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My Elf on the Shelf alternative-book recs needed!


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We do not do the whole Santa thing in our house, and likewise, the whole Elf on a Shelf craze would not work. Regardless, I am not a fan of the whole 'eyes are watching you so adjust your behavior accordingly' idea.

 

That being said, at least part of the premise of EOTS sounds like a lot of fun! So I have decided to create our own version, combined with the idea of a book tree, to count down the days to the holiday, and to inject a bit of educational holiday fun into the month.

 

My dd is a bit of a geography/culture nut so that will be the stepping point. I have purchased a stuffed bear that is attired in world traveling gear, and am planning on sending the bear to a different country everyday in December. I will still let her hunt for the bear around the house in the morning: Each day I will have his passport stamped with a different country, give him that countrie's flag, and any other particular trinkets I can come up with to fit the country of the day.

 

The holiday aspect will come from the book tree...you know the kind, where a stack of books is wrapped up prettily, arranged in the shape of a 'tree' and one is unwrapped and read each evening? I want to coordinate each book (or couple of books for the day) with the country of the day, including non-fiction info for the country and specific holiday stories for that country. It would be lovely to have popular seasonal books from different countries, whether or not they celebrate Xmas, similar, or just a holiday in December.

 

So any help from the Hive? What are your favorite books on Xmas traditions and the like around the world? Any and all thoughts and ideas greatly appreciated as I am only going to have about six weeks to pull it all off!

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Oops. For Australian book recommendation you should be able to get Wombat Divine for Australia. Also there is a 12 days of Christmas Australian book. I also recommend the YouTube songs Six White Boomers by Rolf Harris (I think) and Australian Jingle Bells by Bucko and Chaps?

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Here are some we have enjoyed:

 

England

     The Christmas Kitten by James Herriot  (a bit slow but sweet)

     Jolly Christmas Postman  by Allan Ahlberg

     Father Christmas by Raymond Briggs

 

Ethiopia

     Fire on the Mountain Jamie Kurtz (not specifically a "Christmas" book)

 

France

     Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans

     The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Carlson (this is a chapter book, 120 pages-ish)

 

Italy

     Legend of Old Befana  by Tomie de Paola

 

Sweden

      Annika's Secret Wish  by Beverly Lewis

      Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

 

Mexico

    Night of Las Posadas by Tomie de Paola

    The Legend of the Poinsettia  By Tomie de Paola

 

Scandinavian Countries

     Just about anything by Jan Brett

 

Ukraine

      A Christmas Spider's Miracle  by Trinka Hakes Noble

 

Norway

     Sister Bear by Jane Yolen

 

Non-Fiction books about Christmas Traditions:

      Merry Christmas, Everywhere by Arlene Eribach

 

Anthology type book:

     Hark! A Christmas Sampler by Jane Yolen

 

I'll post more if I think of any more

 

Amber in SJ

 

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