Sunday, December 15, 2013

The Sparkle Box - Jill Hardie

Illustrated by Christine Kornacki
"A Gift with the Power to Change Christmas"
2012, Ideal Children's Books
HC $19.99
32 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.51 (41 ratings)
My rating: 4.5
Endpapers:  Evergreen
Title Page: 1-inch red frame, 4 x 4 illustration of the Sparkle box (without the actual sparkle, here) in the middle.  The cover has great "real" silver sparkle on the box.
Illustrations:  Full page, realistic, colorful....large, bold, lovely.
1st line:  "Snowflakes swirled through the air as Samand his mom stopped to look in the toy store window."

Opening page:  "Dear reader, you are the light of the world - make it sparkle."

My comments:  What a super - fantastic idea -- keep a special box (in this case, sparkly, glittery silver) on the mantle and jot down things you've done for others during the Christmas season. Open it and share on Christmas morning. This book explains that Sam's family does it as a birthday gift to Jesus (this is the first "religious" mention in the book, and the only mention, on the last page, other than two quotes from the book of Matthew in the "Notes from the author.")  This book will definitely take away some of the commercialism of the holidays. I LOVE the idea! (I wish it wasn't limited to Christian kids, thus my lowering of the rating by a half point.)

GoodreadsDuring the Christmas season, Sam and his parents participate in various acts of kindness to others and record their good deeds on slips of paper to be placed in a sparkly box, as a gift to Jesus.

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