[ARC REVIEW] Gingerbread Christmas by Jan Brett (@PutnamBooks , @byjanbrett)

Title:  Gingerbread Christmas

Author:  Jan Brett

Genre:  Children's / Humor / Family / Christmas

Year Published: 2016

Year Read:  2019

Publisher:  G.P. Putnam's Sons

Source:  eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 4+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I would like to thank Edelweiss and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was a bit familiar with Jan Brett’s “Gingerbread Baby” series and I was actually surprised that Edelweiss had a copy of the sequel “Gingerbread Christmas!”  Since the Christmas holidays is around the corner, I figured that I might pick up a Christmas read and this was quite a cute book to read!

The Gingerbread Baby is back and this time, he wants to start a musical band to play with in the Christmas Festival.  So, his friend Matti decided to bake the Gingerbread Baby a Gingerbread Band and the band ended up performing at the Christmas Festival.  Everything was going fine for the band until the children started noticing how tasty the band smelled and this causes the audience to try and get at the band.

Can the Gingerbread Baby and his band get out of being eaten during Christmas?

Read this book to find out!

Wow!  Jan Brett has one again created a wonderful story about the Gingerbread Baby and I found myself enjoying this book immensely!  I loved the fact that the Gingerbread Baby wanted to start a band to play with at the Christmas Festival and it was interesting seeing how the Gingerbread Baby would escape from being eaten on Christmas since he is a…well, you know…a gingerbread cookie.  I also loved the Gingerbread Baby’s relationship with Matti as Matti seems to be the only human being who does not want to eat the Gingerbread Baby.  Jan Brett’s artwork is beautiful as always as all of the characters look so realistic!  I also loved how colorful the artwork is, especially of the images of the Gingerbread Baby and his Gingerbread Band!

Overall, “Gingerbread Christmas” is a truly cute read that would be perfect for the Christmas season!  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• A Gingerbread Christmas by Tim Raglin and Eric Metaxas

• The Tale of the Tiger Slippers by Jan Brett

• Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett

[ARC REVIEW] The Tale of the Tiger Slippers by Jan Brett (@PutnamBooks , @byjanbrett)

Title:  The Tale of the Tiger Slippers

Author:  Jan Brett

Genre:  Children's / Animals / India / Family

Year Published: 2019

Year Read:  2019

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons    

Source:  eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Nothing Objectionable)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

I would like to thank Edelweiss and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It has been awhile since I last read a book by Jan Brett.  I used to read many books by Jan Brett when I was little and for a while, I thought that Jan Brett had taken a break from writing books.  But, lo and behold!  I had just discovered her most recent book “The Tale of the Tiger Slippers” and it was such a wonderful book to read!

The story starts off with a wealthy tiger telling his friends the story of how he got his raggedy old slippers that is put in a display case in his garden.  The tiger used to be poor as he had lived with his mother and he worked hard every day to make ends meet for him and his mother.  One day, his mother noticed how the stones and thorns in the ground were hurting her son’s feet.  So she decided to weave him a pair of beautiful slippers to protect his feet.  The young tiger wore the slippers and as he continued working, he noticed some white clay near the river and he decided to use the white clay to build houses for the other animals, which made him into an extremely wealthy tiger.  The tiger then continues wearing his slippers, until a couple of other animals would start questioning him about why he wears such “ugly and raggedy” slippers and the tiger would throw the slippers away.  But every time the tiger threw the slippers away, they keep on coming back to him.

Can the Tiger get rid of his slippers or is there something more to his slippers that he does not realize yet? 

Read this book to find out!

Wow!  Jan Brett’s writing is still as beautiful and as intriguing as ever!  I loved the fact that this is based off a folktale from India since I love reading folktales from other countries.  I also loved the way that Jan Brett wrote this story as it is about a wealthy tiger trying to remember his roots through his old slippers that his mother had weaved for him.  This story really resonates with me because I always liked to keep items from my childhood since I do not ever want to forget about my roots or about the fun times that I had as a child.  Jan Brett’s artwork is as usual gorgeous to look at as all the animal characters looks so realistic and beautiful.   I especially loved the images of the tiger’s beautiful house as it conveys the essence of the culture of India and it is gorgeous to look at, especially with all the vegetation that surrounds his home.

Overall, “The Tale of the Tiger Slippers” is a truly wonderful story about the importance of remembering your roots that children and parents will enjoy reading for many years!  I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

You might also like:

• Once a Mouse...by Marcia Brown

• One Grain of Rice by Demi

• Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling

[BOOK REVIEW] Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? by Jan Brett

Title:  Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?

Author:  Jan Brett

Genre:  Animals / Norway / Christmas / Folktale

Year Published: 2002

Year Read:  2010

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons  

Source:  Library     

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (Some Mischievous Behavior)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Alright! Lately, I have been taking a break from reading folktales from around the world, but now I am trying to get back into reading more folktales from around the world!  I just stumbled upon this little gem of a book called “Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve?” which is a children’s book by Jan Brett that takes place in Norway and it is about how a boy from Finnmark and a young girl named Kyri tried to ward off a pack of trolls from spoiling their Christmas dinner.  “Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve?” is a truly brilliant book for children who love Norwegian folktales and lovable bears!

On Christmas Eve, a boy from Finn mark was trekking on a northern place on his way to Oslo to show off his ice bear to the townsfolk, when he spots a cozy hut that was occupied by a little girl named Kyri, whose father had gone out to stop a group of mischievous trolls from eating their Christmas dinner.  The boy from Finn mark then arrives at the hut and asks Kyri to let him inside the house and they also let the ice bear sleep under the warm stove.  Suddenly, the two kids hear a loud knocking at the door and they knew immediately that the trolls were trying to get inside the house to eat the delicious Christmas dinner.

Oh my goodness!  I just really adored this book and not only because it has gorgeous illustrations and an exciting story, but it is also a folktale and I love folktales!  Jan Brett has certainly done a wonderful job with both the writing and the illustrations of this book as they are beautiful and inventive in every way and they are much more gorgeous in this book than in her other books!  I loved the way that she illustrates the boy from Finn mark with blonde hair and wears a stylish Norwegian outfit that has a blunt grey and gold tint color with red and blue lacings over it.  I also loved the images of the trolls themselves as they have spiky blond hair, long noses and big lips which truly make them look extremely mischievous and I also loved the illustrations of the northern lights detailed at the top of the main illustrations as they have images of various characters from the book in blue and white colors and are shown as northern light looking characters overlooking the situation in the main illustrations.  Jan Brett has also done an excellent job at writing this story as the characters are truly inventive to read about, even though I personally wished that the boy had an actual name like the girl instead of just being called “the boy from Finn mark.” I loved the fact that both boy from Finn mark and Kyri were both resourceful in trying to outsmart the trolls as the trolls were trying to steal their food, but the kids would out think them at every turn.  The trolls were truly shown as raucous characters, just as the book said and you will easily find yourself sympathizing with Kyri’s predicament as the trolls were barging into Kyri’s home without her permission and that is enough to make anyone angry!

 

Overall, “Who’s That Knocking on Christmas Eve?” is a fantastic book for fans of Jan Brett’s work and who love reading Norwegian folktales.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.