Christmas Books from Sleeping Bear Press

Sleeping Bear Press has some new Christmas releases and to kick off your Christmas holiday (yes, I know, the day after Thanksgiving) they have offered a giveaway of some of their new titles. Please note that all titles reviewed below are not involved in the giveaway (although 3 out of 4 of them are!) I explain as we go, so just read between the cover art. =)



The Legend of Papa Noel puts a nice Cajun twist on the idea of Father Christmas. In this book, Papa Noel comes down the Mississippi River to make his deliveries to all the good little girls and boys in the bayou. And just in case you might get lost in the story, there is a Pronunciation Guide on the first page so you can work through these French words and follow this tale. The book is written by Terri Hoover Dunham who was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The illustrations which perfect this story are done by Laura Knorr who caused me to think I was on the Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean ride as I was reading along. Love the dark shadows and alligators that bump into cypress knees, stumps and logs. This book is definitely a different sort of Christmas story, but it's lots of fun!

Slightly more traditional - I suppose - is The Night Henry Ford Met Santa.

Good ol' Henry is having a problem. He can't figure out how to make his cars more economically priced so that more people can afford them. Enter his young son and a little help from Santa, and Henry sees the value of the elves production line! Walla! Henry receives his Christmas present from Santa and our world has not been the same since!

Sleeping Bear Press, as I mentioned, is releasing a few new titles this Christmas season, two of which are the following and both of which are involved in our giveaway today:



Small, Medium and Large is a wordless picture book. However, it does open to the scene of a young girl writing a letter to Santa and expressing the fact that she doesn't need any new toys this year. Instead, she'd like to open up her home to some animal friends. Specifically she'd go for a dog, cat and pony. (Know any young girls like this?) The rest of the book is full of fun animal play in the snow. It's a cozy book to read through and quite adorable.

Lastly we have First Dog's White House Christmas.



In this book, we meet the nameless dog who resembles a current white house pooch, who wants to invite some of his friends to the White House Christmas Gala. Dogs and their owners from all over the world end up attending the Gala and our White House dog learns about Christmas traditions that dogs keep up with their families all over the world. This book is a "sequel" of sorts to First Dog, excepting the fact that the topic of this new title deals with Christmas. I really thought this was a clever way to introduce kids to the idea of different cultural traditions.

Now for the fun! Would you like to win a copy of Small, Medium and Large and First Dog's White House Christmas PLUS one complimentary holiday back (of the two listed above) of your choosing?!!? Here's what you need to do:

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER (as selected by Random.org) is #19 - Krista

Thank you, Sleeping Bear Press, for your generosity and congratulations to Krista!