Monday, December 16, 2024

Children's Book Review for A Special Request, A Secret Delivery by Londa Shupe, Marina Halak (illustrator)

 


I asked the author for a favorite Christmas tradition, song, or book.   Enjoy Londa Shupe’s responses.

1.  We had a fun local Christmas tree farm that we would visit every year and pick out our Christmas tree for the season. After we found the best tree for that year, we would go on a wagon ride, grab some hot cider, and head inside to sit by a warm fire.  We would then come home, turn on the Christmas music, heat up some hot chocolate, and the girls would decorate the tree with the ornaments they received from both sets of Grandparents.   

2.  My favorite Christmas book is from my childhood.  It is called, "The City that forgot about Christmas" by Mary P Warren.  

3.  Silent Night!  Is there one better!?  

 

A Special Request, A Secret Delivery by Londa Shupe, Marina Halak (illustrator)

Published:  November 26, 2024 by Blue Balloon Books


Taken from Amazon:  How do you celebrate Christmas?

Every family is unique, and sometimes parents’ jobs or even an illness can mean that a family must open Santa’s presents on a day other than Christmas. A Special Request, A Secret Delivery is a charming Christmas tale that provides groundbreaking representation for just this situation. In this exciting story, a child writes to Santa, informing him that the family cannot be together on Christmas Day, then sets an elf in the window as a reminder to deliver presents another time. Ultimately, the children of the home get to enjoy the welcome sight of presents and a joy-filled family gathering like everyone else—just on a different day!

Sure to become a new Christmas classic for the not-so-classic holiday circumstances, A Special Request, A Secret Delivery is the perfect book for families who appreciate Santa’s flexible schedule. In the back of the book, children can complete a fun search-and-find activity with objects that represent some of the many professions that necessitate Santa’s new schedule, from nurses and doctors to firefighters and delivery workers. Plus, download and print your own special color-by-number elf to set on the window each Christmas season!

My Thoughts:  This children’s book is unique in that it tells the story of a traditional Christmas with an untraditional family.   This family will not be all together on Christmas.  It shows how celebrating Christmas does not have to be done on Christmas Eve/Day.  The holiday should be about family and being together while also celebrating Christmas. 

The illustrations are bright and colorful.  I think the child reading this book will enjoy just paging through the book looking at the pictures.   I felt like the illustrations are unique to the story and I really enjoyed them.   They are not as bright in color as some other Christmas books but they are true to the story that is being told.

Thank you Blue Balloon Publishing for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ CHILDREN’S list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon



Meet the Author:  Londa Shupe has been a nurse for over twenty years. She lives in her hometown of Minneapolis, Kansas, where she raised her four daughters with her husband of twenty- seven years. Londa has been thinking about the concept for this book since the first time she had to work during Christmas. Although she knew her job was important, it was always difficult to be away from her family for the holiday, especially since Londa LOVES Christmas and treasures sharing holiday traditions with her family. This inspired her to create a story meant to foster a new tradition for these special families to share—the tradition of setting out an elf to signal to Santa to bring presents on a night when the family can all be together. Londa’s goal is to offer other families a way to celebrate the story of Santa Claus together even when they have to be apart on Christmas Day.

 

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