Deborah Bence Boerema's Blog, page 3

Christmas Book Review #1: Fred! Fred! You’re Gingerbread!

Christmas–the most wonderful time of the year—is just around the corner! Thaniel’s so excited; his tail won’t stop wagging!
How do you prepare to celebrate? Decorating? Caroling? Baking? Shopping? Amid all the hustle and bustle, we hope you take a little time to enjoy some quiet family moments. We can’t think of a better way to spend time together than by reading favorite Christmas stories. In fact, we have a big stack of Christmas books we pull out and read together year after year.
Of course, it goes without saying that our favorite Christmas story comes from the Bible! Our multi-paw rating scale doesn’t go far enough to express how highly we recommend Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2.
After you’ve reread that Christmas story, perhaps you’ll pull out some of your other favorite Christmas titles. In the next couple weeks—before you head out for Black Friday shopping!—we’d like to recommend a few new titles you might like to pick up for your Christmas collection.
Our first recommendation isn’t actually a Christmas story. However, our completely unsubstantiated estimate is that 95 percent of all gingerbread cookies are baked in the month of December. Therefore, it seems appropriate to add Fred! Fred! You’re Gingerbread! to our Christmas selections.
On the first spread of the book, we see a little boy and his grandmother baking and decorating gingerbread men together. We immediately notice Fred, the feisty gingerbread man who seems ready to jump off the cookie sheet. Through simple rhymes, the little boy repeatedly tells Fred all the things he can’t do, like go outside, run, and play ball. However, Fred is adamant in his desire to see the world and eventually finds a way out of the kitchen.
This book will make a fun read-aloud. Young children will love listening to the rhymes, and they will undoubtedly want to chime in every time Fred appears with a very determined look on his face and says, “Oh yes I can!” Fred’s success offers a great opportunity to discuss the author’s message, that children can become anything they want if they believe.
 

Paperback, 24 pages

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, August 2015

ISBN 978-1515342076

SRP $10.00

Ages 3-7

Written by Jan Johnson

Illustrated by Corinne Webb

Thaniel would like to remind you that one of the best ways you can support authors is by writing reviews of your own. When you read a book that you enjoy, spread the word by posting a review on the book’s page on Amazon or another retail website.

Thaniel’s Book Reviews Coming Soon!

As of tomorrow morning, Halloween will be over, October will be over, and Daylight Savings Time will be over. But…

The Holiday Season will just be starting!

To get ready for it, we’re going to be launching our new page: Thaniel’s Book Reviews! The first books Thaniel will be reviewing are a group of Christmas books to pick up and enjoy in the weeks leading up to Thaniel’s favorite holiday. Be sure to visit us again soon!