Best Children's Christmas Book - EVER

Pax won't be here for Christmas this year, but he will defintely be here for Christmas 2011! For several years I've said that I didn't want to 'do' Santa Claus. I don't like the materialism that Christmas has seemingly become and I don't want Pax to be caught up in the 'want' and the 'stuff.' I'll be the first to admit that Santa Claus still comes to visit me and I would be disappointed to learn that he wasn't coming anymore - childish? Maybe. I like the stuff. It's the way I've been groomed. But I don't want that for my child. I want him to want to give more away than he wants to have for himself.

As mom is a kindergarten teacher and spent more than 30 years involved in early childhood development and education, she's my go-to for books. She's helped grow my library of hardback children's books and she recently went through some books she had and gave us about 40lbs of books. As I was going through her stash, she questioned why I didn't want some of what used to be my favorite Christmas books. I turned them down becaues they focused on Santa. I just don't want that...

When Thomas Nelson listed The King's Christmas List as an available book - I wasted no time. It did not disappoint... it's about a little girl, Emma, who had just gotten a playhouse. She gets a letter from the King who invites her to His birthday party. She goes into her playhouse to bring the cake she and her mother made, grabs her favorite teddy bear, a shawl, and her dog (how much did I love that?!) and off she goes to the party...

Along the way, she meets a woman whose son is cold so Emma gives him her shawl. Later there is a little girl crying because she lost her teddy bear, Emma gives the girl her bear. When she gets to the party, she sees everyone giving gifts to one another and she wonders why no one has given a gift to the King. Shu-Shu (her dog, who talks...) runs up to the King to ask Him why and He explains that Emma is the only one who did give Him a gift...

Matthew 25:40, Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.

LOVE THIS BOOK! It's the most perfect Christmas book. I hope that we can teach Pax what Christmas is truly about and that he will be excited to flip through gift catalogs that provide chickens, goats, etc... to families in need. Or that he would want to do something for our friends in Uganda - David and Linda - and their family and our HAI friends. I hope that he understands that not all children have toys or houses.

My only complaint with this book is that there isn't a boy version.

One of my most favorite books ever is Falling Stars. It's out of print now, but it's roughly the same story minus the Christmas part. It's a beautiful story and The King's Christmas List is a wonderful, wonderful updated version.