Chanda A. BellBesprekingen

Fairytale

Cute rhyme-y narration, but not exactly my favorite Christmas story.

Independent reading level: 5-9 years old.
Book of the year award by Creative Child Awards
National Best Book Award by USA Book News

Reading Age: 5-9 years old

This book has been a tradition in our family since 2011. We have an Elf that comes everything holiday season, his name is Mac. My children, even though one is 11 and does not believe, she still enjoys reading the book and sharing in the finding of Mac every morning. My youngest, though, he is another story. He aggravated me till we sat down and read the book. We read it on Thanksgiving night before we go to bed. He loves getting up to find Mac and knows the rules of him. Some people think this is silly and nonsense, but they are only kids once. I agree it is hard to remember to move him or create some type of funny scene for him, but seeing my kids' smiles because of it makes it all worth it! I would love to share this with a class in the classroom library, but air on the side of caution for this could create some tension in the room. Respect comes to my mind when this book is shared. Respect for other's beliefs and traditions. Merry Christmas!

My mom gave my oldest son the Elf on the Shelf and somehow it feels like payback on me. It's a huge deal in our area and so many kids have AMAZING elves... our elf - TIMMY - is luckily sort of lazy and a procrastinator like us. But we discovered today that perhaps Timmy, knowing what big readers we are, doesn't come to our house until we READ his book! And so, another year of elffing begins... Thanks Mom. By the way, I'm not a huge fan of the book mostly because it sets up this expectation that parents need to uphold - it created "a Christmas tradition" per the publisher/merchandiser not a tradition that could be adjusted for each family. It's coercion through our children... 1984 anyone?

Well, that was creepy.

The Elf on the Shelf is a christmas tradition that involves an elf keeping an eye on the children to report to santa. This book gives the reader information about how the elf on the shelf works and why he is there. The elf moves from spot to spot and every night he flies home to report to santa. Children are not allowed to touch the elf, they can only speak to him. The elf decides if children are being naughty or nice and if they deserve what they want on their list. This is a fairly new tradition and I did not use it as a kid. Most children now a days all know about the elf on the shelf. I think this book gives a great description of how the elf on the shelf works and can guide children who are just starting out with the elf.

“Elf on the Shelf” is one upcoming and very popular book. I like it because it has a huge influence on many young children. The book is about Santa sending his elves to keep an eye out on children to see if they are behaving well enough for their Christmas presents. This book comes with the actual Elf on the Shelf, so the children believe it is real. I liked this book a lot because it promotes good behavior from the children. I also like it because the illustrations are really detailed and the actual Elf looks like one from the book. The message of the book is to promote good behavior from the reader, because Santa, or his helpers, are always watching. I think this is a really fun book for the holidays and many children enjoy it.

The elf on the shelf is a magical elf. He is very small and sits on a shelf, curtain rod, or hard to reach places. He watches all of the girls and boys to see if they had been bad or good for Santa Claus. Every night the elf flies to the North Pole and he tells Santa about the child's day. Nothing is ever forgotten. The next day the child will see that the elf is in a different place. It is always fun to find him. You must also name your elf and never touch him.

I love reading this book to my kindergarten class. I read them the story, and then each morning I place the elf in a different spot each morning. The kids get so into it and have so much fun. I would recommend this book to anyone who teaches young children or who has young children of their own.

I love this story! I also love that the elf is always around at Christmas time watching us behave so that he can tell Santa that we've been good.

Independent Reading Level: Grades 3-8
Awards: Learning Express' Best Toy Award (2008), Creative Child Awards' Book of the Year Award (2008)