Review: Courtney saves Everyone (and maybe Christmas too)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 2, 2012
During the last 10 minutes, and with little to no soul searching, I remembered the one selfish reason I enjoy reading good children's books.I'm really behind in my goal to read 100 books in 2012 - and they're quick and make me closer to actually achieving just ONE of the silly goals I set for myself. There's also less than 30 days and I have 50 of 100 books left to read... :SEven if that's selfish, Courtney Saves Christmas is worth reading for at least 100 other reasons if you're an adult.WARNING: This book will make you love Christmas, even if you're Scrooge.I'm quite sure that Courtney and Davey are my two favorite characters from this set of children's books written by Emlyn Chand.The premise is simple. Courtney receives a very special gift on Christmas from her parents that results in her own act of kindness towards Santa Claus. By the time she reaches the North Pole from the South one, Courtney has traveled the world, and become a much more cultured penguin.Courtney doesn't lose faith, and keeps traveling, and when she finally reaches Santa Claus to thank him, she is more than happy to use her wish to save Christmas.I'll admit, I had my reservations about this book. It's a Christmas book, and I am NOT a Christmas person. (Though some may argue that I do a good job of hiding it.) I actually find the holiday itself very over done, and the travel time very stressful.I'm weird, and I prefer home-made or useful/thoughtful gifts, and ones that don't cost a lot to expensive extravagances. That's why Courtney's gift was such a pleasure to read about. Her gift I think, wasn't just a compass to guide her, but empathy, thankfulness and kindness. I suppose those emotions are a compass and guide of a different sort. :)It's no secret by now that I like children's books to be entertaining to all audiences. This one is certainly in that category. While it's lesson is simple, it's ability to change your outlook to a more positive one in a chaotic Christmas season is quite powerful.Here's why I think these books would make a great Christmas gift for parents, children and school teachers.1. There's a lesson that can be learned by all three groups of people.2. I have quite a few issues with just how connected children are to the internet and technology in general. I don't own a cell phone anymore. I do own a tablet to read with. If you buy your children ebooks for christmas, you're not only teaching them that reading is important, you're teaching them that those electronic devices have a lot of power. (Both metaphorically and electric.)3. They are gorgeous. The illustrations are fun and life-like.4. The things and directions you could go as a teacher to use these books are limitless. From teaching about geography, and different cultures, to being safe (in the case of Tommy), there are any number of lesson plans that work in a cross subject manner.Does anyone really need more reasons than that? Probably not. Here's one just for fun. You can teach, or learn for yourself, the meaning of the world anthropomorphizing.Emlyn Chand is an accomplished author and president of Novel Publicity. Not only are  the bird-brain books worthy of your children, but they worthy of your time as well. They've helped me hone my own ideas for a children's book series. Though mine is much more furry, but just as lovable as birds are. It may or may not also have a sarcastic bent, and slightly black-humor to entrance the adult readers while being innocent enough to keep children's minds imaginative and eager to learn more. Even better - when your children grow older, there's a YA series Farsighted to keep their imaginations and consciousness alive and kicking.