Little Star & Some Fun Reading Ideas for December

Note: Yeah, the Christmas stuff is just going to keep coming from here on out so I hope you don't get sick of it too quickly! I do have a few special giveaways coming up that are scheduled for right after Thanksgiving so keep an eye out for those. In the meantime, I have been delighting myself in preparing myself and my family for the upcoming Christmas/Advent season.

One book we added to our collection this year, courtesy of Waterbrook Press, is Little Star, by Anthony DeStefano. Some of you will recognize the author's name from his popular little book entitled This Little Prayer of Mine (which I haven't read but I've noticed people raving about online.)

Little Star isn't exactly accurate in terms of the Advent season, but it is a touching Christmas tale. It is the story of Little Star who is a tiny little star in the galaxy. All of the other stars ignore him for his small size. There is a lot of talk and chatter between all the twinkling starry host because they understand that one of them would be rewarded for shining the brightest on the day that a special king would make his appearance on earth. All of the stars think themselves the best and the brightest and are sure that they can outshine all of the rest. However, when the moment comes and baby Jesus is born, the other stars scof at His small size and seeming insignificance.

All of the stars become prideful except, of course, for Little Star. Little Star understands that the Baby Jesus is king and that He purposefully came as a little baby and was born in a dingy stable. With this knowledge, the joy that is inside of Little Star bursts forth and he shines brightly down on the baby, keeping Baby Jesus warm through the night. (I'm not saying that this book is theologically accurate - it's just a cute Christmas story that focuses on the bright star which, of course, eventually leads the Wise Men to the child.)

Little Star burns brightly all through the night which eventually causes him to burn himself out. He is no more but, as the book states, that is why people place a star on the tops of their Christmas trees so that they can remember the star that shown brightly over the Christ Child.

It's definitely a book I am happy to add to our line-up.

Speaking of which, last year Amy over at Hope is in the Word talked about how she had planned out her Christmas reads for her kids and wrapped up each book like a present. Each day the girls would get to open their book to read that story for the day. I thought that was such a clever idea that I purposed to do the same this year. One of you asked me if I had already pulled out my Christmas books and yes, I have. I pulled them out so that I could sort through them, schedule out our advent lessons and mark certain books to be read on particular days to coincide with various family activities and am in the process of wrapping them up. Not only am I certain that the kids will enjoy the thrill of having a "present" to open each day of December (that we will then read aloud!) but it also helps me work through some of my old and less-favored wrapping paper!

I think this idea:

1. Keeps the excitement of reading Christmas books alive for the month;
2. Engages kids with the idea that reading is FUN;
3. Cleans out my wrapping paper; and
4. Builds special memories.

I'm just trying to coordinate myself and make sure I number all of the presents appropriately to match with our calendar! It's a little bit more work on my part, but I think in the end I will find this more than worth the time put into setting it all up!

So thanks, Amy, for the tip!

Furthermore, thank you Waterbrook Press for offering us another fun story to read during the month of December!