Category: Christmas

December Is Made for Baking!

11/29/2020

Let the snow fall and the baking begin!

*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.

Winter starts off with a month of baking and cooking for Christmas and Hanukkah! December is the National Egg Nog and Fruit Cake month, along with many National Day‘s for various baked goods (Pie Day, Cookie Day, Brownie Day, Pastry Day and others.) My First Baking Book by Rena Coyle and the DK cookbook, Mommy & Me Bake, are great beginner baking books. And don‘t forget to share all of your own favorite holiday recipes! Consider sharing these baking themed stories: The Baker‘s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard, Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles by David A. Adler, or one of Jan Brett‘s Gingerbread stories (Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, Gingerbread Christmas). So, get busy in the kitchen and bake some goodies to share. Bring a plate of delectable treats to your neighbors and those who can’t bake for themselves or live alone. Teach your children to pay it forward by spreading the kindness of the season and then snuggle up and read together!

Looking for more children's cookbooks? Find our favorites at the bottom of our book list:
Baking, Cooking, Gardening & Food Related Books

December
National Eggnog and Fruitcake Month

1st: National Pie Day

Peyton Picks the Perfect Pie by America's Test Kitchen Kids

Porcupine's Pie by Laura Renauld

All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson

Ugly Pie by Lisa Wheeler

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet

The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson

A Apple Pie by Kate Greenaway

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman

How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. by Marjorie Priceman

4th: National Cookie Day

Cookies!: An Interactive Recipe Book by Lotta Nieminen

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

The Cookie Fiasco (Mo Willems' Elephant & Piggie Like Reading) by Dan Santat

The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? by Mo Willems

The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson

7th: National Cotton Candy Day

Fairy Floss: The Sweet Story of Cotton Candy by Ann Ingalls

Cotton Candy Clouds by Sara D. Moore

Captain Bad Breaker and the Cotton Candy Ship by L.L. Faer and E. Raven

8th: National Brownie Day

If You Give a Mouse a Brownie by Laura Numeroff

Clark the Shark: Too Many Treats by Bruce Hale

9th: National Pastry Day

10th: Hanukkah Begins

Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles by David A. Adler

Meet the Latkes by Alan Silberberg

12th: National Gingerbread House Day

The Gingerbread House by Laura Gia West

Gingerbread Mouse by Katy Bratun

Charlie's Gingerbread House by Melissa Ivey Staehli

A Year of Gingerbread Houses by Kristine Samuell

Gingerbread Houses by Christa Currie

Don't forget about Jan Brett's Gingerbread series as well (see above)!

13th: National Cocoa Day

From Cocoa Beans to Chocolate by Bridget Heos

15th: National Cupcake Day

Pete the Cat and the Missing Cupcakes by Kimberly & James Dean

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake by Laura Numeroff

Little Mouse and the Big Cupcake by Thomas Taylor

Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes by Jane O'Connor

Camilla the Cupcake Fairy by Make Believe Ideas Ltd.

16th: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

17th: National Maple Syrup Day

Maple Syrup from the Sugarhouse by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton

Almost Time by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney

The Sweetest Season by Elissa Kerr

From Maple Tree to Syrup by Melanie Mitchell

M is for Maple Syrup: A Vermont Alphabet by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds

25th: Christmas Day

Christmas Cookie Day! by Tara Knudson

The Christmas Cookie Sprinkle Snitcher by Robert Kraus

A World of Cookies for Santa by M. E. Furman

For a more complete list of Christmas titles, look at our Holiday Books list.

