Christmas Day Books

I thought this was a wonderful book. The pictures were beautifully illustrated and I enjoyed the lesson it taught. I have already recommended it to several of my friends and associates.

Joey Melvin is a list lover. Since the day he learned to write, he's been creating lists to help him remember things like where to find his missing socks. So when the holidays roll around, Joey is always the first one to send his Christmas list to Santa. This year, however, he's getting an even earlier start than usual, for he's putting his Christmas list in the mail even before Thanksgiving! However, it won't be the last list he's creating, for Joey's mother soon loses her shopping list, and needs to re-write it before Thanksgiving is ruined. So Joey helps. Unfortunately, once the Melvin's relatives arrive, and the festivities begin, the snow comes down harder than anyone could have imagined, and the family is trapped indoors without any food. That is, until Santa Claus and his crew of reindeer arrive to save the day!

There are rarely cute, fun stories released for Thanksgiving. In fact, it usually seems like bookstores go straight to Christmas after Halloween, and put just a few harvest stories on the shelves - most likely because not many have been written. Which is why Natasha Wing's MERRY THANKSGIVING is a gem for the holiday season. MERRY THANKSGIVING combines two extremely family-oriented holidays - Thanksgiving and Christmas - and creates a splendid story filled with fun, family, snow, turkey...and Santa Claus! The illustrations by Isidre Mones bring the story to life, while the individual personalities of each character will bring a smile to the faces of all young readers. Overall, this is a marvelous story that will make the entire family gather 'round the table for more.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

For some odd reason, when I read this to my 6 month old he got scared when I pulled out the magic color inserts and the outlined images fill with color. I'm sure this is just an issue with my child, but I was curious to know if it has happened with anyone else. It was the strangest thing. It's a neat book, and older kids should find it interesting. I've been reading books to my baby since birth and this is the first book that has made him cry...who knows.

With a Caribbean backdrop and murderers on the move, this Lady Margaret Priam headscratcher is delightful fun. This is a tasty morsel of reading enjoyment. Don't expect a ponderous, gritty tome filled with back-alley hoodlums and crusty characters. Ms. Christmas does provide her readers with color and flavor, they just happen to have more flavor than filling - similar to an afternoon tea. As with her other works, this mystery is more about getting to the destination than jumping to conclusions. The trip's the thing.

very fun for really young kids. my 4 year old still enjoys the book and my 18 month old is getting into the flap lifting fun this year too.

In this delightful little story, a young tortoise decides she doesn't want to go to sleep for the winter. (The tortoise's name, Shelley, is actually one of the best parts of the book.) Curious to see what winter is like, she leaves her parents snoring and goes outside. She learns that tortoises aren't very good at some things, like running around in the snow. She finds that tortoises are good at some other things, though.

The story is simple, the drawings are cute, and the words repetitive. The lessons Shelley learns have a whiff of the all-encompassing self-esteem and mulitcultural fads of today's education. All the same, it's a cute little book. Fine for beginning readers.

This book is much more than it appears. It's cover lights up and plays part of the song when you push a button. The music is a little tough to take when kids play it over and over, but it's not too bad. The book itself is very simple and gave me just what I was looking for, a book to go over the words of the song. My kids love the song and wanted to know exactly what all the words were. I can never remember, so this book is perfect.

My daughter & I both love this book. An old story in a new light and a new way to enjoy it and share it with a new generation.

The author is a Professor at Penn State University. The 201 pages provides coverage of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. It is a popular history that could be a TV movie to educate viewers. There are few references to the war in other theaters. The Battle of the Bulge had the most intense fighting in the West since Normandy during WW II. The Nazi army achieved a complete surprise through secrecy and not using radio (p.23). Some warnings were received by the Allies but considered disinformation and ignores (p.25). Hitler hoped a successful offensive would bring peace on his Western front. All plans contain assumptions and dependencies.

