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Books for Advent
By Kendra | November 9, 2009
We love to celebrate Advent in our home. Over the years we’ve used a variety of Advent devotionals, and some stand out as family favorites. These tend to hold the interest of the majority, but our preschoolers probably won’t be too attentive until the actual lighting of the Advent candles.
Ann Voskamp’s beautiful writing is showcased in her Jesse Tree Advent study, The Glorious Coming.
We’re big Jotham’s Journey fans here, and the last time we read the book for Advent, my husband’s parents even joined us each night. It’s a fast-paced story with a cliff hanger almost every night!
Bartholomew’s Passage is the second in the Jotham series, also fast-paced and fun.
Last in the series is Tabitha’s Travels, but it looks as if it’s currently out of print. The other two in the series were for a while as well, so if you’re interested in reading the whole series, it might be worthwhile just waiting to see if Tabitha’s Travels is back in print.
Last year we read through the Handel’s Messiah Family Advent Reader and thoroughly enjoyed it. We’d play the pieces from The Messiah as we read, and the younger kids colored coloring pages we downloaded here (scroll down to Advent Wreath Project Sheets).
♥
There are many more resources available for Advent, and I’ve hardly scratched the surface. If this is a difficult year for you financially, well then by all means pick up the best Advent book of all and read through Isaiah or one of the Gospels. Download those coloring pages I referenced above and pull out the crayons. Be blessed!
Topics: Resources | 11 Comments »
November 9th, 2009 at 8:48 am
We are HUGE Jotham/Bartholomew/Tabitha fans here at Granny’s House…have been reading them for years and loaning them out carefully during the years when they were out of print. We have had to “adjust” some of the theology in the commentary at the end of each chapter, but the stories are unforgettable!
November 9th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Yes, Cathi, ditto on the commentary. Thanks for mentioning it.
November 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Than you for posting this today. We are going to use “The Glorious Coming” this year for our family devotionals. My girls and I are designing our own ornaments to use with it. It’s been fun. But I have been looking for some good books to read during the day. I appreciate the list and I am going to get right on it.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! I was actually looking for information and thought… I wonder if Ms. Kendra has ever posted anything on Advent… and there it was! Thank you a million times over!
Question do you make a Jesse Tree?
November 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Sorry I guess I should say does the book say how to make a Jesse Tree… this is new to me!
Thanks,
Krissy
November 9th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Yes, Krissy, it does. It also has beautiful ornaments to print out on card stock.
November 9th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
We LOVE Jotham…my kids think we should name this baby Jotham. I just got the second book…maybe tabitha’s will eventually sell cheaper than $60 and I can buy it too.
Advent is so much fun in our home!
November 10th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Thank you so much for the ideas!!
November 10th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Hi Kendra, As always, thanks for the recommendations! I am having trouble linking to the Handle’s – it links me to Tabitha. I’ll try to do a search on it, but I thought I’d let you know.
Cathy
November 11th, 2009 at 7:10 am
I bought Jotham’s Journey last year on clearance somewhere and we’re planning to go through it this year with the kids. Glad to hear you like it- now I’m even more excited to do it.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I’m definitely going to check out the Jotham series. And one that we go through daily each advent is the Advent Book found here: http://www.theadventbook.com. We light our advent wreath, sing Christmas carols and share in a prayer each night as we all read the Christmas story. The kids love opening the doors on each page!