Gracie Girl & Company: 24 Books Of Christmas!

Tomorrow is December 1st and you know what that means......

24 Books of Christmas!

Yes, the last several years, we have counted down the days til Christmas with books. Now before you freak out and wonder how I afforded this on a teacher's salary, keep in mind, I really didn't spend much. Being a teacher does have it's perks in the book department. I simply searched my classroom for books that were too young for my 3rd graders, used Scholastic book order coupons to get some cheap, got a couple with my Barnes and Noble teacher discount, and found some that were packed up from when Gracie was a baby when we tried to sell our house. Some are Christmas books and some are not. That's kind of the fun of it. If I had to find 24 Christmas books every year, that would be crazy! I know I have 3 kids too but there are only 24 books for all 3 of them to share so we are going to have to work out an opening books schedule. Frankenstein did like the "The Elf Story" so she is reading it now while sitting on the rest of the rest of the books.

Here are all the books for this year. Some are hardcover, some are soft cover, and some are even still boardbooks. Hey, it's what I found packed up.

In addition to the books, Frankenstein also brought the chocolate Advent calendars too. Yum. I remember these when I was little.

Here are several of the books that are wrapped up for this year. You can also go to my archives and see some of the books from last year.

Some books are about winter in general like this book "Snowballs." Winter is coming and that means we will be stuck inside a lot. Reading is something we will be doing. Why not read about winter then?

With Gracie in Kindergarten this year, she is learning to LOVE books. She loves going to the media center at school and picking out books all by herself. One that she has already come home with is "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows that Type." It is super cute and funny. It's not very wordy and she likes to help read it. There are also a couple more from Betsy Lewin that are wrapped up too like "Giggle, Giggle, Quack." Even Evie and Presley like helping to read this one.

I found this one packed up and it's from when I was a youngster. Remember Richard Scarry? We had lots of his books when I was little. This one is called "The Great Big Schoolhouse" and I loved it. I''m sure my little teacher will too.

We have read the book "The Gingerbread Man" a million times but this one I got from book orders called "The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School." It's cute and it's funny and I think the kids will get a kick out of it. I even bought some gingerbread cookie mix to make the night we open this book.

Another one of Gracie's favorite books from Kindergarten is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" It's by Eric Carle, a fabulous author. She loves them and can read it all by herself! It's actually from my baby shower and has been packed up but don't tell her that. For Christmas, she is also getting the polar bear and panda bear ones.

Who can resist a little Grinch and Dr. Seuss at Christmas? "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is such a classic. Plus, my kids have been obsessed with the grinch movie lately. We have watched it like 7 times already!

I found another gingerbread book but this one is called "The Gingerbread Girl." Perfect for Gracie and Evie.

I also found another one from my childhood called "The Littlest Angel." I threw in a couple of religous stories too because I think it's important and Gracie has been going to Sunday School and learning all about Jesus and the meaning of Christmas.

In addition to that, "The Story of Christmas" is perfect to help teach her that. It kind of goes along with some songs she will be singing at her Christmas show at church. She'll be singing "Away in a Manger."

Not sure when I got this book but I found it in a box. It looks so sweet and called "The Most Thankful Thing." It sends a good message teaching the kids to be grateful for what they have and be thankful. The night we open this book, I am going to have each kid fill a bag of old toys to donate to needy children. They need to know it's important to give to those less fortunate.

Gracie and Evie love these Laura Numeroff books. In fact, I have "If you Give a Cat a Cupcake" signed by her! Thanks Grandma Patti! But this one is new and it's called "If you Give a Dog a Donut." I can't wait to read it!

Now I don't know if you remember the "Mr. Men" and "Little Miss" books when we were younger but they were my favorite! My grandma used to buy me one for every holiday! I think I had them all. I found this before I even had kids and it's called "Mr. Christmas." It's the cutest little series you'll ever see! I have seen them at Barnes and Noble.

I also found this one in a box. It's the "Disney Christmas Storybook Collection." It's filled with all kinds of Christmas stories with all our favorite Disney characters. This is sure to be hit.

Back to Laura Numeroff again. I took this one from my classroom. It's an older one but "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies" is really cute just like the others.

There's more of course but some I couldn't find pictures of. Here is what my kids are sure to find in the morning. I know it seems a little crazy but I like it and I think it's good. It will encourage nightly reading which we do (or should do everynight).