The chapters tell about the events among the Allies. Things were going on that were never reported, such as the deserters and "misappropriations" (p.23). The attack began with surprise attacks on December 16 in the Ardennes forest. The Nazi army was successful and advanced. There were rumors of murdered prisoners by the SS units, and in turn "no SS troops will be taken prisoner" (p.34). Inexperienced troops and replacements were routed or defeated (p.36). German troops dressed to impersonate Americans caused confusion (p.75). Ernest Hemingway, armed with a Thompson submachine gun, accompanied front-line troops (p.82). Bad weather prevented air support (p.85). General McAuliffe and the surrounded troops refused to surrender (Chapter 8). The weather cleared on December 24 and the Air Force could attack the enemy and drop supplies to the besieged forces (Chapter 9). American forces raised the siege and Nazi troops moved east. Allied forces continued to move east (Chapter 12). The 'Afterword' provides a summary.

There are other books which are longer and have more details. This will provide the background to better appreciate the 1949 film "Battleground" and many of its scenes.

Thank you so much, it is a great book for anyone who loves to read bout world war two

"11 Days In December" by Stanley Weintraub
Subtitled: "Christmas At The Bulge, 1944"
New American Library, Penguin Books, September 2007.

This concise little book (only 201 pages long) is a written collage (if that is possible) of many experiences of what has gone down in American history as "The Battle of the Bulge". The prodigious author, Stanley Weintraub, has collected the records of the recollections of many people, ranging from President Roosevelt down to the soldier in the field. The central theme of all these disparate individual records is the eleven day period in 1944 from December 16th through December 26th.

The book begins with a bet between General Eisenhower and British Field Marshall Montgomery that the war would be over by Christmas 1944. Adolf Hitler gave orders for an offensive in the west that would cause Eisenhower to lose his bet, extend the war well beyond Christmas and enter history as the "Bulge". For some portion of the front of the book, I felt that the author was so "pro" Montgomery, that I went on the internet to see if Stanley Weintraub was actually British. He is not.

This book, "11 Days In December", is not just a collection of numbered Army units moving here and there in Belgium, although, the author does tell you, that such-and-such a unit moved to a town; as an example, that the 101st Airborne was moved, by trucks, to Bastogne. In fact, Weintraub has some three to four pages in the index dealing with numbered American, British and German units. If you would like a book that describes where the different divisions, regiments, headquarters, etc., were located, I would recommend "The Battle Of The Bulge" by John Toland (1966).

Of greater importance is the fact that the author brings together many recollections of different kinds of people. For example, there are the reminisces of movie stars David Niven and Marlene Dietrich, which are capped by the reported experiences of the famous writer, Ernest Hemingway. Of course, the author includes the famous response of General Anthony McAuliffe when he was asked by the Germans to surrender Bastogne. "Nuts!" On a more serious note, Stanley Weintraub records, pages 100-101, that President F.D. Roosevelt asked Secretary of War Stimson and General Leslie Groves if the A-bomb would be ready to use on the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. The bomb was not read and Weintraub writes, "Despite later racist allegations, the atomic bomb was not being withheld for use against Japan".

The book ends with the relief of Bastogne, on 26 December 1944, when General Patton's Fourth Armored Division reached that Belgian town. By the way, in the Church's calendar, December 26th has long been St. Stephen's Day; see, for example, "Good King Wenceslas" by John M. Neale and Tim Ladwig, 2005.

All World War II fans will enjoy this concise and well written view of the Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Weintraub does a tremendous job of showing us what really went on during the battle. Unlike most authors he is equal in his examination of both the fighting man as well as the genralship. He does spend a little time on the political situation, but not more than necessary and does not get bogged down by it.

Weintraub is also very good at making sure that the story does not go beyond the Bulge. He focuses on the heaviest fighting and leaves side stories to some other author to explore. His interest is in telling the story of the Battle of the Bulge and he does a perfect job.

This book concentrates solely on the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, to the exclusion of almost every other aspect of World War II at that time. It is well-written and gives a fairly thorough account of the battle and its surroundings, but I couldn't help feeling a sense of detachment on the part of the author from the people who fought in that battle. There are the usual "up close and personal" vignettes about individuals, but they seemed almost an afterthought to the main focus of the book, the battle. Even that could have been explored in more detail, but this is a relatively short book, and within the space confines, the author did a decent job of explaining what happened, although some of his prose raised more questions than were answered. Overall it's a book worth reading, if only to get a "snapshot" of conditions at the time the Battle began, and when it ended. If you want to know more detail, you'll just have to read other, longer works.