26th: National Candy Cane Day

The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

Katie the Candy Cane Fairy by Thomas Nelson

28th: National Chocolate Day

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young

Margret & H. A. Rey's Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory

From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate by Robin Nelson

This year of focusing our blogs on our Bookworm Bakers division, where we blend baking, cooking and gardening with literacy, has come to an end. We hope that you will embark on filling your children’s growing years and beyond with memories of baking, cooking and gardening. These offer the best way to learn math and reading naturally through real world, hands-on experiences, building life skills and creating lasting memories that will hopefully be cherished and passed down to future generations. That is why we encourage you to write down family recipes and your own memories of childhood, for all too soon they will be forgotten and disappear forever. I think about the stories my mother has shared about my grandmother and her cooking and the get-togethers with other families who came to this country with her. I never had the chance to meet my grandmother, but I do have my mother’s memories and photos, and my grandmother’s own cookbook and handwritten recipes, so I do feel a sense of connection to my past. If we don’t document our life, past and present for our children, a bit more of our heritage will be lost and we will be unable to reclaim it in the future.

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

-Kate @ BTBL

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 2 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

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'Tis the season to be reading!

11/26/2019

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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.

The winter season begins with the last month of the year and the celebration of several holidays, depending upon culture. This is the time of year when families gather from far and wide around the table to celebrate the season and the joy of the holidays. It is also when time honored family recipes emerge to once again take center stage. This is not the time to relegate the children to the play room but to include them in the preparation of the family meal. Cooking is a wonderful way to engage all of the senses, producing memories that resurface with the scent of certain foods and is also a wonderful way to boost reading and math skills in children without them even knowing it. Cooking also builds self-esteem, confidence and teaches life skills. Planning menus, choosing and reading through recipes and writing out a grocery list all involve reading and as a meal is prepared, math and science skills are engaged (to further enhance these skills, double or cut a recipe in half).

Cooking, especially during the holidays, is a cross-cultural experience that helps us explore our own heritage as well as other cultures and allows for an opportunity to learn where our food comes from and the people involved. To support this idea consider including the following books along with your traditional holiday favorites:

For additional baking/cooking and holiday related stories, take a look at our book lists.

What's happening in December?

1st: Author Jan Brett’s Birthday - Brett has numerous books that lend themselves well to the winter season. Her beautiful illustrations offer detailed depictions of animals and people from various locales and cultures. Consider The Mitten, Annie and the Wild Animals and Home for Christmas as well as the classics The Twelve Days of Christmas and The Night Before Christmas.

5th: Walt Disney’s Birthday - Need we say more? Disney is an industry unto itself. Read about the man himself in the Who Was? series Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart or another Disney biography. You can then further explore the wonderful world of Disney through the many Disney characters we all know and love.

7th: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Take this opportunity to search online, visit your local library or bookstore for age appropriate books to learn about this day in American history.

10th: Poet Emily Dickinson’s Birthday - Share Dickinson’s poems with your child. Consider Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin or Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson and edited by Susan Snively. Also, look out for Jane Yolen's picture book biography Emily Writes: Emily Dickinson and Her Poetic Beginnings coming out in February 2020.

Melvil Dewey’s Birthday - A great time to teach children about the Dewey Decimal System and visit your local library to see it in action. Consider Do You Know Dewey? by Brian P. Cleary and The Great Dewey Hunt by Toni Buzzeo.

11th: Author William Joyce’s Birthday - Think Rolie Polie Olie and The Guardians of Childhood. Consider our personal favorite The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and look for the short film on YouTube.

30th: Author Mercer Mayer’s Birthday - Known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series. With hundreds of books to choose from it shouldn’t be difficult to find one or more to read to your child.

31st: New Year's Eve - Celebrate the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new with Natasha Wing's The Night Before New Year's.

Remember to take this time at the end of the year to build fond memories with your children as you celebrate family traditions of old as well as introduce new traditions. Try to always include a book at the end of the day or at the beginning of a meal or even while waiting for those cookies to come out of the oven.

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits,
lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.”
Alain de Botton

We want to pass along a word of thought. As we discuss family time and building memories, we just want you to keep in mind that those warm and fuzzy moments that you remember with your own mother or grandmother will never be passed down if you don‘t teach your own children to cook and bake and value time spent together. Grandma‘s timeless recipes will be forgotten and a little bit more of your heritage will be lost. Give your children an appreciation of their ancestors and family history while building memories that they in turn will want to pass along to the next generation.

Happy holidays from our family to yours!

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 4) for Kate, and two sons (now 1 and a newborn) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

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The Mad Holiday Rush

11/13/2019

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*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.

As the mad holiday shopping rush begins, we like to think that parents will choose gifts wisely, but that’s not often the case. Today’s media has a grip on our children, showing them an endless array of useless, mind-numbing gadgets that seem to serve no purpose but to make someone money and when our children see these, they feel they “need” them. “But mom, I need that” is the phrase I often hear from my four-year-old. How quickly they learn. But children need to play, and not only on a digital device.

Play is essential to the developing child because it contributes to cognitive, physical, social and emotional well-being. Play is also essential for healthy brain development and is the best way for children to explore the world around them. The simplest way to encourage play is by providing plenty of toys. So, understanding that play is the work of children, it is essential that we as parents provide them with toys that stimulate the imagination, build creativity and promote problem solving skills. The nonprofit, National Association for the Education of Young Children, asked two researchers about what their work tells us about toys, children and play. Jeffrey Trawick-Smith (Professor of Early Childhood Education at the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University) states that one trend that emerged from the studies is that “basic is better,” meaning toys that are open-ended and can be used in multiple ways, such as building blocks, vehicles and construction toys. He also found that the highest scoring toys were those that “prompted problem solving, social interaction, and creative expression in both boys and girls. Interestingly, toys that have traditionally been viewed as male oriented—construction toys and toy vehicles, for example—elicited the highest quality play among girls.” So be sure to set aside any preconceived notions you have about toys and gender and sometimes even about the recommend age (though remember to keep safety at the forefront) and choose toys that force children to think outside the box and utilize their imagination and creative energies. Perhaps even let them play with the box, which always seems to be the most fun.

An observation and thought I would like to share with you is the dismay I feel when I see kids who live in a totally digital world because I don’t know what it will be that will generate their memories in the future. I’m one of those pack rats that saved all my toys and today I love sharing my Fisher Price Briarberry Bears and accessories, Polly Pockets, Barbies, Beanie Babies, Puzzle Place set and others with my four-year-old. She loves to see what I played with as a child. Even though some of those toys still exist, they generally are not in the form that I had. When I get them out for her they bring back my own memories and show her what the world I grew up in was like. With the Christmas Wish Book and toy stores a thing of the past, I see children with less actual physical toys and instead games that are downloaded. What will they have to look back on and what will they share with their children? Just keep in mind that what is happening in their life today will be the memories that they will look back upon. What memory would you like your children to have in the future and what memories and toys will they be able to share with their own children?

Happy play and memory making!

-Kate @ BTBL

Author

We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 4) for Kate, and two sons (now 1 and a newborn) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.

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Give the Gift of Reading!

12/15/2018

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Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.
-Neil Gaiman-

As the holiday season approaches the focus tends to be on gift giving and often it’s searching for something to wrap and not necessarily a gift that takes the giver or receiver into consideration. One gift that can be a reflection of both the giver and receiver is the gift of reading. The gift of a book is one way to reveal the giver’s character, sharing their particular love of literature as well as offering to the receiver what it is that strikes their fancy or suggesting new genres or titles. Books and reading is something that can enhance everyone’s life bringing romance, fantasy, humor or whimsy. It can teach, be uplifting, calming or simply be fun. It is a gift that can be held on to for life or passed on for others’ enjoyment. We love finding timeworn books in antique stores that have special messages written in them from the giver but are saddened to find that they have been discarded and not passed on to another or held as a special remembrance of the giver. These books have history and memories and are the ones that we at BTBL will often snag because we appreciate that someone took the time to select that particular book and write a thoughtful dedication or personal message in its cover and are honored to be able to include these books on our shelf.

As avid bibliophiles, we will always enjoy giving the gift of reading. We love looking for a book that will bring joy or inspiration to the reader, a special bookmark to mark a pause, key chains or jewelry that announces one’s love of books or creating a gift basket of sorts by pairing books with complementary gifts. Any gift that showcases books and reading is a gift worth giving and receiving for it is a gift that will endure. So, share your passion for books with the ones you love this holiday season.

