It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…definitely in the stores (that started in October) but also now in my house and classroom. I love to extend the season at the front end…and take everything down immediately after!

When I pulled out the Christmas bins, I rediscovered a lot of great storybooks that my girls have enjoyed in the past, but I am now adding two more titles to the mix, courtesy of Scholastic Canada:

A Porcupine in a Pine Tree by Helaine Becker

This is a cute, Canadianized remake of the traditional 12 days of Christmas, where five Stanley Cups replace the traditional five golden rings (we all know which is more valuable) and Mounties and Maple Leafs round out the crew. Frannie is now able to name several more members of Canadian wildlife after hearing this version of the song!

Listen, Said The Donkey, by Jean Little


I am all about Christmas – from Santa Claus and reindeer to candy canes and gingerbread, I certainly embrace the less religious aspects of the holiday. I do, however, work on teaching my students and children that the “reason for the season”, so to speak, should be foremost in their minds. That’s why I requested a copy of this book, which is described on the jacket like this: “Five animals gather at a lowly stable, speaking of the child who was just born there, and of how each one came to be in Bethlehem. Their tales cast the Christmas story in a new and wondrous light.”
The stories are beautifully written by one of Canada’s most treasured children’s authors, with soft illustrations to spark the kids’ imaginations. There’s a lot of text on these pages, so it’s not for the really little ones, but my four year old daughter and eight year old students all enjoyed it.
(Just an aside – if you’re looking for another way to reinforce the religious aspect of Christmas, my girls LOVE their Fisher Price nativity. Frannie was saying “Jesus” at 19 months old, and for the right reasons!)
As always, Scholastic is offering to share both of these titles (“A Porcupine in a Pine Tree” and “Listen, Said the Donkey”) with a lucky This Mom Loves reader. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below telling me when you did (or will) decorate for Christmas this year. (Me? It was all done on November 12th, except for the trees which go up December 1st. Yes, I said “trees”, plural. The blue-and-silver on the main floor, and the random kids’ ornaments tree in the family room downstairs.)

Be sure to leave your email address, if it is not on your profile! If I can’t contact you, you can’t win!

For additional entries, leave a separate comment letting me know that:

  • you follow This Mom Loves publicly through Google Friend Connect
  • you subscribe to This Mom Loves through email (activated subscription)
  • you follow @thismomloves on Twitter
  • you follow @scholasticCDA on Twitter 
This contest will run until Wednesday, December 1st at 11:59 p.m. Eastern, after which time a winner will be chosen by random number generation. Good luck!
by | 90 Comments

90 comments on “Christmas Titles from Scholastic (Giveaway)”

  5. My kids have been asking for the Fisher Price Nativity set since July – it doesn't come out until December.
    We usually wait until the first weekend in December to start decorating, but leave everything up until Jan. 6th

    Reply

  11. Christmas decorations go up after American Thanksgiving…usually the first weekend in December. 🙂

    And we have the complete FP Nativity set. Each year my mom buys the newest piece for the girls. It's so much fun!!

    Reply

  15. We put our tree up on Solstice night, and then have a candle light dinner under it. BUT we put up some decorations right after my youngests birthday the second week of December, we always seperate birthdays (both my girls are the begining of December) and Christmas/Solstice)
    tracyschultz@yahoo.com

    Reply

  16. I am going to get out my Christmas dishes and tree this weekend. I recently purchased that FP Nativity Set for a baby shower gift and they loved it.

    Reply

  18. Our tradition is to decorate for Christmas on my birthday (nov 26)–it gives us a solid date to look forward to! Can't wait for the tree to go up!
    Thanks for hosting this excellent giveaway 🙂
    multitestingmommy at gmail dot com

    Reply

  21. My husband is having hernia surgery on Dec. 2, so everything must be up before than so I don't have to do the heavy lifting! We usually wait until the first weekend in December.
    ajabax at gmail dot com

    Reply

  26. We always decorate our tree the first weekend in December. ALWAYS. We wait till evening and we open a bottle of wine for me and my husband has Bailey's and we play old Christmas records (yes, RECORDS) on our antique record player. Now that we have a toddler, it should be super interesting this year. Last year he was only one and not very interested. All he wanted to do was eat the candy canes and strip the lights off. LOL!
    kimber_loo@yahoo.ca

    Reply

  36. Can't say that I am as organized as you. We have the outside of our house decorated but don't have anything up yet inside (unless you Christmas kisses in a bowl) We will likely have everything done on or by December 1.

    Reply

  42. I usually decorate outside the first week of Dec. and put the tree and indoor decorations up around the 15th. I take it all down after New Years day. I see a lot of people have their outside lights on now and even some Christmas trees decorated and lit. It's a bit early for me.

    Reply

  43. We decorated our house last evening. The children love it! I wanted to put up our tree as well, but realized we threw it out last year. Was getting way too old. I'm very excited because we are going to get a real tree this year. First time!

    Reply

  44. I love new Christmas stories! We start searching the library every year around this time and take out several each week. There are so many beautifully illustrated books. These two look wonderful. I find that it really helps to remind my children what the season is really all about.

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  48. My decorations will be going up this week (Nov 20) . I like to have the house done before our daughter's birthday on Dec 8. So much to do, so little time. But always fun

    Reply

  52. We always decorate on the 11th & have a 2 week countdown. Looking forward to this year especially as it's the first Christmas our daughter will understand what is happening!

    Reply

  61. As per our tradition we will begin right after Thanksgiving dinner has been eaten. Putting up the tree and washing all the dishes is how I start the Christmas season every year.

    danellejohns at gmail dot com

    Reply

  65. Well I can't believe it is that time of year already! I love the Christmas season and will begin putting up my Christmas decorations next weekend (always the last weekend in November – including the tree!)
    Thanks for the chance to win!
    Krista S.

    Reply

  71. I'm lucky if I manage to get the decorations up 2 weeks before Christmas…sometimes, even a week before. I do the decorations the same time as the tree, and since it's a real tree, they don't last very long!
    :o)
    pippirose59 at gmail dot com

    Reply

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