Loving Imaginative Play . . .

One of my favorite things about reading history and great world literature with my children is watching how they reinterpret these classic stories into their play. Today was a great example.

All afternoon, my 3yo has been running around the house, charging everything and shouting, "I am Caesar and I'm gonna cross the Rublebon!"

I love how "Rublebon" rolls off his tongue in an attempt to say Rubicon . . .

Metropolitan JONAH's Archpastoral Message on Sanctity of Life Sunday

If you haven't yet read this (or heard it read from the pulpit) make the time to read it. Trust me on this one. It's more than worth your time to read it. It brought tears to almost everyone's eyes this morning after our Sunday service.

Archpastoral Message of Metropolitan JONAH of the Orthodox Church in America on the Occasion of Sanctity of Life Sunday

Nativity Book #34 - Born on Christmas Morn

This is the thirty fourth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here. 

Today's book was another of our Arch Books which I've blogged about in the past here. It is Born on Christmas Morn. This is book is fine, but not one of favorites. It kind of gets into why Jesus "had" to die for us at the end and isn't entirely an Orthodox representation of the events of Holy Week. But the Christmas part is fine.

Nativity Book #33 - My Merry Christmas

This is the thirty third of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Today's book was another of our Arch Books which I've 

blogged about in the past here. Actually, for this last week, all of the books will be Arch Books. We're down to those in our collection. We've got a few other new books arriving for Christmas, so I might blog about those later and they will be added to our basket next year (and maybe then I'll remove some of the general Bible story books). Today's book is My Merry Christmas Arch Book. It tells the Nativity story, but I like that in the end it talks about how to remember Christ's birth while decorating the tree, and eating delicious food and getting gifts. It's a nice way to explain how some of our regular traditions can be linked to our faith.

Nativity Book #32 - The Nutcracker

This is the thirty second of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Today's book is The Nutcracker with original text by E.T.A Hoffman and great illustrations by Maurice Sendak. This book is such a treasure to have, but honestly, we haven't managed read the whole thing today, because it's so long. At some point, I'd like to have a shorter version of the Nutcracker.

Nativity Book #31 - Tomie's Little Christmas Pageant

This is the thirty first of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Yesterday's book was a little board book called Tomie's Little Christmas Pageant. It tells the story of Christ's Nativity with illustrations by Tomie dePaola which show a children's pageant. It's kind of fun, and my 3yo especially enjoyed it.

Nativity Book #30 - Daniel in the Lion's Den

This is the thirtieth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Sunday was two Sundays before Christmas which means it was the Sunday of the Forefathers. So, our book was about one of the Forefathers - the Prophet Daniel. We read an old classic Little Golden Book, Daniel in the Lion's Den. I think this book is out of print, but there are lots of old copies available in various places online. It's a nice retelling of the story of Daniel spanning reigns of Kings Nebuchanezzar, Balthazzar and Darius. The illustrations are nice and we especially liked seeing the drawing of Nebuchanezzar's Ishtar Gate which we studied in Art History this year.

St. Herman Day - The Day of the Tree!

For several years now it has been our tradition to put up our Christmas tree on the feast of St. Herman of Alaska, December 13. We like to think about him on cold Spruce Island among the spruce trees as we decorate our evergreen tree. This year the feast conveniently fell on a Saturday, so we had a fun night decorating the tree after Great Vespers. Though it makes us all a little sad, we resorted to the artificial tree this year. We all prefer to get a real one, but some years, convenience, allergies, and travel take precedence.

I love the way kids decorate the tree. Here is my 3yo with his low branch - filled with about 15 ornaments in one place by the end of the night. Yes, I'm a perfectionist and I moved them after he went to bed.

Nativity Book #29 - North Star, St. Herman of Alaska

This is the twenty ninth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Saturday's book was, of course, North Star, St. Herman of Alaska. I've blogged about it in the past. It's an absolute must-read on the feast of St. Herman and is a magnificent book by Dorrie Papademetriou, This has been a favorite since my youngest was less than a year old. The illustrations are so bright and eye-catching. And the story is told beautifully. We love the stories (and illustrations) of St. Herman feeding a bear with his bare hands, saving the island from a tidal wave with the icon of the Mother of God, saving the village from fire by digging a trench, and especially, making cookies for all the children of Spruce Island. And it's so good to hear over and over his words, "From this day, from this hour, from this very minute, we should love God above all and fulfill His holy will." This feast is also the patronal feast of our homeschool (my oldest chose our patron - probably based largely on loving this book since he was a toddler). And it's the day we put up our Christmas Tree!

