Emma couldn’t wait to go to the King’s birthday party, but what should she bring? Emma and her little dog
Shu-Shu were thrilled to be invited to the King’s birthday party. But what do you get a King for his birthday?
Emma and Shu-Shu have no gift, but they bring the Christmas cake they made with Mom and put
on their Sunday best as they dash to the King’s carriage. And of course,
Emma couldn’t go anywhere without her beloved Cherry-Bear.
On the way, they have encounters that lead them to bestow their cake, winter-cape,
and even Cherry-Bear, on others. Now they’re chilly, rumpled, and empty-handed—
what will the King think? Emma frets, but when they finally meet the King at his palace,
they discover they gave the King exactly what he wanted.
Children and parents will be reminded of the true meaning of Christmas,
and that the greatest gifts we can offer to the Savior are gifts to the least of his
brothers and sisters (based on Matthew 25:40).
Families will be able to go online and be directed to notable charities to give their own gift to the King.
After reading the book to my kids, ages 9, 8 and 5, I felt like maybe the "lesson" or "moral" of the story was a bit over my 5 year old's head and my 8 year old only got it after I did some explaining. My 9 year old completely understood the message in the book and he is even talking about what we can do this Christmas to help those less fortunate. But, the book is written for children 4-8 and my 5 and 8 year old didn't completely get the message. Emma and her dog travel to a different world, or dimension which I found a little hard to explain to the younger kids. My 5 year old asked several questions during the reading that clearly told me she was confused, she was confused about why the dog said he couldn't talk but he is was talking and why they went to a different place that Emma didn't know. This was a great book for my 9 year old though.
I absolutely adored the illustrations in this book. There were times I caught myself not reading, but admiring the pictures instead. My 5 year old daughter thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and I felt like she "connected" with Emma (the main character of the book).
I will be honest, I found the last lines of the book and the last pages of the book a bit over the top pushing little kids into talking to their parents about joining World Vision and donating money to this cause. I am all for helping, but I find it offensive when an organization uses my innocent kids into pushing me into something.
1 comment:
One of the books that I truly like for children is "Carl". There are different stories and adventures of Carl who is a Rottweiler. There are no words. The story is told through pictures only. In the Christmas book Carl is left home to take care of the baby. Thus, they go on an adventure and help someone in need. Such a neat story.
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