Five Busy Elves : Padded Christmas Books for Babies & Toddlers

As mentioned more than twenty times at least (heh), we love checking out new Christmas picture books around our house. We have followed the lead of those from the House of Hope and I wrap all of our Christmas books and allow the children to open two bookish presents a day to read. The kids love this December morning ritual and there would be mutiny if I suddenly stopped this practice (so I won't).

I'm always on the lookout for new Christmas books to add to our home collection so that each year there is a new title or two to enjoy. At some point I'll write up a post sharing more about the tried and true books from our personal collection but today I wanted to point out some padded board books from Tiger Tales that we've been browsing through and enjoying this year.

Five Busy Elves

The elves are getting ready for their busiest day of the year. There is mail to sort and stars and lights to hang up on the tree. Although there is a great list of things to do, the elves also make time for play. (What's the use of snow except for to create a great snowball fight?) The elves keep working and playing until Santa leaves on his famous journey and then the elves party really gets started! This is a cute book. We especially enjoyed it as our four kids enjoy dressing up as little elves themselves.


A Very Merry Christmas, by Maudie Powell-Tuck.

This book is adorably illustrated by Gill Guile. Chiefly, there are cute little mice. I'm a sucker for Christmas mice.

In this story, we meet the mice of Bramble Cottage. They are enjoying their beautiful, cozy home but Mr. Mouse feels like something is missing. Mrs. Mouse decides that what is needed is a Christmas party. (I quite agree. Why decorate only to celebrate alone? Bring on the people and the festivities!) Mr. and Mrs. Mouse go about delivering invitations to their party and shortly thereafter the guests begin arriving. Their friends the Rabbits, the Beavers and others show up bringing things to share at the party that are a bit unusual. All of the animals have different Christmas traditions than one another but they enjoy combining their unique ways of celebrating. Mr. Mouse is at first perturbed but, in the end, he decides that although they all have different ways of celebrating Christmas, being together and sharing with one another has made for "the most wonderful Christmas ever!"

I liked this one.

A Christmas Prayer, by Sanja Rescek.

This is my favorite of the new Tiger Tales Christmas line-up. It is just as the title suggests - a simple Christmas prayer.

We thank You, God in Heaven,
As Christmastime draws near,
For all Your gifts and blessings
At this special time of year.

The book is a prayer of thanks for the beauty of a snowy landscape, for festive treats, and for family who gather around us showing us love. All of these things are things to be grateful for, to be sure, and it is important to reflect on the great and many good gifts we have been given in this life. I highly recommend this title!

I would be remiss if I did not mention Bookworm4's (age 2) favorite Christmas book in the new fall line-up: Surprise: A Book of Christmas Shapes.

As you turn the pages, the cutout shape of the gift unfolds, "unwrapping" a gift for each of the animals.  The friends, Reindeer, Bunny, Penguin, et al, unwrap each layer of present and share in a lovely Christmas celebration.

It's not so much the story that is of interest to Bookworm4 as it is the cut-out shape on each page. He likes fingering the pages and staring at the pictures best. Therefore this book has to go down for a mention because there aren't many books that he carries around and enjoys in his own right. This book is a winner as far as he is concerned!

Many thanks to Tiger Tales Books who sent copies of all of the above titles in order to facilitate this review. I have received no additional compensation and all opinions are 100% my own.