Little Star by: Anthony DeStefano

DeStefano tells the story of a Christmas star named Little Star. Little Star is the smallest star in the heavens. He was had no friends and was very lonely. One day he heard that the King was to be born. Little star was so excited that he decided to shine brighter than any of the other stars in the sky. He shone so bright trying to warm baby Jesus, that he ended up burning out and lost his life. The story says that each Christmas we remember the Christmas Star by putting a star at the top of our Christmas trees.

I don't think this will be a story I will want to read to my children. I found it to be biblically incorrect. A story of a star loosing it's life in order for Christ to be born, just did not sit well with me. My small children take things to heart that they read, and at this age they believe everything! So while I understand the creativity of fiction, I think it can be quite messy if it's not an accurate account of the things we've taught them to be true. This may be a good story book for older children who know the difference between fiction and non-fiction, however not good for our age range (0-5).

~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~

God Gave Us the World by: Lisa Tawn Bergren art by Laura J. Bryant

So I thought what a better way to review a children's story, than to read it to my children! And that is exactly what I did! My girls were so excited to get a new book first of all no matter what the story is they are always willing to listen, however they do let me know what they think of it!

In the book "God Gave Us the World" by Laura Bryant, I felt it was a really great message wrapped into a cute and entertaining story! At the beginning of the book it introduces a Mama Bear and a Little Cub. They are walking in the snow sticking out their tongues to catch the snow! My girls just laughed and laughed at this, and one of them even stuck out her tongue and began to pretend it was snowing in our living room! When Mama Bear tells Little Cub he has the pinkest tongue she has ever seen, Little Cub wonders if all bears are the same as him.

Mama Bear begins to explain to Little Cub that God created all kinds of different places to live and different types of bears. So they begin taking a journey through a Bear Exhibit in order to see a glimpse of all that God created. They talk about many different types of bears, where they live, what they eat, and how each bear is made unique by our Creator. No bear is quite the same! They talk about how Big God is and how the world reflects God's work. It is God's nature to create, and our purpose here on earth is to worship Him. I felt it went a little green at the end of the story, talking about how we need to be good stewards of our world, take care of the world because it is God's gift to us.

After we were done reading the story my girls looked up at me and said "that was a great story mom, can we read it again?!" I guess that comment can speak for it's self! Even my 5 month old LOVED looking at the pictures! Over all I think the story was great, the message was great and it was easy for the kids to interact with the story.


~I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.~