"The First Christmas Night" Book Review & GIVEAWAY! (12/8)

*Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the following book in exchange for my honest review. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own.

About the book:

The First Christmas Night is a beautiful retelling of the birth of Jesus on that joyous night in Bethlehem so long ago. The poem begins with the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem and winds though Christ’s birth, the angels’ appearance to the shepherds, and the visit by the Wise Men. The simple, yet elegant, verses will appeal to little ones and are accompanied by the rich acrylic illustrations of Christine Kornacki.

 

About the Author:

Keith Christopher is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, and educator, and he has served as editor and producer for several major music publishers. In addition to writing and studio producing, Keith is on the faculty at the Blair School of Music of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He lives in Hendersonville, Tennessee, with his wife and two children.

About the Illustrator:

At a very early age, Christine Kornacki developed a love for painting and bringing stories to life. After receiving a BFA in illustration from the University of Hartford, her dreams of illustrating children's books began to take shape, including illustrating the best-selling The Sparkle Box for Ideal's Children's Books. Christine's recent work also includes illustrating the six-book series for the American Girl historical doll characters Marie-Grace and Cecile. She spends her days painting in her studio, which adjoins a charming cafe in New Haven, Connecticut.
 

My Review:
I actually had Morgan read The First Christmas Night to Blake for this review.  Blake used to complain when Morgan would practice reading and now he enjoys her reading to him...on occassion.  ;-)  This was one occassion where Blake thoroughly loved it! 

The First Christmas Night is written in a similar style as The Night Before Christmas, which makes it a fun and enjoyable way to hear, and read, the story of Jesus's birth.  On top of that, the large, beautiful illustrations really grab your attention pull you into the book.

If you're looking for a fun, new way to share the story of our savior's birth, I highly recommend The First Christmas Night!  I know this book will be a favorite book to read each Christmas in our home from now on.

 

 An excerpt from The First Christmas Night:

 

’Twas the very first Christmas when all through the town

not a creature was stirring—there was not a sound.

 

The moon shining bright in the heavens so high

gave the look of midday to the Bethlehem sky.

 

The animals were nestled in warm, cozy places

with looks of contentment on each of their faces.

 

 

 

Buy It!:

The First Christmas Night is 32 pages and the hardcover book can be purchased through Ideals Books for $16.99
 

GIVEAWAY!

 

Congratulations to comment #30, Zuzu!!

 

One of my readers is going to win their own copy of "The First Christmas Night"!

 

To enter to win, please leave a comment below. Please be sure to leave your e-mail address, so that I can contact you if you're the winner!

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Open to U.S. residents 18 years and older. Giveaway will end Sunday, December 8th, 2013 at 11:59 EST. Winner will be chosen shortly after and contacted via e-mail. The winner will have 48 hours to respond otherwise I will have to choose a new winner.

Garden Harvest 2013

Our little garden did quite well this year.

The one thing that I wish did a little better was the zucchini, but I still got all sorts of zucchini salsa and ate way too much zucchini bread and zucchini brownies...SO YUMMY!

 

The apple tree made up for last year and was bursting with apples.  Last year we had a warm week in March causing it to blossom early, then frost came and killed the blossoms.  We think there were maybe 10 apples on the tree. :-/

 The kids loved climbing the ladder and finding the best apples to make applesauce out of.  We canned about 8 pints.  I think the tree could have given us hundreds of pints-LOL!

These are the tomatoes we had when we cleaned out our garden.  It felt so good to have the garden cleaned out, but the amount of tomatoes from just 9 plants was beyond overwhelming!  My sister ended up with most of them because I had canned all the salsa, tomatoes and spaghetti sauce that I had wanted.  We gave more away to my dad and my mother-in-law, but ended up throwing out the rest.

 We planted about the same number of potatoes this year, but they flourished in our cooler, wet summer!  I bet we had double to triple the potatoes and they were HUGE!  They'll last us most of the winter and we'll replant what's left.

These pumpkins started off so cute!  The kids really wanted to carve them and I thought I'd probably cook up one or two.  Unfortunately, when we set them out as decorations, the chickens decided they looked tasty and pecked away at them. At least the fed and made the chickens happy. ;-)

The end of the day we cleaned out (most of) the garden.  Our picnic table is quite big and it was FULL!

Morgan and Blake are awesome helpers when it comes to picking and husking the Indian popcorn!  This is a small portion of what we got.

It's currently hanging up in the mudroom to dry.  It's all across the sliding glass doors and the window.  We'll shell it soon and then have some tasty popcorn to eat through the winter.

We also planted 2 sweet potato plants that produced more than we could have imagined.

They turned out quite big.  From our experience last year, the big ones didn't have as much flavor, but I hope that's not true this year...

 ...we have A LOT of them! :-)

 I'd say I can't wait for next year's garden but, to be honest, I'm glad...ecstatic actually...to be done for the year.  The work from the garden in the Spring, Summer and Fall sure makes me look forward to winter!  ;-)

Blake's Fall Art Class Projects

Blake enjoyed another art session this fall once soccer and cross country were finished.  There is another session going now that we decided not to do.  We've been going nonstop with activities, appointments, etc, since school started and just needed a little break before the holidays.

 

 

I believe he used an ornamental pear leaf to make this out of clay.

This one is a jar with lightening bugs/fireflies.  The paint on the bugs glows in the dark! :-)



Regarding Giveaway Entries

I have to apologize to all those who entered my giveaways over the weekend.  I accidentally deleted your entries this morning instead of publishing them.  Those two buttons are just way too close together! :-/  I feel terrible, because I know it takes a good deal of time to type out and do all the entries. 

If you'd like to re-enter, please just type out something quick for each of your entries...for example: "tweeted".  There is no need to tweet again or leave links.  Also, you are more than welcome to take an extra enry...you can just type in "oops entry" if you'd like. ;-)

I plan to turn the comment moderation off as well, so hopefully I don't lose any more entries in the future.

Thank you so much for following Kristie's Notes!  And again, I'm very sorry for inconviencing you. :-(

Melissa & Doug Terrific 25 List and Giveaway

*Disclosure:  By sharing this post, I have a chance to win Melissa & Doug toys.  I have not been compensated in any other way.  All opinions are my own.

Melissa & Doug have come out with another great list, their Terrific 25 List, that compiles Melissa & Doug's greatest Christmas gifts for the year.  To celebrate this gift list they're having a “25 Days of Terrific 25” Giveaway on their Facebook page.  They'll be giving away a toy from the list each day and one lucky winner will receive ALL 25 toys on Black Friday!  Be sure to check out the list and enter to win some awesome prizes! :-)