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| This is the book my dad used to read to us every Christmas Eve! |
My family has not hung onto many traditions. My parents are not sentimental people. If it wasn't for me demanding it, on account of the fact that my new baby nephew is going to be spending his first Christmas with us and he should see a Christmas tree, we wouldn't even have one this year! So most of the traditions of my childhood have gone by the wayside.
But one of the traditions I remember is that, on Christmas Eve, right before bed, my dad would read The Night Before Christmas to my brother and I. He continued this tradition until way, way, way after we were both able to read it ourselves, and way, way, way after we would have wanted to! The version he read to us was a Little Golden Book. I still have it, and I am hoping that this year my dad will continue the tradition by reading it to my nephew!
And now, I have a question for you.
When I write stories for children, I like to tackle important messages in light-hearted ways. For instance, The Princess's New Hair is about loving yourself just the way you are. I would love to know... whether you are a parent, an aunt or uncle, someone who works with kids, or just an adult who has an opinion... what other messages would you like to see in stories geared towards children ages 2 to 7?
Let me know. I will keep your ideas in mind when I start writing my next story!
I loved gthis story too and used to read it to my childrten - now they read it to theirs! I would like to see anti-bullying messages worked into stories - I know it is a harsh world, but stories that show ways in which we can show kindness to others may help to make it less so.
ReplyDeleteI had this very same golden book and read it many times to my kids when they were growing up. I just recently gave it to my youngest son to give to his daughter. She is 13 so it is way past her time but she will cherish that it belonged to her daddy. I would like to see stories for girls to not focus on their weight so much...past of loving themselves the way that they are....
ReplyDeleteI had that book, too! I don't read much little kids books, but I think kids need to learn that sometimes they're going to lose or fail at something - whether it's a board game, a test at school, or what have you - and it's okay to be disappointed or upset about it, but not dwell on those negative feelings and to learn from their failure or mistake.
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