Offering a promising start, SHEDDING LIGHT strays from its initial promise of insightful and observant literature. Instead, the majority of the pieces are long, drawn out narratives laid out in short poetic stanzas that provide example after example emphasizing Harold Nash's viewpoint.

Therein lies the complication. A philosophical approach should teach without being preachy, should maintain its point without so much repetition. The main statement, or thesis, need not be continuously drawn out, but simply stated to allow the reader to absorb and understand. SHEDDING LIGHT accomplishes that in a few of its shorter and more pointed reads, such as "When Truth Is Told" and "Untitled".

However, some of the longer pieces diverge from a philosophical standpoint and become odd conclusions to poorly developed hypotheses. For example, in the eight page "Karma" and "DeJavu", Nash's philosophizing oversimplifies and incorrectly combines different Biblical texts. He then uses his "Biblical summary" to explain that reincarnation is the only logical explanation for newborn babies who are justifiably cursed by God.

In "God Doesn't Speak English" what should be a creative title is actually the topic of discussion, to which Nash concludes God doesn't speak English, because there was no English in the beginning. Subsequently, Nash clumsily presumes the Los Angeles forest fires were God's way of condemning the city for the racial tension that led to the riots. Hmmm. Maybe, with some reference to knowledge other than Nash's, these assertions could be plausible or at least arguable. But, without such, this collection simply comes up short.

Reviewed by a. Kai
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Shedding Light is a compilation of philosophical insights by gifted poet Harold Nash. In it, he touches on a range of topics, including such issues as religion, personal development, interpersonal relations, and the ultimate purpose for human existence. Broken down into two separate sections, Shedding Light begins with a nine-chapter sequence in which Nash delves deeply into the mercurial nature of humanity. Many of his reflections are expressed in anecdotal form, and the insights that he shares with the reader often come in crisp, laconic passages, such as this one from "Chapter One: Maturity":

"As much as most
people tend to equate seriousness
with maturity, the truth and fact
is that they are not parallel with
each other. To assume that they
are the same, or have the same meaning,
is not only a misconcept [sic], but it also
confirms the lack of enlightenment
that one may have."


And this one from "Chapter Two: Humility":

"In order to be humble,
you first have to learn to give up a
priviledge [sic] that you have, for someone
else to have that privilege."


Profound insights from one who obviously doesn't just talk the talk, but has also walked the walked on many an occasion.

The second half of Shedding Light features seven poems by Nash that are equally as philosophic as the mini essays in the first half of the book, and anyone familiar with Nash's poetic style is already prepared for the types of straight-ahead insights that they espouse, such as, for example, this passage from "When Truth is Told":

"When truth is deep,
eyes will weep; the heart will sink,
and tears will leap, and what you sow,
is what you reap.

When lies are made,
They run for shade, when burning truth,
Throws its parade."


And this passage from the impressively insightful "An Ancient Chinese Secret," outlining the different types of people that one will meet over the course of a lifetime:

"He that knows - and knows not
that he knows
He is sleep - wake him.

He that knows - and knows that
he knows
He is wise - follow him."


As with his previous work, in Shedding Light Nash provides the reader with helpful insights borne of a need to inspire, educate, and enlighten others. Most of all, though, his desire to connect on a deeper level with those who are hurting, dejected, or confused sets Nash apart and highlights the courage of a true artist committed to using his gifts & talents for the benefit of the greater good.


Wendy Paulson
Apex Reviews

This is a very good philosophy book that is guaranteed to get you to look at life on a higher level. The author Harold Nash talks about humility, and loyalty, and then covers the subject of karma as he enlightens you.
The author Harold Nash talks about the racial tension that led up to the Rodney King riots, and the earthquakes and the forest fires that followed after the riots ended. The forest fires were actually started by a lightening volt, and the Los Angeles fire department could not put out the fires. A rain storm came along weeks later and helped the fire department put out the fire. This was on the CNN news. I remember this very well.
Harold Nash makes a very good point, that natural disasters are acts of God, just as the Katrina hurricane in New Orleans. Now in the days of Noah, the world was out of control with sin, and God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights and drowned everyone on the planet, except two of every kind that Noah put on the Ark with him.
I really loved the poetry at the end of this book. "When truth is told" is one of my favorites. It goes like this:

A lie is dead when truth unfold.
But truth is neither warm nor cold.
It only rest for those who quest,
and with form, it manifest.

