance 

I love dance memoirs (I absolutely raved about Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet several months back), and my sister gifted me Dancing on Water: A Life in Ballet, from the Kirov to the ABT:

 This one is intriguing enough to warrant including the description from Amazon:

Dancing on Water is both a personal coming-of-age story and a sweeping look at ballet life in Russia and the United States during the golden age of dance. Elena Tchernichova takes us from her childhood during the siege of Leningrad to her mother’s alcoholism and suicide, and from her adoption by Kirov ballerina Tatiana Vecheslova, who entered her into the state ballet school, to her career in the American Ballet Theatre.

As a student and young dancer with the Kirov, she witnessed the company’s achievements as a citadel of classic ballet, home to legendary names—Shelest, Nureyev, Dudinskaya, Baryshnikov—but also a hotbed of intrigue and ambition run amok. As ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre from 1978 to 1990, Elena was called “the most important behind-the-scenes force for change in ballet today,” by Vogue magazine. She coached stars and corps de ballet alike, and helped mold the careers of some of the great dancers of the age, including Gelsey Kirkland, Cynthia Gregory, Natalia Makarova, and Alexander Godunov. Dancing on Water is a tour de force, exploring the highest levels of the world of dance.

Yes? I can't wait to read it. I also used a gift card to download a book concerning a sub-category of dance fascination to me, Nutcracker Nation: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas Tradition in the New World:

The Nutcracker is the most popular ballet in the world, adopted and adapted by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada every Christmas season. In this entertainingly informative book, Jennifer Fisher offers new insights into the Nutcracker phenomenon, examining it as a dance scholar and critic, a former participant, an observer of popular culture, and an interviewer of those who dance, present, and watch the beloved ballet.

Fisher traces The Nutcracker’s history from its St. Petersburg premiere in 1892 through its emigration to North America in the mid-twentieth century to the many productions of recent years. She notes that after it was choreographed by another Russian immigrant to the New World, George Balanchine, the ballet began to thrive and variegate: Hawaiians added hula, Canadians added hockey, Mark Morris set it in the swinging sixties, and Donald Byrd placed it in Harlem. The dance world underestimates The Nutcracker at its peril, Fisher suggests, because the ballet is one of its most powerfully resonant traditions. After starting life as a Russian ballet based on a German tale about a little girl’s imagination, The Nutcracker has become a way for Americans to tell a story about their communal values and themselves.

Tradition, dance, Christmas?! *swoons* I'm planning to start this this weekend when Mike and I are away on our second honeymoon trip. :)

Pioneering & Other Historical Classics

I've been into a pioneering theme lately, and Mike bought me the new annotated Laura Ingalls Wilder autobiography, Pioneer Girl:

It's on backorder at Amazon, so I haven't received it yet, but I'm super excited to read this when it comes.

Along this theme, I have become obsessed with a series I discovered in early December for children ages 4-8. They are the My First Little House books, and I absolutely LOVE reading these to Anne. I got her several for both Christmas and Epiphany, including Winter Days in the Big Woods:

I plan to add to her collection at Easter. I think Anne looks a lot like the illustrations of Laura, and she agrees. *heart*

My sister Shauna'h bought Anne Ox-Cart Man, an absolutely charming story about a year in the life of a farming family:

And at the last minute, I ended up purchasing  A Little Women Christmas for Anne, and I am SO glad that I did:

The illustrations are absolutely breathtaking, and the story heartwarming. Every morning I find this book in Anne's bed, as she wanted to look through it via her nightlight before falling asleep. :)

Cozy Fiction

This is always a favorite category of mine, and I can't wait to read the new Mitford novel, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good, which my in-laws gave me:

For those who haven't read this series:

           After five hectic years of retirement from Lord’s Chapel, Father Tim Kavanagh returns with his wife, Cynthia, from a so-called pleasure trip to the land of his Irish ancestors.

            While glad to be at home in Mitford, something is definitely missing: a pulpit. But when he’s offered one, he decides he doesn’t want it. Maybe he’s lost his passion.

            His adopted son, Dooley, wrestles with his own passion—for the beautiful and gifted Lace Turner, and his vision to become a successful country vet. Dooley’s brother, Sammy, still enraged by his mother’s abandonment, destroys one of Father Tim’s prized possessions. And Hope Murphy, owner of Happy Endings bookstore, struggles with the potential loss of her unborn child and her hard-won business.

            All this as Wanda’s Feel Good Café opens, a romance catches fire through an Internet word game, their former mayor hatches a reelection campaign to throw the bums out, and the weekly Muse poses a probing inquiry: Does Mitford still take care of its own?

As well, I received as a gift Last Wool and Testament: A Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery:

AND I'm going to be reviewing it tomorrow as part of a new series!

Catholic Young Adult Fiction

You all know that I'm a big fan of Catholic YA books, and my in-laws gave me Olivia's Gift to add to my collection:

You may remember that I reviewed Nancy Carabio Belanger's The Gate back in July and just loved it.  I'm very excited to read one of her other books.

