The Innkeeper of Bethlehem by Scott Roloff

Genre: Christian Fantasy

Source: I purchased

When I was a child my mom would sit us down each night for a Bible story.  This was our devotional time.  It was important to her that we learn the importance of hearing and telling the stories at a young age.  This book would be great for parents who want to continue sharing stories nightly with their children.  This is a wonderful way to bring Santa Claus into the Christmas story. 

The story starts off with a visit from an aunt, uncle and cousin from Jerusalem to their relatives in the United States.  The kids, Kallie and Pinkie, love to hear their Uncle Aaron tell stories and beg him for one.  He tells them that the story he is going to tell them started in Bethlehem. Instead of the usual story of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus, he tells the story from the perspective of the Innkeepers Shai and Adi.  They rent out every available space in the inn, and are forced to sleep in the stable.  Adi was not happy about this.  Then along come Mary and Joseph.  Mary gives birth to baby Jesus.  It is shortly after this the story takes a turn.  When Mary and Joseph flee from Herod, Shai and Adi travel with them.

Uncle Aaron knows just when to stop a story to keep the audience hanging.  That is what he does.  He tells them just a little bit each day up to Christmas.  That is what is unique about this book.  This book is set up so that you can read it in one sitting, like I did, or you can read a chapter a night.  I think that this would be the best way to do this with little kids. 

Where does Santa fit into all of this?  I really think you need to read the book to find out.  For those who want a Christian story with no deviation then this might not be the book for you.  For those of you who want a book that tells the story of Jesus from birth to death and yet brings in the secular part of Christmas, then this is definitely the book for you.  Just remember it is not all fact.  That is not what the author set out to do.  It is a lot easier to show Santa’s beginnings this way than to fill your child’s mind with the rosy cheeked Santa they see on all of the  TV programs then tell them one day.  Oh I figured you would be old enough to understand there is no such thing as Santa.  At least this book tells the story of Santa’s beginnings as if it is a tale being told to children.  I loved it.  I can’t wait to share it with my grand kids this year.  I am purchasing a copy for my daughter to read to them.  I’d like for her to start that tradition each year.

About the Author

Scott Roloff is the author of the Christmas book The Innkeeper of Bethlehem-The Story of Santa Claus, the novel Dreams at Dusk and Short Stories for the Hopeful and the Weary. He is a lawyer and a CPA, having received his accounting degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, his MBA from the University of Texas at Arlington, and his law degree from Southern Methodist University. Scott lives in Texas with his wife, Lynne.

Books By Francois Bissonette

Genre:  Children's Picture Books
Source:  I received copies to help facilitate my review, the opinions expressed here are my own.

Nanook is the twin brother of seven year old Naloo.  The author has created the same book but one with Nanook as the main character and one with Naloo as the main character.  I am assuming that this is so you can read the book to the gender of child you have.  Each of them go for a walk and find a large rock with a symbol on it. When they trace the symbol with their finger they are transported to Ziron Land.  Here they meet Ziggy who takes them to their village.  The Zirons all live in giant fruits and vegetables.  They realize that even though the sky is yellow with orange clouds and blue rubber rocks, and the flowers grow giant sized, the Zirons are all very friendly.

We have the same setup in Titan the Talking cloud. When the  twins return to the Land of Ziron they ask if the place is always sunny.  Moffi tells them sometimes they have big storms and they have talking clouds. There are four talking clouds. Cyclone, Tornado and Hurricane are the green, red, and blue clouds that like to make a lot of noise and blow the Zirons around.  Sometimes they bang into each other and create thunder, lightening and rain. Titan is a nice pink cloud that likes to gently  water the flowers.  When they finally meet Titan, they get to take a ride into the yellow sky on his back.

Stories for children 1: contains two stories within.  The Blue Princess  and  The Tiger, the Peasant and the Dog

Kalia was called the Blue Princess because she loved the color blue. The king had only one wish as he got older and that was to see his daughter married.  She didn't want to get married so she told her father that when a man brought her a blue dog then she would marry that man.  A wealthy merchant brings a blue dog to the princess, but she discovers he has been dyed blue, a Warrior brings  a dog sculpted from blue sapphire.  She rejects him as well. Next comes a man with a painting of a dog.  The king thinks it is hopeless.  One day while walking in the garden the Princess runs into the gardener's son along with his fluffy white dog. They see each other for several months.  They fall in love, but there is a problem.  She has promised only to marry a man who brings her a blue dog.  The gardener shows up the next day before the Kig with his fluffy white dog and states he wishes to marry the Princess. He hands her the leash to his white dog and tells her he has brought her a blue dog.  The King tells him it is not blue.  The Princess gently tells her father it is a blue dog.  He realizes they love each other and declares the dog blue and they get married.

The Tiger, The Peasant, and the Dog was one of my favorite stories. It kind of reminded me of one of Aesop's Fables.  A tiger is trapped in a cage and begs a peasant boy to let him out.  The peasant refuses for fear he will be eaten.  The tiger cries and the peasant has a change of heart.  The minute he is released the Tiger pounces on the peasant calling him a fool.  The peasant begs for his life.  He is given one chance at freedom.  He is allowed to question 3 things to vouch for him.  He finds 3 things and they refuse.  A dog comes along and asks why he is so sad.  The peasant explains and the dog says he doesn't understand. He asks to be taken back to where it all started.  The peasant brings the dog back and before the tiger can eat him he agrees to let the peasant explain to the dog the whole story.  The dog seems cofused. The frustrated tiger demonstrates for the dog how he ended up in the cage and the dog slams and locks the door, saving the peasant and proving that the tiger was indeed the fool.