The truth is sad, sometimes it's
fun, it weighs an ounce, sometimes
a ton.

Reveals in time, for it won't rush.
But yet it's weight was meant to crush,
and lips that lie, it quickly hush.

When truth is told, this might sound bold,
it still has strength when it gets old.
When truth is deep, eyes wiil weep; the
heart will sink and tears will leap,
and what you sow is what you reap.

When lies are made, they run for shade,
when burning truth throws its parade.
When truth is told, it will not fold,
it shines so bright, and good as gold.

But it's not meant to cost a cent,
though hell and back it may have went.

To anyone who questions whether or not this is a good book, I encourage you to go to [...] and read more of Harold Nash's work. I bought both of his books, and Harold Nash embraces unity of all races.
This is what I really like about him, and this is what some people are going to hate. "Behind the door" "My Pekoe Tea" and "Sunny" are three exceptionally good poems. This book is a must read!!!

This is "Behind the door" page 62.

There's so much wisdom to be obtained,
intangibles that can't be claimed.
There's a day ahead for all, there's
this mystery behind this wall.

There's this wall that has this door,
once you exit, you are no more.
But others tend to disagree; they say
only then will you be free.

Whats behind this spooky door? An exit
we must all explore. You enter such
a mystery, your present life is history.

What's behind this spooky door? Did you
win - well, what's the score? Did you win
or did you lose? Hell or Heaven, what did
you choose?

This is the "untitled" poem on page 58.

Life on earth will someday change.
I know for some, that might sound
strange. Evil things that Satan
cherish, eventually will someday
parish.

Oh my lord I give a toast - for you
are so grandiose. You give me such
a spiritual lift. To everyone you
gave a gift.

He gave the butterfly its beautiful
wings, and gave Saturn its magnificent
rings. To each fish he gave a fin; and
made us all prepared to win.

God has been so good and kind - to give us
both soul and mind. Although some are so
enchanted, most of us take him for granted.

These are the two pages (word for word) of the capter God doesn't speak engish that Nash talks about the tension that led up to the Rodney King riots, and the earthquakes, and forest fires that followed after, that Nash claims was an act of God. It is popular opinion that natural disasters are acts of God. In any case, here it is, so you be the judge... pages 49-50: "When God speaks, he speaks with either wrath or benevolence. He speaks through tornados and hurricanes, and earthquakes. He speaks through famine and plagues and blessings. He's kind of like E.F. Hudden. When E.F. Hudden talks - people listen. Shortly after the Rodney King riots, Los Angeles California was hit with a series of major earthquakes that tore Los Angeles to shreds. Many people were killed, and many were injured in these earthquakes.

And then suddenly, there was a major forest fire on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It was one of the biggest forest fires in Californias history. The fire was started by a volt of lightening during a thunderstorm. The forest fire was so treacherous, that the Los Angeles fire department could not put it out. And eventually, the Los Angelos fire department received help from other fire departments from other cities in California.

With all of that help that the Los Angeles fire department received, they still couldn't put out the forest fire. The fire blazed for weeks. Eventually, a rainstorm came along and put the forest fire out. This was obviously God's way of condemning the city of Los Angeles for the racial tension that lead up to the riots, and condemning Los Angeles for the riots itself. The message was clear - God doesn't speak english."

Shedding Light by Harold M. Nash is a philosophical look on the ways of the world. This book offers scenarios of situations that may occur in a person's lifetime; breaking down what type of reaction could possibly occur from a misunderstood action. The point Mr. Nash makes is to rationalize and to think before we overreact. Maybe if we conversed and listened to what was going on, rather than jumping to conclusions, a lot of unnecessary hurt and pain could be avoided.

Shedding Light by Harold Nash would be a nice tool for a teenager. The ideas are put together enough to help a hot head to cool off without making a wrong decision. There were some topics that left me scratching the top of my head, because I had no clue how they fit in with the rest of the book. With proper editing, Shedding Light would be easier to understand. I recommend this book to parents of teenagers. I, as a parent, would read the passages I feel can shed some light on life, out loud to my child.

Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub