The Gift Giver: Review & Giveaway

Christmas is just 10 short weeks away and have you thought of how you are going to celebrate the holidays with your kids and STILL teach them the true reason for Christmas? Jacob Haslem & Nick Allen have written a storybook for kids that teaches kids about Santa and HOW Santa would want us to celebrate Christmas....

Huh?

The Gift Giver

by Jacob Haslem & Nick Allen

ISBN: 9781515273110

$14.95 (hardback)

$8.99 (kindle)

About the book:

The Gift Giver is a children's story book about the origins of the man we have come to know as Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve a boy stirs from sleep to find an old man in the living room, dressed in red, with a bagful of gifts. Excitement soon gives way to disappointment as he finds he has received fewer gifts than he expected. The old man sees the young boy's protest and tells the story of his origins and his motives. As the boy becomes privy to this mystery, a question comes to his mind: is it by magic that the old man accomplishes his task, or is it something else... The lesson he learns will change the way he views Christmas forever!

My thoughts:
I grew up in a family that had Santa in it's Christmas traditions and I was about 8 or so before I realized that he wasn't real. It was the year that dad remarried and I popped up one day in the truck and informed my new stepmom that I didn't think Santa was real. Of course she claimed that I knew he wasn't but I didn't and that was the end of that. Fast forward a couple years and siblings came along and they knew all along that Mom & Dad were Santa. They never had the fun and excitement of Santa & I've always felt bad for them.

Since then I've seen people who want nothing to do with Santa, who wholeheartedly embrace the tradition of Santa and those that straddle the line in between. I've always thought it would be nice to be able to have a tool to use with kids to help them understand WHO Santa was and WHY we include him in our traditions...

The Gift Giver is a perfect tool for that:


The Gift Giver would be ideal to add to your family traditions whether you add it to your Advent Activities, Church Library, Family Devotions, Homeschool or just read it when the kids pull it out - do be prepared for lots of discussions and questions from your kids. This is a very LONG story and may be harder for kids under 4 to comprehend what you are reading. You could try breaking it down and reading maybe a 1/3 of it at a time for the younger kiddos and then leaving time for them to think about what you've read and ask questions - older kids will focus on Santa and the emotions of the boy in the story.
Personally I found the book to be a bit emotional for me and I'm sure others will just shrug it off. We are a family & daycare that talks and breathes in Santa so I will need to make sure it's OK to read the book to the daycare kiddos before I read it to their kids so we'll see how much I pull it out...

Would you like to WIN a copy of this book for your family? The authors are offering a copy of The Gift Giver to one of my very lucky readers. Since I am having to do the mailing this time I need to open it to US winners only (sorry about that). All entries must be for 18+ and located in the continental US! This giveaway will start Wednesday 10/21 and it will end at 12 am on Thursday 10/29. 
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Disclaimer: I was offered a copy of The Gift Giver in exchange for my honest opinion. No money exchanged hands and I was not required to have a positive review. The giveaway copy was provided by the authors but I will be mailing a care package to the winner of the giveaway. =D Thanks for reading GivingNSharing.
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Kid's Lit Review: Sam's Christmas Wish

Sam's Christmas Wish

by George D Durrant

ISBN: 9781609076061

$14.19 (hardcover)

About the book:

Sam Edwards isn't looking forward to Christmas, at least not this year. Since losing his job a few weeks before, he hasn't had any luck in finding a new one. He isn't sure how he can give his family a merry Christmas, and the last thing he wants is charity from his neighbors. But when he falls asleep in his living room – with his shotgun accros his lap just to make sure no one attempts to visit him – he wakes up to find his front porch laden with Christmas goodies. But when he tries to find out who left the presents, the freshly fallen snow reveals no footprints.

Years later, Sam's wife has passed away and his children are grown. Old and sick, Sam remembers the kindness of the anonymous stranger from long ago and wishes for an opportunity to bless another's life. So on Christmas Eve, when he sees his neighbor's house on fire, he hopes that he can be the means for another anonymous miracle.

