Thursday, December 19, 2013

Christmas

This week Bashful Book Bee is celebrating Christmas!  In today’s  society and politics we have begun to have challenges to the name of Christmas.  Now I am a simple person, I never claimed to be a rocket scientist… but I like to think of myself as an older “child”… and you know the saying Out of the mouth’s of babe’s come words of wisdom… well this babe’ doesn’t understand the challenges…. The name of the holiday is Christmas….Merriam-Webster’s dictionary says:Christmas is a Christian holiday that is celebrated on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ or the period of time that comes before and after this holiday.  Wikipedia defines it as Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ's Mass") is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed cultural holiday, celebrated generally on December 25.  Now those are two non-religious sources definitions.  So my confusion is why would we want to no longer call the holiday Christmas, if it’s whole meaning is associated with that WORD.  Are we going to change the name of Kwanza, Hanukkah, Cinco de Mayo, or Ramadan…. Well no of course not…. The names of the holidays are the definition of what it is. So with that said, if you don’t want to celebrate Christmas, that is your choice. But changing the name will not change the holiday!


With Christmas on my mind, Bashful Book’s Bee’s Book of the week is the Gospel of Luke’s account Of the original Christmas story: Luke 2:9-14
"An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Other accounts from other books of the Bible
·         Matthew 1:20-25
o   20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
·         Isaiah 9:6-7
o   6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Our prayer for you this season, is to have a Merry Christmas!

For more information and comments, please email us at bashfulbookbee@gmail.com Remember when teachers order from Peppermint Pig  they receive 15% off cover price.


Bashful Book Bee "BEELIEVE'S" in sharing the love of books and reading with everyone. 
But her primary goal is to introduce books to children, teachers, educators, parents and grandparents.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas is on Bashful Book Bee’s bloggy brain…. To be more specific, A Christmas Classic is on my mind this week.  After a little research I discovered Clement C. Moore’s famous poem was written in the early 1800’s, around 1822, as a poem for his children.  A family friend in Dec. of 1823, submitted the poem to the editor of the Troy Sentienel (New York) where it was first published.  The title however, was “A visit from St. Nicholas”.  She didn’t submit Mr. Moore’s name as the author of the poem, because he never intended it to be published.  So, it was not until 1844 that Mr. Moore himself acknowledged the poem.  It was at the request of his children that he finally published the poem in a volume of his poetry entitled “Poems”.  Nearly 200 years later many would claim that Mr. Moore’s poem, now known as “The Night Before Christmas”, is still the most published, most-read,
 most-memorized and most-collected Christmas book of all~ 

Bashful Book Bee has a definite favorite copy, that being…
Mary Engelbreit’s illustrated  2002 version.


However, many many books have taken Mr. Moore’s pattern and set about creating new and different tales.  From Librarians, to Texans, to Dinosaurs…one and all have
excited anticipation on Christmas Eve.  I hope you and your children, will find lots of time by the fire place, or even the space heater (as we hillbilly’s do) to have some cuddle time to read together.
  • ·         Librarians Night before Christmas by David Davis
  • ·         Texas Night Before Christmas by James Rice
  • ·         Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke
  • ·         Texas Night Before Christmas by E.J. Sullivan
  • ·         Night Before Christmas in Texas That Is by Leon A.Harris
  • ·         Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas by Jim Harris

I’ve never been a History buff… but with the research I’m doing for this blog, I’m finding some bits of History I loveJ… Happy Reading…


For more information and comments, please email us at bashfulbookbee@gmail.com Remember when teachers order, they receive 15% off cover price when ordering from Peppermint Pig. 

Bashful Book Bee "BEELIEVE'S" in sharing the love of books and reading with everyone. But her primary goal is to introduce books to children, teachers, educators, parents and grandparents.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

School Closing

BashfulBook Bee hopes everyone uses this cold weather as time to stay in the house and Read!!!!

Christmas Gift Time

Christmas Time is in the air.  If you are around children, their excitement is contagious.  God surely knew when he gave us the Christ child, that CHILDREN would love the holiday.  I am excited to see more children knowing the True meaning of Christmas.  The birth of our savior is exciting.  And while the gift giving sometimes gets out of hand, I think the Wisemen gave us a great example to give Him gifts.  I believe it is because of love within us, that gift giving then must extend to our giving gifts to others we love as well…of course~  This Bashful Book Bee, loves giving gifts.... and most of the time they are books, of course, ~ 
My number one gift book for children is one of my all-time favorite books.

                         The Velveteen Rabbit  by Margery Williams was written in 1922.   


However, this classic tale still will be loved by all…from young children to adults.  The sweet little story is of a young stuffed rabbit given to a young boy at Christmas. While the story is primarily of the loving relationship the boy develops with his toy, the toy also meets many new animals  in the nursery.  These new acquaintances give the young rabbit the brutal truth that "he" is not "real".  The toy rabbit's greatest desire is to become real. However, through the sincere love the rabbit has for the boy, he learns the awesome lesson of selfless love, which proves to be the magic of being truly REAL.

Bashful Book Bee’s other great Christmas book recommendations:


  • ·         The Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood.  Every child that Bashful has given this book to, reports it is STILL their favorite book~
  • ·         A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
  • ·         The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Each of these books will bring smiles and warm fuzzy feelings to all of their readers.


Bashful Book Bee "BEELIEVE'S" in sharing the love of books and reading with everyone. But her primary goal is to introduce books to children, teachers, educators, parents, and grandparents.