All of these are cute stories that younger children will enjoy.

Ten Wonderful Children's Books

Genre:  Children's Picture Books

Source:  I received a copy in exchange for my honest review

I Want a Monster for Halloween by Evelyn Brenner

Martha Green wants a monster  for Halloween. The book takes you on a pictorial tour of a variety of monsters to choose from. None of them are scary at all. It made me think that a fun thing to do after sharing this book with a young one, would be to sit and create some fun monsters of their own.  I loved the creative flair of this book with all of its wonderful and fun monsters.

The Scare: A Halloween Story  by Kirstin Lenane

Simon the pig received an invitation to attend a Halloween party and Jim Mouse’s house.  Jim wants no scary costumes or mean tricks. Simon does this to him every year because he loves all things scary.  Simon decides to get a scary vampire costume anyway.  Then he makes some scary cupcakes and heads off to Jim’s house.  He scares little children along the way and thinks it is funny.  When he arrives he goes into Jim’s house and can’t find him.  This year Jim has a surprise for Simon.  Can you guess what it is?

Zombie Kids by Julie Dweck

This is a cute story told by a boy who loves zombies.  I had a student a couple of years back that would have loved this book because the only thing he ever talked about was zombies. This boy tells us in rhyming verse all the ways zombies are like us and why we should like them the way he does.  This was a very cute book.  Not scare, but lots of fun for the young ones.

99 Cents by Jason Sandberg

This is a very short story of a little girl who walks on Daddy’s feet. She finds it fun in the winter, at the beach, in the house or on the street. She prefers it to skipping and running.  Another cute book by this author.

Don’t Judge an Alligator By Its Teeth by Kevin Ocasio and Nicole Ocasio

Benjamin goes fishing with his dad. When his dad falls asleep and he has nothing nibbling at his line he decides to explore around the area.  He finds an alligator and tries to run away. Then he trips and falls.  He is sure he is going to be eaten.  The alligator explains that he just wants to be friends.  He says everyone runs away from him.  Benjamin agrees to play hide and seek with him and has lots of fun until his dad comes to get him. I loved this book.  Part of the reason is because I love alligators, even though I have a healthy respect for them. My only concern comes from the fact I live in Florida where we have plenty of alligators.  I would strongly suggest after sharing this book with your young one that you make it clear that the real alligators are not like the alligator in the story.

Maybe: A Little Zen For Little Ones by Sanjay Nambiar

In this simple book we read about a young girl and her friends. As different things happen to her, the girl’s friends tell her how lucky or unlucky she is. She always responds, “maybe”. The whole idea is to focus not so much on if it was lucky or unlucky. Why, what we thought was unlucky may have benefits we did not see coming. Greatb ook for kids and adults.

Julio Bunny and the Foreign Lion by Nicoletta Costa

This is a simple story of a lion who can’t speak the language of those around him. He finds a group of forest friends who help him, take care of his needs and learn that music is a language everyone understands.

Come Back Dear Sun by Geena Bean

This was an extremely appropriate book for this time in our lives. A little girl is sad because she’s not seen the sun in a longtime. She speaks with the moon and learns the sun was sad and went away. Why? With TV and video games no one came out to play. The sun gets sad and goes away.  The young girl and her friends talk with the moon and ask him to find the sun to come back.  The author is right that our children don’t play outside the way we once did.  I think this is a book that should be shared with all young children.

Pluto the Starfish by Bonnie M. Anderson

Pluto the starfish lives off the coast of Magical Buck Island. He cries because he doesn’t know what his purpose in life is. Lewis the lobster explains that Pluto has a freedom he can’t enjoy.  He must hide from humans to keep from being eaten.  Nancy the nurse shark explains that she has to be wary of cousins such as the great white shark.  Lolita the leatherback  turtle explains to Pluto that they are just now making a comeback because they were almost hunted into extinction. Harriet the Humpback whale explains that being large doesn’t protect you. They have to fear boats and humans. Pluto the starfish learned that size, color or the ability to move didn’t make one more important than another in the ocean.  After all, he was the star of the ocean.

Alphabet All Stars Academy Animal Pack by Scott Gordon

These four books are set up to teach the alphabet. They start off with the simplest task of itroducing childrne to the different animals whose name begins with each letter of the alphabet. The author takes it a step further by telling an interesting fact about the animal. In the second book he has included not only the cutsy animals but the real animals along with a letter from the alphabet and another interesting fact about them. In the third book Silly animals looks at some of the silly aspects of anials such as the narwhal that has a horn on his head or the fact that the own has a very flexible neck. All the while the children are associating the animals with a letter from the alphabet. I love the final book. It was set up as a quiz. The reader must guess the letter in the book. The author has given two great hints. The picture of the animal posed in the shape of the letter. Children learn letter recognition as well as association of animals with the letter. Since the letters are out of order it truly is a higher thinking process