Relatedly, I heard about the latest John Paul 2 High book, Near Occasions (John Paul 2 High Book 5), the other day and immediately used my gift card to download it:

I've written about these books before, I just adore them. I'm looking forward to diving into the latest installment.

Dot-to-Dot Books

For Henry, he's been really into challenging dot-to-dot books, so I picked up several for him including The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1:

These are perfect for kids his age and he's working his way through them at an alarming clip. :0 I have two more on order for him as a late Epiphany gift from the Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book in the World series. 

And lest you think dot-to-dot puzzles are just for kids, 1000 Dot-to-Dot: Cities,was one of Mike's gifts:

 ...and he LOVES it! Each one takes him days to do, so challenging they are indeed.

Saints for Middle Readers

Henry is a huge saint story fan, and he has several books that I've bought him over the years. He had a few books in the St. Joseph Picture Books series, and he told me that those were his favorites. Thus, I decided to complete his collection so that he now has all 12 books:

We read a story each night before he goes to bed, it's become a lovely tradition.

Well. This post certainly got longer than I intended, but I hope it was helpful and gave you some ideas for yourself or your kids! Did you get any new books for Christmas? Do let me know in the comments. :)

Advent feast days: adding in some new traditions this year...

Hello all! Tomorrow is the feast of St. Nicholas, and so I thought I'd commandeer the opportunity to talk about some new things I'm doing this Advent. Related to this endeavor, I will soon be reviewing the first in a series of books about the liturgical year, which focuses on the Advent & Christmas seasons. That post will be up on Tuesday December 17th, so keep an eye out for it! There will also be a giveaway opportunity for the book in question! There are additional volumes that I will review as well, the second of which covers Epiphany and Lent. So excited!!

Ok anyway, I get all crazy when I talk about the liturgical year, because it's just one of my favorite topics. So where was I? Right! The feast of St. Nicholas. It's tomorrow, and this year we will be celebrating it with the kids.

St. Nicholas, of course, is where our Santa Claus tradition originally comes from, and as I emphasized to Henry when we broke the news last year that Santa Claus isn't real, St. Nicholas very much *was* a real person, a bishop. Known for his generosity, the other major story attached to him is in regards to him dropping off 3 bags of gold coins at the home of a man who was contemplating *selling off his 3 daughters* to make do. Good gracious.

We're going to have the kids leave their shoes out by the fireplace, and I bought little bags of chocolate gold coins to place in them. Henry and I will also read St. Nicholas's story in his saint book.

This is a great book, by the way. The stories are written for children' Henry's age (intermediate readers, age 8), and have lots of details that will capture their attention. I bought him the first volume, which begins with the January feasts, through June, to put in his stocking.

Ok, back to St. Nick. I'm also going to put out a small book for each child, as a gift. Yesterday, at Catholic All Year, Kendra drew my attention to a few Advent books for children, one of which concerns St. Nicholas:

The Miracle of St. Nicholas

Although it won't arrive in time for the feast day, I currently have this in my Amazon shopping cart. This Prime shipping speed is turning me into a salivating book hoarder. It will come by Monday, and I will enjoy reading it with Anne leading up to Christmas. I may have also added a wood St. Nicholas doll to my shopping cart. I'm admitting nothing.

Next Friday, December 13th, is the feast of St. Lucy, who is a favorite of Hank's. I think it's the plate of eyes that she's carrying in her hand. :0

While I was adding the St. Nicholas book to my cart (*innocent look*) Amazon "recommended" to me the following:

Lucia, Saint of Light

 

Even though Hank already reads chapter books, and this seems targeted to kids a few years younger than him, I actually think he will love this book. The reviews noted that it's for school aged kids, definitely too difficult for toddlers and preschoolers to understand, and when I mentioned a St. Lucy book to Hank last night, he gasped in joy. He loves her. This is also in my cart. *shifty look*

 

The tradition on the feast of St. Lucy, in Hank's words (since we have read her story in his various saint books at least a dozen times):

 

"So, the youngest daughter, that's Anne, right? She should wake us up on that day wearing a crown of lit candles. Carrying coffee and special sweet rolls."

 

Yeeeaahhhhh. So, we're not going to be following the St. Lucy tradition to the letter. Or, at least until we can trust Anne not to start a fire. But I'd like to look into baking some special rolls for that morning. 

Oh. And while I was shopping, Amazon had to go and recommend this:

The Legend of the Pointsettia

 

I mean, do they have no shame? I see that the book is about a little Mexican girl's devotion to the Christ Child, and references Our Lady of Guadalupe, feast day of December 12th!!!! 

 

Right, it's in my cart. I'm planning to checkout before I leave work. :0

 

I'm very excited about what we have planned from now until Christmas. We have done family Advent activities for many years, but this year I am really feeling the *Advent* message, rather than focusing on Christmas long before that actual celebration. And I've been very annoying about telling other people about Advent too, and how fabulous it is, and how they should get in on a piece of the action.

 

It's Advent fever I'm telling you! :)