Happy holidays and reading!

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25 Days of Christmas Books!

11/26/2017

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Deck the halls with lots of books… Falalalala…la lalala.
To the bookshelf, let’s all look… Falalalala…la lalala.
Don we now our reading glasses… Falala… lalala… la la la.
Browse before the old year passes… Falalalala… la lalala.

Tis the season to be reading!
Is there anything better than cuddling up with your loved ones before a warm fire and sharing a story?
No, there really isn't. And it is that much better when you can combine that special bonding time with the magic and excitement of the holiday season. It is time to start a new holiday tradition:
a Christmas book Advent calendar!

You are probably familiar with the idea of a Christmas Advent calendar: counting down the days of Advent leading up to Christmas Day. There are many, many different types of Advent calendars out there, from traditional, religious ones that feature a manger scene to more secular variations that feature holiday scenes with Santa or popular television characters. And, of course, most Advent calendars also feature some sort of little treat for each day as you count down. Well, we here at BTBL are big fans of the book Advent calendar as it blends the magic of the season with the joy of reading! It is the best!!

An example of a Christmas book Advent from Raising Readers.

What is a book Advent calendar? The most common way to go about the book Advent we have seen is to gather 25 Christmas stories, wrap them in festive wrapping paper and place them in a basket or under the tree. Then, each night at bedtime (or after dinner or whatever time works for you and your family) your child picks out one of the books to unwrap and you all snuggle up for a festive read aloud! It’s that simple! You could get a little more specific with the activity by numbering the books so that the stories correspond to the date, such as reading The 12 Days of Christmas on the 13th and The Night Before Christmas on the 24th, but the basic idea is to read one Christmas book each night as a way to celebrate the season. The books can be new, used or from your local library! It's all up to you.

Here is a list of titles to help get you started with your book Advent:

Monster Needs a Christmas Tree by Paul Czajak
Llama Llama Holiday Drama and Llama Llama Jingle Bells by Anna Dewdney
A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel
Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho! by Doreen Cronin
Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad! by Mercer Mayer
A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe
Reindeer Christmas by Mark Kimball Moulton
Little Blue Truck’s Christmas by Alice Schertle
Memoirs of an Elf by Devin Scillian
Here Comes Santa Cat by Deborah Underwood
The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates
Madeline’s Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans
Santa Rex by Molly Idle
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg*
Santa Knows by Cynthia & Greg Leitich Smith
Jingle Bugs by David A. Carter
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
S is for Santa: A Christmas Alphabet by Greg Paprocki
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
How to Catch an Elf by Adam Wallace
The Night Before the Night Before Christmas by Natasha Wing
The Night Before Christmas (any version your family likes)
Christmas is Here: Adapted from the King James Bible, illustrated by Lauren Castillo

For more title ideas take a look at our Holiday Book List.

Also, check out this variation on the idea from Reading Confetti.

Share photos of your book Advent calendars and tell us a bit about your family traditions in the comments!

Happy holidays and happy reading!

-Kate from BTBL

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Back to Basics

December Is Made for Baking!

Let the snow fall and the baking begin!

Author

'Tis the season to be reading!

What's happening in December?

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits,
lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.”
Alain de Botton

Author

The Mad Holiday Rush

Author

Give the Gift of Reading!

Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.
-Neil Gaiman-

25 Days of Christmas Books!

Author

Archives

Categories

Back to Basics

December Is Made for Baking!

Let the snow fall and the baking begin!

Author

'Tis the season to be reading!

What's happening in December?

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.” Alain de Botton

Author

The Mad Holiday Rush

Author

Give the Gift of Reading!

Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.-Neil Gaiman-

25 ﻿Days of Christmas Books!

Author

Archives

Categories

“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits,
lights of day, smells, textures of carpet.”
Alain de Botton

Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.
-Neil Gaiman-

25 Days of Christmas Books!