Book Reviews: Night Night Angel, and Slothy Claus

I am so grateful we are staring down the end of the week because honestly I'm not sure if I could handle any more week, you know what I mean? Friday is going to be an insanely busy day and, once again, I failed to really look at my calendar before agreeing to things.  It's OK though, I'm basically helping people all day long so I can't hate that, I just need to really take time to listen to my body and take a damn break when I need to. Which, ugh- that's a whole other post... maybe for next week. 

Anyways! I have two children's books for you today and if you know anything about me, you know that Christmas is my absolute favorite EVER. I'm already itching to wrap things, but I'm really trying to hold out a little longer. On Monday I'm putting my office Christmas tree though, that's all there is to it. 

Night Night Angel & Slothy Claus

First, let's talk about these covers because I love them so much. As soon as I heard the title Slothy Claus, I was completely in because sloths are the absolute best and I just really want to hug one. Will it claw my face? Probably. Would I still give it a good try? Absolutely. I can't remember if I mentioned that Penelope is an amazing little artist at age six, and her favorite thing is to recreate covers of books, so I included her version of a Slothy Claus cover. Night Night, Angel has an equally adorable cover because illustrated animals are the sweetest things ever. Again, it makes me think I can go hug animals in the wild, but Matt assures me I absolutely cannot do that because he ruins all of my fun. 

Slothy Claus- Jodie Shepherd

What will children do when a sluggish Slothy Claus doesn't make it to their home in time for Christmas morning? This charming story helps kids learn that Christmas is about more than just presents under the tree.

Slothy Claus has lots of presents for good boys and girls this year, but how is this notoriously lethargic animal supposed to travel all around the world in just one night? You guessed it! Slothy takes his sweet time, and when kids wake up to empty stockings and bare trees, it feels like Christmas is ruined! How will they ever find happiness without their chocolates and toys?

I'm going to start by telling you that not only did I love this story, but so did Penelope and Lucy! The story features Slothy Claus, who is like Santa but for animals. He's packing his sleigh but is slower than molasses, which only lets down the animals wishing for Slothy Claus to bring them goodies. Of course, everyone is disappointed when Slothy Claus doesn't come, but they soon learn that Christmas about gifts but instead, of being together. Eventually though, Slothy Claus does make it.... just not on Christmas. 

Lucy thought this was funny and Penelope looked slightly concerned when I told her this year Santa is taking a break and Slothy Claus is actually going to take over. These girls 100% believe in Santa and everything about it so their first thought was who do they write their wish list to? HA! Of course I told them it was just a story but we had fun talking about the what if's together. Loved this one!

Night Night, Angel - Amy Parker

'Tis the season for joy! Celebrate the family fun and season's blessings of Christmas with a young arctic fox as your family remembers that Jesus is the best gift of all. Amy Parker's delightful rhymes and Virginia Allyn's sweet illustrations make Night Night, Angel the perfect read-aloud for toddlers and preschoolers enjoying the Christmas season.

Little fox loves all the excitement that Christmas brings to the forest: making creative presents, placing the star on the tree, and making sure she is spotlight-ready for the big Christmas play. But soon she realizes that the perfect gift has already been given through the baby who arrived on the first Christmas night!

Honestly, who doesn't love a good board book? These are perfect for Lucy because sometimes she has a hard time turning pages even still, her little fingers just can't quite do it some days. Again, this isn't very long and is a great one for beginning readers to practice on- it's full of sight words! 

In here we have all of the animals getting ready for Christmas by doing various tasks that we all enjoy doing as we prepare, baking, making a snowman, making gifts for others, decorating a tree, etc. I should include that in this book it does have a Christ centered approach so if that isn't your thing, know that going in. Our family is particularly religious but we still enjoyed this book quite a bit. 

The girls thought it was hilarious because there is a part that mentions that hanging lights is Daddy's favorite part, and in our family... Daddy strongly dislikes hanging lights! Every year it becomes a thing and it'll likely become a favorite childhood memory of theirs for sure. 

It's a gentle story that is sure to make your little one sleepy, and you, too. 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour! It's never too early to shop for the holidays, and I am a big advocate for including books with any gift for children, and these would both make excellent picks!

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