Cassi Griffin is celebrating Christmas Book Advent on her craft blog, Bella Dia. She'll post a book (or two) and a corresponding project to do with your kids on each day leading up to Christmas. The first book is Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (illustrated by Mary Azarian; Houghton Mifflin, 1998); the project: cutting snowflakes, of course.

winter's%20tale.jpg Today's post features my favorite Robert Sabuda book, Winter's Tale (do I have to note that it's a pop-up book? It's Robert Sabuda!). This one was inspired by the artist's walks in snowy Michigan woods. I love the woodland birds and animals he recreates in these intricate white paper pop-ups: owls and foxes, reindeer and squirrels. Learn how to make some simple pop-up cards at Sabuda's website: my favorites are the Christmas Tree and Bird House (the bird flies away when you open the card). Paper magic!

The theme for this month's Carnival of Children's Literature, hosted by MotherReader, is tips. I have one to add to the list of great tips posted on Jen Robinson's Book Page and at The Miss Rumphius Effect for parents who want to encourage their kids to love books and reading:

Make your very own books.

The simplest books you can make consist of nothing more than 3-4 sheets of copy paper with a construction paper or cardstock cover, folded widthwise and stapled twice. Make a stack of them to have on hand. I think this size is perfect for most of the books younger kids will want to make. It also makes a good journal for short trips of all kinds (you'll want to pack some colored pencils and tape or a glue stick, too).

[I made journals like these for myself and the kids the night before we left for Philadelphia. They were inspired. I wish I had a photograph of Leo's journal to share: it's filled to bursting with hand-written notes, drawings, and trip-related paraphernalia. He loved the process of putting it together. Milly did, too: she wrote her name across the first two pages of her journal, and drew a picture of the dog "because I miss him" on the next (Milly's three). We keep both journals on the travel shelf with the other guidebooks, for the next time we go to Philadelphia.]

This website is (or rather will be, among other things) about making book-related things with and for your kids. These little staple-bound books are one of my favorites. I'll post some variations on them (using different kinds of paper for the text block, experimenting with sewn bindings) in the coming weeks. Thanks for visiting!