Book Sharing :: Two "Night Before Christmas" Retellings and More

We have read many library books in the last few weeks, for fun and also as part of our November Books Discovery Month (see this post). 

Here are a few picture books that are our current favourites. 




The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is written by William Joyce. This is the story that inspired the Academy Award winning short film of the same title. If you haven't seen it yet, I think it's worth watching! You can see the complete film here. 



The book is beautiful for its story and also the art. If you love books and libraries, I am sure you will enjoy it. Morris Lessmore loves words and books. But his beloved books get blown away and he is left wandering around. He finds a place filled with books and cares for them. He also shared books with others. 


Jan Brett is one of our favourite authors. Her stories are always interesting and inspiring. We love looking at all the details in her colourful illustrations. 



Jan Brett's latest book is Mossy. Mossy is a turtle with a garden growing on her back. The author explains on the jacket of the book that she was inspired by seeing a big snapping turtle with a "garden" on its shell. Celeste and I loved how the story turned out at the end. 



The last two books I am sharing today are Christmas ones! They both are retelling A Night Before Christmas. We laughed while reading A Dog's Night Before Christmas and I thought the modern version in Another Night Before Chritmas was witty. The illustrations by Marc Boutavant are adorable. You might recognize this French artist from Around the World with Mouk and other titles (see this list). 



Another Night Before Christmas by Carol Ann Duffy is the modern version of Clement Moore's poem. It includes a TV, cars, satellite, and even bank machines. We found it is still a special story and I particularly liked this quote:

"Though she lived in an age where celebrity rules and when most of the people were easily fooled by TV and fashion, by money and cars, the little girl knew that here was a real STAR!" 



A Dog's Night Before Christmas by Henry Beard was a funny rhyming story. I think we really enjoyed that one because we have a dog!



What are your current favourite children books? Leave me a comment if you like, we always like to discover more books! 


Comments

  1. Thanks for these... I just checked out a few of your Christmas recommendations today.
    Have you read The Quiltmakers Gift? One of my all time favs.

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  2. Some awesome stories! Thank you for sharing and linking to the Kid Lit Blog Hop! ~Shaunna from Mudpies & Melodies

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  3. These look wonderful! I love Night Before Christmas retellings.

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  4. Another Night before Christmas looks great. I will have to check out Jan Brett's newest book. Love all her books! Stopping over from the blog hop.

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  5. That flying books one looks intriguing - I'm upset they don't have it at my library! Oh well, I guess I have to add it to my ever-growing list of 'to-buy' for my daughters! Great to find another Canadian book blog - I loved my trip to the island a few years back!

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  6. I'm at work right now, but I need to go pick up The Fantastic Books now, so hopefully they're cool with me leaving early :) Thanks for linking your post into the Kid Lit Blog Hop once more! We'll be back up and running the second Wed. in Jan. See you then!

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