Book Thirty-Eight of my 2013 Goal

Corey the Christmas Calf by Patty Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Corey the Christmas Calf by Patty Johnson is a children's book. I don't write reviews for every children's book I read, I write them only when I come across an exceptional one and this one really deserves that title. The children loved it!

I bought it to read to my grandchildren ages 4 & 6 while their mother went to the store being it was only 24 pages long I figured it would take their mind off the fact that they weren't with her for a few minutes and we could move on to something else to do. That never happened, we were still talking about the book even after she got back from the store!

The book has pictures, one every page of Corey doing something related to what was written on that page. They are fun and colorful so naturally each child wanted to see it before I turned the page. The text on each page was only about three sentences long so it wasn't like they sat there having to listen to a long speech. It was long enough to tell the story without any fillers or unnecessary information so it kept their attention. (Don't forget they want to see the picture on that page too!)

What I really loved is that there was a lesson to be learned by Corey. In this particular book it was about 'giving' and that Christmas is not all about receiving but giving as well. Naturally, Corey had no present to give so how can Corey give anything? The author answers that at the end as well as gives parents tips on how to teach your children about the virtue of giving to others and she don't mean just monetary donations. Great suggestions and some even a 4 year old can do. We spent a long time thinking of ways to give and discussing some of the suggestions.

I haven't read the series of Corey the Calf, only this one book that I picked out simply because it is Christmas time and this is a Christmas story so I can't say anything about any of the others but I definitely recommend this book for young children.

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