What do you think?
Rate this book
The Twelve Days of Christmas in Texas
Welcome to the 12 days of Christmas in Texas! Ready to greet you are 9 leapin' lizards, 8 grazin' longhorns, 7 bass a-swimmin', 6 flags a-flyin'... and much more from the Lone Star State.José is so excited about his cousin Ashley's visit with him in Texas that he gives her one of these VERY unusual gifts on each of the twelve days of Christmas, and Ashley writes lively letters home to tell her mom and dad all about her trip. Lucky readers are in for a wild Christmas countdown!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Janie Bynum
31 books7 followersJANIE BYNUM is the author-illustrator of several books for children, including ALTOONA BABOONA. She says, "When I sat down to write Nutmeg and Barley, I was thinking about how opposites tend to attract. I also wanted to explore the consequences of miscommunication -- so common in all types of relationships. Finally, and probably most important, Nutmeg and Barley is about how friends nurture each other -- in spite of little tiffs or differences."
from Candlewick's website http://www.candlewick.com
from Candlewick's website http://www.candlewick.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Read
February 15, 2023I got this because a friends' kiddo is interested in Texas, and I liked the book a lot more than I expected.
You can just read the lines of the song, or if you want to spend more time (slash, have an older and more patient reader) you can also read the letter Ashley writes her parents each day about what activities she's done in Texas that day with her cousin José and her grandparents during their 12-day road trip. (Sidebar: Ashley totally kills it in her pink cowboy hat+shirt+boots.)
I appreciate the book's commitment to taking place during the 12 days of Christmas -- we get bits like, "As we sat on the porch, I heard a bird singing a bunch of different songs instead of just one. High up in the limbs of the big pecan tree, a pretty gray-and-white mockingbird was singing all those songs. Walita said that Señor Boca must have come out to welcome me to Texas since mockingbirds don't normally sing much in the winter months." (on the "On the first day of Christmas, my cousin gave to me... a mockingbird in a nut tree." page).
The book does a fairly nice job of working in educational facts -- like Walita has a painting studio, and Ashley writes, "The walls are covered with beautiful fields of bluebonnets and swarms of monarch butterflies. (Walita is fascinated by the state flower and the state butterfly.)"
I also learned some wild facts, like: "armadillos are good swimmers, but the sometimes cross a river by swallowing air so they can float across or they just walk on the river bottom UNDERWATER!" (emphasis in original).
There's a Spanish vocabulary glossary in the back (with pronunciation). I already knew most of the words, but learned that she calls her grandparents Walita and Lito as short for "abuelita" and "abuelito" (affectionate diminutives of "abuela" and "abuelo").
The last illustrated 2-page spread has a lot of famous Texas stuff that didn't make it into the book (and the ensuing backmatter has some brief bios of some of the notable Texans pictured there), including a list of "Texas Professional Sports Teams" which weirdly notes "men's basketball" (for 3 teams) but simply "soccer" (1), "football" (2), "hockey" (1), and "baseball" (2) . My partner looked up the WNBA online, and the Dallas Wings have existed since 1998, so it's weird that they weren't included -- but I dug further the next night and they started in Detroit, then moved to Tulsa, and only moved to Dallas in 2016 (and this book was published in 2009). I then dug even further, and the San Antonio Stars were in San Antonio, Texas, from 2003-2014 (as the San Antonio Silver Stars for part of that time). (There were also the Houston Comets just before this book -- 1997-2008.)
The back matter includes:
I also wish the map in the front had more of the places that Ashley ends up mentioning throughout the book.
You can just read the lines of the song, or if you want to spend more time (slash, have an older and more patient reader) you can also read the letter Ashley writes her parents each day about what activities she's done in Texas that day with her cousin José and her grandparents during their 12-day road trip. (Sidebar: Ashley totally kills it in her pink cowboy hat+shirt+boots.)
I appreciate the book's commitment to taking place during the 12 days of Christmas -- we get bits like, "As we sat on the porch, I heard a bird singing a bunch of different songs instead of just one. High up in the limbs of the big pecan tree, a pretty gray-and-white mockingbird was singing all those songs. Walita said that Señor Boca must have come out to welcome me to Texas since mockingbirds don't normally sing much in the winter months." (on the "On the first day of Christmas, my cousin gave to me... a mockingbird in a nut tree." page).
The book does a fairly nice job of working in educational facts -- like Walita has a painting studio, and Ashley writes, "The walls are covered with beautiful fields of bluebonnets and swarms of monarch butterflies. (Walita is fascinated by the state flower and the state butterfly.)"
I also learned some wild facts, like: "armadillos are good swimmers, but the sometimes cross a river by swallowing air so they can float across or they just walk on the river bottom UNDERWATER!" (emphasis in original).
There's a Spanish vocabulary glossary in the back (with pronunciation). I already knew most of the words, but learned that she calls her grandparents Walita and Lito as short for "abuelita" and "abuelito" (affectionate diminutives of "abuela" and "abuelo").
The last illustrated 2-page spread has a lot of famous Texas stuff that didn't make it into the book (and the ensuing backmatter has some brief bios of some of the notable Texans pictured there), including a list of "Texas Professional Sports Teams" which weirdly notes "men's basketball" (for 3 teams) but simply "soccer" (1), "football" (2), "hockey" (1), and "baseball" (2) . My partner looked up the WNBA online, and the Dallas Wings have existed since 1998, so it's weird that they weren't included -- but I dug further the next night and they started in Detroit, then moved to Tulsa, and only moved to Dallas in 2016 (and this book was published in 2009). I then dug even further, and the San Antonio Stars were in San Antonio, Texas, from 2003-2014 (as the San Antonio Silver Stars for part of that time). (There were also the Houston Comets just before this book -- 1997-2008.)
The back matter includes:
State mammal (large): the Texas longhorn · State mammal (small): the armadillo · State flying mammal: the Mexican free-tailed batand I wish that last had said "State mammal (flying)" 😂
I also wish the map in the front had more of the places that Ashley ends up mentioning throughout the book.
December 5, 2018
Only a Texan can appreciate this fun twist on the classic song. Armadillos and rosebuds and pickup trucks replace the lords a leaping and ladies a milking. Told through the perspective of two round tripping cousins, who write home letters of their adventures in Texas, this is a fun must have for any Texas Christmas loving family.
December 31, 2009
Marcos gave this to me for Christmas 2009.
August 23, 2015
I read this aloud to 1st graders when they are studying the symbols of Texas. I also bring along a slide presentation showing them photos of the items that are shown and written about in the book.
December 17, 2015
2015 Reading Challenge #45 - set during Christmas
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews