The Little Reindeer by Michael Foreman

Christmas books. It is time. I don't actually celebrate Christmas with a lot of fanfare, so over the top books about Christmas aren't always my thing. I mean.... I love the north. I love winter. I love caribou. I love red. I love fairy lights. I love evergreens. But I love them all the time. I don't really want to just love them for a few weeks or a month. I feel like we should just celebrate winter all winter long, not just at the very beginning of winter!

This book fits nicely into my not over the top category. 

This little reindeer, that looks rather like a goat notices things are hopping over in the human world. 

So he heads over to check it out. 

I love these illustrations. Rustic and northern-y. 

The little reindeer gets on the toy packaging belt by accident. 

Okay, these elves are dressed like Sami people and that makes so much sense. Reindeer herders really should have a more prominent place in Christmas stories. Because.... duh! Who do you think is wrangling the reindeer all year long? 

I adore the colors the rich colors of the Sami clothing. 

The wrapped up little reindeer is bundled into somewhere else and feels himself moving through the air. And then he falls out. 

Turns out he was delivered to a city rooftop and a little boy who is thrilled with such a marvelous present. 

Kids and animals--a magic combination.

The little boy makes a little place for the reindeer to live on the roof and brings him bread and four different kinds of cereal to see what he likes. 

I love this kid! 

Even the pigeons eventually accepted their new roof dweller. 

The boy cares for the reindeer very carefully. By early summer, the reindeer is able to take the boy flying through the city, passed the giant cowboy billboard. 

Oh the delight! 

But then, winter comes back. And around Christmas, the reindeer begins to get the urge to head north to see what he can do to help. And the boy has to decide if he will let the reindeer go or demand the homesick reindeer stay with him. No surprise about what happens, but that generous, self-sacrificing theme is always so inspiring to kids. And features in Christmas stories quite regularly. 

A cute little story that focuses a little more on reindeer (caribou) than Santa and the elves. 

The Littlest Family's Big Day by Emily Winfield Martin

Do you remember the Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams? Well this is a redo of the classic. I am always nervous about redos from authors/illustrators I love. Because there is no way you can improve upon some things and then I have to feel awkward because I really love the work of the person behind the travesty. 

However, this is adorably adorable! It doesn't feel like a copy, so I am not endlessly comparing it and finding it wanting. It is just revisiting some old friends.  

Aren't these animals delightful?

We see this family moving into their forest home, complete with a red door. Red doors make tree trunk homes more marvelous. 

I kind of want their little things. 

Then they set out on a wander 

to see what they would find. 

A wander!!! I love this family already. 

A cute little butterfly/moth watching progress. 

Woodland neighbors. Pretty much my favorite pages in the entire book. 

A snail with mail! Gnomes and their home! 

Squirrels with banjos!

Rabbits with lattice topped pies! 

And that is just the one page. 

Cuteness overload!

They found the wind.

Of course they did. 

Arching cattails. 

They wander on water in leaf boats.  

And all this cuteness is followed by a storm. Which is equally delightful in it's own way. 

They shelter under a toadstool, because where else would cute people shelter?!

But when you are Lost, 

it is the best time to be Found.

So poetical and wise. 

And if I was so cute and little, I think I would be a little more worried about the owl.  

When their wander was done--

after hello and goodbye.

and the breeze and the wind,

and the river and the wild,

and the rain and the warm, 

and after Lost--

they found they were....

Home. 

And just in case we hadn't had enough cuteness, we get a bedtime picture. This picture makes me wonder about the baby. It is a baby or is it a pet? I think baby, but why is it sleeping in a bowl in the middle of the floor? 

Interesting....

But isn't this book marvelously adorable? 

Brave Like Me by Barbara Kerley

Remember how I once said I didn't like books with photograph illustrations? Well I lied. I LOVE THIS BOOK. I seriously can't get through it without tearing up.  

This book is a collection of photographs about children who have to be brave when their parent(s) go off to fight war or are stationed overseas. 

When someone is serving their country

 far from home, they have to brave. 

Their families have to be brave.

Even their kids have to be brave.

Like me. 

Before leaving, they spend a lot of time together. 

And then they say goodbye. 

Seriously, how can you not be a little weepy at these pictures? 

And then they're gone.

The house is too empty.

Who is going to take care of me? 

Yep. Teary. 

Sometimes I'm scared Mom will get hurt.

But I know she's really careful. 

Letters, skype, calls. 

At least we live in the age of Skype.

Doing their best so their parents can be proud. 

Aaagh! Writing to his kids. 

And this one. Gets. Me. Every. Time. 

Partly because I know a girl with that same dress. Which makes it that much more real. 

The homecoming. 

And then, at the back of the book, we see a little map of all the people in the pictures and where they lived and where their parents went on duty around the world. I love that they used real kids and tell their real story.

I love that this book exists. 

Prairie Year by Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet and Yvette Moore

This is a book I have carried around for years. I think I got it at the Loussac Library book sale in Anchorage, Alaska years ago when my sister worked there. I have never actually read it until now. It just seemed like a book I would like. But honestly, every time I opened it, the sheer quantity of words turned me off. It is like a picture book and chapter book got smushed together and neither came out the winner. 

I want to love this book. I mean a book about kids growing up in the Midwest--how could I not love it? 

Well I managed. This is written by the same team that did Prairie Alphabet, which was pretty successful.  Something got lost in this effort. The writing was too earnest and the pictures too dated. 

There is one picture per month to go along with the story of the month. For whatever reason, the author thought it best to use a different family each month. Instead of a continuous progression of character development, we have these short little snippets about characters who leave us at the end of the month. Such fleeting things, these months and characters!

I am not all that kind about this book, BUT if you view this book as a collection of short stories based on kids living on the prairies, it is probably pretty good. I just had different expectations. 

(I feel like a terrible human when I say I didn't like a book that someone invested time and effort in. So try this one out yourself before dismissing it on my say so.)

January is hockey tournaments.

February is s snowmobile derby.

New piglets in March

Despite my misgivings about the set up, the stories do reflect the Midwest pretty accurately.

April is new chicks!

May is planting time

Fair in July

August is the wheat harvest

Grandparents teaching kids things about farming--I swoon a little. 

Halloween--trucks full of the costumed.

Snowy Christmas world! 

I love prairie kids.