Mail to the Chief

Today we are participating in the Mail to the Chief activity through Handwriting without Tears. My 7yo is hand writing a letter to President-Elect Obama, which will be delivered to him on January 23rd when he takes office. I had thought I would post a scan of the letter here, but as it turned out to contain too much personal information and some charged political opinions (who knew that would happen with my 7yo!), I am refraining. He really hit hard on political issues, asking for increased focus on solar and wind energy and talking about corporate bailouts (at least those that directly affect our family). Anyway, I think this is a really fun program and it has really convinced my son who hates writing to sit down and carefully write today. The deadline for mailing in letters has been extended to January 5, so if anyone out there wants to participate, go to this link and print out the necessary forms.

Nativity Book #28 - Silent Night

This is the twenty eighth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Today's book was another book in the Arch Books series by Concordia Press. I posted about this series in the past here. The book is Silent Night and is available from Concordia here. This is just a nice little retelling of the Nativity story with reasonable, but a little too cheesy illustrations. Remember, though, Arch Books are cheap ($2.50 per book), so if you find a few you like, it's easy to order several.

Nativity Book #26 - The Nativity of Our Lord

This is the twenty sixth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Wednesday's book was another book from the series by Sister Elayne/Mother Melania and illustrated by Bonnie Gillis. This one is The Nativity of Our Lord and is available from Conciliar Press at the link given. I've blogged about this series in the past here. These can also be purchased from Archangels Books. Martha recently mentioned that she doesn't really like these little books, because it seems that something is missing. I actually really love Mother Melania's poetry in these books, because she imparts the depth of our theology as it pertains to each of the feasts. But Martha is right in that these aren't necessarily thorough narratives of each feast. Sometimes I stop to explain more detail, or discuss the very powerful imagery visible in the watercolor illustrations.

Nativity Book #27 - The Gift of the Magi

This is the twenty seventh of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Yesterday's book was an illustrated version of one of my favorite short stories in American literature. It is O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi with illustrations by Lisbeth Zwerger. My oldest son got this in his stocking from St. Nicholas last year. I blogged about it here last year. I knew the language would be a little advanced for him in some places, but with some paraphrasing her really enjoyed it last year. This year I was pleasantly surprised when he opened it yesterday and said, "Oh, this is one of my favorite books!" We read it over breakfast and when I started to paraphrase or explain some things, he told me to stop because he remembered the story and understood it. Honestly, I read this story for the first time in high school. I am delighted that he has already learned to love it. It always makes me cry, of course.

Nativity Book #25 - Jesus is Born

This is the twenty fifth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Today's book is a wonderful depiction of the Nativity using the Nativity icon. This book is useful in so many ways for children, beginning with the very smallest. It is Jesus is Born by Sergia Clare Anatolios. I found this book in a parish bookstore when my oldest was just a baby and asked my mom and dad to buy it for him for his first Christmas. We have been enjoying it ever since, but the last two years we forgot to even read it and as a result it was new to my youngest this year. (Yet another reason that I'm glad we're doing this Nativity book tradition this year!) This is such a simple little book. I believe that if you only have one Nativity book (especially if you have toddlers) it should be this one!! There is really no text. The book just builds the Nativity icon piece by piece, page by page until it is complete on the last page. The words just identify the parts of the icon. So, the first two pages are The Cave, and the icon starts with just the cave. Then Plants and Trees, and the new picture is of the cave with the plants and trees added. Next is Manger, and the manger is added to the icon. Really it's a nice simple way to teach children about the Nativity icon. There are lots of ways to use this book (other than just reading it, which is also fun with little bitty toddlers). The author provides some nice suggestions in the front. Today my three year old had fun seeing each new part of the icon and pointing it out in the picture which grows in detail with each turned page. It's also fun to talk about the parts of the Nativity story while reading this book. So, there are good opportunities to talk about the manger, the shepherds, the angels, the wise men, etc. Thank you to St. Nectarios Press for making this book available!!

Nativity Book #24 - The Visit of the Wise Men

This is the twenty fourth of my postings about our 40 books of Nativity. You can read about the tradition here.

Our book for today is one of the best Arch Books we own. I really love it. It is The Visit of the Wise Men. It was published in 1988 and is a great example of the really nice older Arch Books. It tells the story of the coming of the Wise Men, including their visit to Herod and their dream to go back home a different way. The rhymed verse text seems natural (not forced like the rhymes in some of the Arch Books) and the illustrations are quite lovely. Sadly, it seems to be out of print and I can't find it available anywhere on the web.