If You Already Have the New Christmas Mosaic

Please open your books to page 27, get a lovely red (or green) gel pen, and (in your best script handwriting) write down these three book titles:

• Great Joy by Kate Dicamillo/ Bagram Ibatoulline
• What Happened to Merry Christmas? by Robert C. Baker/ Dave Hill
• Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt/ Raul Colon

It seems some brand new, truly GREAT, totally awesome Christmas books were making their debut the same week Christmas Mosaic was dawning.  They are not listed in your Christmas Mosaic...but they should be.

After reading them (and purchasing them to be placed in our Christmas basket this Advent) I could not help but share these books with you.  They are a few mosaic tile-pieces that simply must be added to your "Christmas Mosaic" to make the picture more meaningful, more complete, and more beautiful than it already is.

Great Joy by Kate Dicamillo/ Bagram Ibatoulline is a newly published Christmas book about a little girl, an organ grinder, and a monkey on a cold December street.  Described as a "timeless story of compassion and joy." Beautiful reflection. 

What Happened to Merry Christmas? by Robert C. Baker/ Dave Hill is a beautiful new book which uses a mother's explanations and biblical scripture quotes to explain how Christmas is never missing from the newer "holiday" version society has placed upon our culture.  At the story's end, the mother reminds her son that "holiday" means "holi holy day".  The day is "holy" and that message can be found all around us in the candles, the stars, the gifts, the bells, the angels, and the creches.  The message rings loud and clear.  Whether your child attends public or private or home school, there is a lot of pontential and great discussions to be gleaned from this book.

Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt/ Raul Colon is my new favorite.  As a matter of fact, I have to say it reigns at the top of my Top 5 Christmas Mosaic books and was discovered only a day or two after I posted that message.  It's my favorite for countless reasons.  It is illustrated by a favorite artist of mine.  You can see his work if you scroll down this link.  It is a story shared by the author's mother Angela to her son.  It is about a little girl's concern over a baby left in the cold without so much as a blanket to cover him.  And it is about the assurance of a priest to the little girl that Our Lady will make sure the baby is kept nice and warm.  This book gives me goose snowbumps.

In closing, let me repeat what I wrote in Christmas Mosaic at the start of the booklist:

"This booklist is as endless as the possibilities for Christmas tree decorations.  Even up to the publishing deadline, I was still adding titles.  It was as though I was looking at a Christmas tree and no matter which angle I turned it there was a gaping bookless hole, waiting to be filled.  There will always be a book that someone treasured as a child that escaped me, and there will be new books published this Christmas...and the next.

"That tree never stops grinning at me.  I finally had to let it go and leave it to you to add your own treasured touches.  For this, we have added a few blank pages for you to include your own beloved Christmas books that are not listed here.  In that way, you will add the finished touch to your Christmas reading time and make it truly yours."

Create your family's picture mosaic!

Comments

[Carmen]

Thanks for adding these books! I just checked out Great Joy a few weeks ago because we really like Kate DiCamillo in this house and it looked beautiful. I've been looking through my Catholic Mosaic and I'm pretty inspired! I can't wait. I'm already placing a ton of holds at the library and looking at those I want to purchase for our permanent collection!!! blessings, Carmen

[Ruth]

Happy Thanksgiving, Cay, my friend. I just ordered Christmas Mosaic today. I'm looking forward to it. I was able to get a few books from our library. There's not much in this teeny little town of ours : )