by Debbie Balzotti
For more than 10 years Principal Dwight Liddiard and teacher Katherine Beck have teamed up to share their picks for the best new Christmas books for kids. This year, the literary duo added a service project to their popular event at East Meadows Elementary in Spanish Fork.
"Our Nebo Reading Council decided to do a service activity in connection with the Christmas Book Share," said Selene Carlson, council president. "We asked everyone who attended to bring a new composition notebook and a pen to donate since writing is a huge part of literacy. We are donating them to the local women and children's shelter. They may not have been able to bring writing materials with them and we wanted to provide them."
She continued, "We hope to provide an opportunity for these families, especially the children, to write down their memories and feelings. They may want to use their notebook to write stories or poems. When I was young, I always had a notebook and pen and I was always writing. I also loved to read and I really enjoyed hearing about Christmas books from Dwight and Katherine. Writing and reading go together."
Liddiard and Beck went through hundreds of newly published books and chose 30 for their list. They told their audience of educators and parents a little bit about why each book made their list.
"One of our favorites this year was 'Alfie's Christmas,' which is the first Christmas story about Alfie," said Liddiard. "Author Shirley Hughes has created such a great character and I really enjoyed reading about Christmas from the view of Alfie."
The list for 2013 had some well-known children's authors and a few newcomers. Popular writers and illustrators on the list included Mary Engelbreit, Steven Kellogg, Jan Brett, Shirley Hughes, Patricia Polacco, Tim Burton and Utah artist Robert T. Barrett.
Barrett illustrated the candy bomber story for children titled "Christmas from Heaven" by David T. Warner. It is the true story of WWII pilot Gail Halvorsen, a Utah resident, who dropped parachutes attached to candy from his C-54 during the Berlin Airlift.
"Our favorite book is a little bit long to read aloud today but we just kept coming back to it as our favorite," said Liddiard as he and Beck began a shared reading of "Gifts of the Heart" by Patricia Polacco.
As illustrations from the book were projected on the screen, as the story of Richie and Trisha and the mysterious temporary housekeeper Kay Lamity unfolded. Like Mary Poppins, she sets things straight when it comes to matters of the heart and believing in magic.
Teacher Heather Nelson agreed with Liddiard and Beck that "Gifts of the Heart" was the best Christmas book. She loved the illustrations by Polacco who writes and illustrates her popular children's books.
"I loved the last one because it was about gifts of the heart. It opens up conversations about unexplained things," she said.
Venus Ernst, instructional coach in Nebo School District, picked two books from the list to purchase this year.
"I am going to get 'Sing to Baby Jesus' for my grandchildren and 'The House that Santa Built' for students because it encourages lots of interaction and involvement," said Ernst. "I always come to the book share because I know Dwight and Katherine will go through and pick the best ones from the latest books."
"Honestly, I feel lucky to have a big stack of books on my desk to sift through every year," said Beck at the conclusion of the presentation. "It's just so much fun to look for Christmas books for families, teachers and kids."
Liddiard added, "We do the Christmas Book Share every year because we love Christmas literature and Christmas. We hope people will want to read books to children in their classrooms and share them with their families. That's why we keep doing it."
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