Ok! It's time to start reviewing Christmas Picture books! I can't wait. We have LOTS around here, and I have to tell you about my new favorite.
Just out this year, Christmas is Here is illustrated by one of my new favorite illustrators, Lauren Castillo. Maybe you've seen some other books of hers. This book is a favorite in our house. Her style is so fresh and different than anything else we have in the house, which is so attractive to me. My kids love her books, and will look at her illustrations so closely. Though they are loose and naive in a sense, the illustrations almost seem to move and come alive. I love it.
So, Christmas Is Here is super special because it is the text from the Bible! Straight from Luke, this is the story that most families read every night on Christmas Eve as they are acting out the nativity. I have never realized up until this point, that I've never seen a picture book depict the Biblical text before! And only the text...no add-ins, or summaries. The first few pages are wordless, because it starts with a family walking past a live nativity, and the rest is the little boy imagining the first Christmas as it is being read aloud to him. So precious.
So, I see a Christmas Tradition starting: Reading this book at Christmas around the tree. We're starting our Christmas reading on the 1st, and I am so happy this is part of our collection!
This is a new favorite, because it's the story that we all know and share. It's also really dear to me, because the book that I illustrated, Christmas Goodnight coming NEXT Christmas, has some similarities that were fun to notice too.
You can get Lauren's book here .
And let me mention too, that Lauren is taking a trip to Romania where she is giving away 500 books to orphan children this Christmas. It's even being translated in Romanian! But to help with the funds, Lauren is donating 100% of her ETSY shop sales to the cause. You can visit her lovely site here, and know that for every print you get, a child will be getting a picture book of the biblical story of Christmas!
Thanks Lauren for this wonderful book! Hope you all enjoy.