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Christmas a Day Late

Now, some of you may think I am nuts… but I do know some families who practice this tradition. The idea is to have your Christmas after Christmas… usually a couple days later. The advantage is the HUGE savings on Christmas gifts. Retailers know that if it doesn’t get bought before Christmas it may not get bought at all. So, once Christmas is done… the real heavy duty markdowns come. It is almost guaranteed to find at least 50% off the price within the couple days after Christmas on “gifty” items. Now, if having Christmas late is not such a … Continue reading →

Pashmina, the Little Christmas Goat – Geraldine Elschner

Tomorrow is Christmas and the children are excited, but Manja is worried. She doesn’t have anything special to serve her children for Christmas dinner. They have beans, but she wants to prepare a nice roast or something that will truly make the day a celebration. She asks Simon, her husband, to go hunting or fishing, anything that will add to the meal. They don’t have money to buy anything. Simon doesn’t think he’ll be able to find anything on such a cold and snowy day, and he’s right. After wandering around for hours, he still has no meat. He doesn’t … Continue reading →

Christmas Shopping: Give the Gift of Literacy!

Radio stations are already playing Christmas music and the stores are stocking the shelves with everything from ornaments to candy, cards to jewelry. Even though we haven’t made it to Thanksgiving yet, the yuletide season is upon us and many shoppers are working on their lists now, to avoid the rush later on. As you look over your gift-giving needs and contemplate what to give Aunt Gladys or little Johnny, may we here in Media Reviews suggest that you give books this year? The ability to read is one of our most choice blessings. Of all the skills we can … Continue reading →

Week in Review — November 5th – 10th

We had a lot of fun here in Media Reviews this week! For those of you who weren’t able to join us, here are the highlights. Tristi wrote a review of Mary Higgins Clark’s novel “The Second Time Around,” the story of a financial reporter who is asked to investigate her brother-in-law’s suspicious death. “Thanksgiving in the Barn,” a cute holiday pop up book featuring animals who have done their best to prepare a delicious feast, was reviewed by Lauri. Then Tristi reviewed “An Acquaintance with Darkness,” a novel by Ann Rinaldi about the assassination of President Lincoln. She also … Continue reading →

Using Amazon to Your Best Advantage

I love Amazon. I love browsing the site, reading the book descriptions, buying the books . . . sigh. It’s just a good thing all the way around. Are you familiar with the Amazon site? Are you getting all you can out of it? When you first open the page, you’ll see a list of departments down the left-hand side. You can buy tools, electronics, jewelry, and more, but for now, we’re just going to talk about the books. When you click on books, you’ll be given the choice of books, textbooks, magazines and newspapers, and Amazon shorts. Courtney did … Continue reading →

Amazon’s Bestselling Books – November 2007

Wondering what everyone in America is reading right now? I was a little curious myself and decided to take a look at Amazon’s bestseller list. I was pretty surprised to see how many nonfiction titles were listed amongst the top ten, but I do understand that twice as many nonfiction as fiction books are published per year, so maybe I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Coming in at #1: “You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty” by by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. This book was written to help us understand how our bodies age … Continue reading →

Fun Ways to Sneak in Reading and Writing over the Holidays

It’s school vacation. It’s Christmas. It’s the holidays. Who wants to work on school stuff? I can hear the kids whining already! And yes they deserve a break, but you don’t want to take two or more weeks off from learning completely. Brains can lose a lot of ground in two weeks. So here are some fun ways to sneak in a little learning and to reinforce those literacy skills. Don’t worry—the kids will never know! * Write a letter to Santa * Let you child write personal messages to the people he or she knows in your holiday cards … Continue reading →