My thoughts:

Each year at Christmas our family has a tradition to have the youngest reader in the family read the Christmas Story and this book would be a wonderful addition to that tradition. This story encourages families to think about how they can help others – in small ways or big.

The pictures in Sam's Christmas Wish are illustrated by Dan Burr and show the emotion Sam Edwards is going through as he sits in his chair on Christmas Eve trying to protect himself from the shame of accepting help from his friends and family who might want to help them have a Merry Christmas. He is so adament that they not help him that he has called people and warned them that “I'll be watching to see if anybody comes around trying to leave anything at the door!” His discouragement, disappointment and anger is very apparent.

As the years go by after that Christmas Sam softens until near the end of the book we see him wishing that he could do something for someone else anonymously. His family is gone, he rarely sees his children and he is sick – the end of the book is touching, poignant and a tear jerker.

I only have one warning – be prepared to talk with your younger kids about death if you haven't already. The book ends with Sam's death – but it is a very satisfying end to his life as he receives his greatest wish.

Awesome book!

About the author:

George Durrant was born and raised in American Fork, Utah. He's believed in Santa Clause as a child and as a parent. George is a master storyteller and loves telling stores to his 8 children, 34 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.

A Christmas Gift for Rose | Win a KINDLE HDX for you AND a friend!

 

Special Announcement: Tricia Goyer is celebrating the release of her first Christmas Novella, A Christmas Gift for Rose with a giveaway for TWO Kindle Fire HDX's! I'm so excited! I would LOVE to WIN ONE of these! Please enter - and let me know if you win!

~ Tina

Tricia Goyer is celebrating the release of her first Christmas novella, A Christmas Gift for Rose, with a Christmas Gift giveaway! 

Enter to win a NEW Kindle Fire HDX for you AND one for a friend!

One grand prize winner will receive:

 

• A brand new Kindle Fire HDX and one to give away to a friend!
• A Christmas Gift for Rose, by Tricia Goyer for you and your friend!

Four second place winners will receive:

• A Christmas Gift for Rose Christmas pack (includes a recipe card, bookmark, a signed book plate, discussion questions, and a Gathering & Giving handout!)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on October 19th. All winners will be announced October 21st at Tricia's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit Tricia's blog on the 21st to see if you won one of the great prizes! (Or better yet, subscribe to her blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)

Divine Appointments ~ Stocking Stuffer Idea!

 

Divine Appointments is book 2 of a 3 book series and for the most part I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I really liked the main characters of the book - Josie, Lyle, Barb and Marsha and their story was easy to read and follow.  Marsha has a "twist" to her story that I personally felt could be left out of the book and I skipped those parts when I got to them and to be honest I wish the book hadn't closed with her as I felt kind of unsettled when I read it.  Maybe it's a "cliff-hanger" to encourage reading the final book?

Part of the reason I choose this book was that Josie is close to my age and I've been feeling some of the same things mentioned on the back of the book.  It's not often that an author writes a story about a woman who is nearing the middle of her life and starting to notice "changes" so I was looking forward to reading about Josie's experience.

I was also looking forward to reading a Christian fiction book and wanted to see how the author handled situations like pending layoffs, death, marriage and other themes from a Christian perspective.  If you are looking for a story with a strong Christian background you won't find it in this book.  I don't believe that the Bible was ever really quoted and other than Barb who was known for "praying and encouraging" there wasn't much else that encouraged a strong Christian belief system.  I personally would of liked to see more scripture and seeing Josie come to lean on her faith in God as her Savior and Stronghold.  (There is one section where Josie's father marries a woman who is strong in her faith but doesn't expect him to have the same faith.)

I am giving Divine Appointments 3 1/2 stars out of 5.  There is no sexual content or language in this book.  There are discussion questions in the back of the book that you can use to encourage talking about our faith and dating/marriage as Christians or if you are in a book club. I think you'll enjoy the story as Charlene is a very good writer and will definitely keep you turning pages.

Be sure to check out the other 2 books in this series. If you click here and here you'll find them on Amazon and can read the reviews on those. You can also click the pictures of the books at the top and go to their pages. Thanks!

Would you please rank my review? Thanks so much!