Myrrh
The Third Gift by Linda Sue Park is a gorgeous picture book. It imagines the boy and his father who harvest the myrrh that is sold to the wise men on their way to visit baby Jesus.
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advent. Show all posts
Monday, December 23, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Advent ~ Day 21
Reindeer People, Scandinavia
The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert, photography by Per Breiehagen (gorgeousness!!!)
Ollie's Ski Trip (I adore Elsa Beskow’s vintage Swedish books!)
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Reindeer by Maj Lindman (Speaking of vintage Swedish books… The Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and Flicka, Ricka, Dicka books are great for early readers.)
If you are searching for more vintage Swedish goodness, try a few books by Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking): The Tomten, The Tomten and the Fox, and Christmas in Noisy Village.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Advent ~ Day 19
Dickens ~ A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens: Scenes from an Extraordinary Life (a beautiful picture book)
Christmas Carol & Other Favorites (Jim Weiss audio retelling)
Christmas Carol (Eyewitness Classics) (I love the DK Eyewitness Classics. They provide interesting background information to correspond with the illustrated story.)
Magic Tree House #44: A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time 
Rags and Riches: Kids in the Time of Charles Dickens (Magic Tree House Research Guide)
Full film:
Full film (animated):
Charles Dickens biography:
Monday, December 16, 2013
Advent ~ Day 18
Anna and Simeon
(I like this next song by Amy Grant and Vince Gill, but the video is terrible.)
Advent ~ Day 17
Christmas Carols
The Huron Carol by Jean De Brebeuf (We added this to our collection this Christmas.)
The Huron Carol by Ian Wallace
We Three Kings by Gennady Spirin
Good King Wenceslas by John M. Neale (We borrowed this one from the library this year.)
The Friendly Beasts by Tomie dePaola (I love Tomie dePaola books and Leif sang this song for the Christmas choir concert. We’ve added it to our wish list.)
The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats
This is one of my favorite videos of one of my favorite carols:
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I HEARD the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."
And (surprise!) The Piano Guys with Carol of the Bells:
Advent ~ Day 16
The Real Day of Christ’s Birth
Again, no resources to share, so let’s go with another Piano Guys video!
Advent ~ Day 15
Angels
(Okay, I don’t really have good resources for angels, but this seemed like a good time to share a Piano Guys video.)
Advent ~ Day 14
Swaddling Clothes
I highly recommend the documentary Babies. The boys and I loved it and I wish it were still available through Netflix Streaming! One of the babies is well-swaddled at the beginning of the movie, and you can get a glimpse of it in this short clip. The film highlights the different cultures, but also shows the similarities and “human-ness” of each of the well-loved babies.
Advent ~ Day 13
Light
December 13th is St. Lucia Day, which we’ve often celebrated (partly due to my Swedish heritage). You can read a little more at Professor Carol’s fantastic Advent series:
‘Lucy, Lucia, Lux - it means “light,” and a celebration of light is certainly appropriate to Advent. And nowhere can we find a greater celebration of light than the feast of St. Lucia in Sweden, where winter rules the day with darkness.’
Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions is watching our DVD of Rick Steves’ European Christmas, and it’s now available on YouTube! This part shows St. Lucia celebrations in Norway:
And another beautiful video:
Kirsten's Surprise (A Swedish immigrant American Girl)
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Advent ~ Day 12
Magi
The Other Wise Man (picture book retelling)
The Fourth Wise Man (DVD)
The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke (full text)
Old black and white film of The Other Wise Man:
Advent ~ Day 10
Mary and Baby Jesus, Art
Rembrandt: The Christmas Story (This story of the birth of Jesus combines text from the Gospels with images by Rembrandt. Lovely.)
Magnificat (Song of Mary) (click on the player at the bottom of this link to hear it sung by my friend Lori)
Luke 1:46-55 Mary’s Song
46 And Mary said
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.”
Michelangelo’s Pieta at Saint Peter’s Cathedral (Art History at Khan Academy):
The Divine Comedy by Dante, Paradiso—Canto XXXIII
"Virgin mother, daughter of your Son,
Humbler and higher than all other creatures,
Fixed aim and goal of the eternal plan…”
(At 3:47:00 of the following video)
Advent ~ Day 9
Gold—Refiner’s Fire
Current mining and production video (shows refining fire at the end):
This is a really neat video showing traditional Egyptian gold jewelry craftsmanship (including the melting and stretching process at the beginning):
Advent ~ Day 8
Herod
Drive Thru History--Miracles, Messiah, and the Roman Empire: From Bethlehem to Caesarea
A quick movie trailer about Herod’s Temple:
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Advent ~ Day 7
Frankincense
A very quick video showing the harvesting of frankincense:
A three-hour documentary about the trade routes of frankincense (but shows the harvesting of frankincense in the first few minutes):
Advent ~ Day 5
John the Baptist
A Son for Zechariah, The Birth of John, and John Baptizes Jesus from The Children's Illustrated Bible
The Bible Miniseries - John the Baptist (Focus on the Family):
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Advent ~ Day 4
Christmas Truce ~ WWI
Truce: The Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting by Jim Murphy (quite a bit of text punctuated by vintage photographs)
Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon (a shorter picture book accessible for younger children, including an audio CD)
The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World History (Contains a two-page spread about WWI with an illustration and description of troops in the trenches during the winter—Luke immediately remembered these pages when we read this day’s entry in our Advent reader.)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree: An Appalachian Story (An Appalachian girl waits for her father to return home from fighting during WWI. This is one of my most favorite Christmas picture books!)
Christmas Truce 1914 from the film Oh! What a Lovely War:
BBC Documentary on The Christmas Truce of 1914:
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