Movies/Books/Music

Books

There are some terrific children's books around for Christmas, and more are being published all the time.

I'll start with The House of Wooden Santas by Kevin Major. Kids from 8 to 11 might be the best audience for this one although younger kids would get something out of it, too. The cool thing about this book is that it's got a chapter for every day of December, so for kids who have time to hear a chapter every evening it's a great Advent ritual. Here's a synopsis: Jesse and his mother face the challenges of making a new life in a small town. But it's hard. Jesse has no friends, and his mother's carved wooden Santas aren't selling. Will there even be a Christmas? Jesse wonders. But before the season is out, Jesse and his mom discover the true spirit of Christmas.
Some themes in the book are: diversity(especially among different generations), change, depression, hope, giving people (including yourself) a second chance.

A story for everyone (mentioned also in the family activities post) is Leo Tolstoy's story about Papa Panov; unless you read Russian, you will have to choose from among many translations; there are some lovely editions in the library and in bookstores; here's one of several versions from the internet:
www.devon.gov.uk/dcs/re/papa/index.html

You may want to check an excellent-looking book called Gifts from the Heart: Simple Ways to Make Your Family's Christmas More Meaningful by Virginia Brucker, who is based in BC. It was published in Canada in 2006 as a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society.

There are chapters on Christmas and divorce, Christmas and illness and bereavement, ideas for long-distance parenting and grandparenting, as well as recipes and child-friendly craft ideas.

Yes, there's a website: www.webelieve.ca.



Movies

Joyeux Noël (Merry Christmas) is a 2005 film about the World War I Christmas truce of December 1914, which is available on DVD; best for Junior High or older children and adults. There's even a Wikipedia entry on it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeux_Noël

The Long Walk Home stars Whoopie Goldberg in the only role in which she ever played a "servant" character; it is a dramatization of the bus boycotts in the US South, and the Black woman who wouldn't sit at the back of the bus. A few significant scenes in this movie take place at Christmas. In the Christmas scenes, the material opulence and spiritual poverty of the white employers' Christmas is contrasted with the material poverty and spiritual strength of the servant's family, although the latter is clearly fragile in the face of many challenges. There's sort of a child's eye view used, but the movie would be most meaningful to adults and children who are mature enough to understand concepts like racism. It's really very uplifting, but you might need Kleenex!