Celebrating My Goddaughter's Third Birthday and Black Hair with Hannah Lee's Debut Picture Book!

My goddaughter Cecily just celebrated her third birthday, and I was so excited to gift Hannah Lee's cute rhyming picture book, My Hair, to her after our day at the zoo!

Allen Fatimaharan's warm and colorful illustrations are so fun. (And I have to mention that my goddaughter's mother had no idea I was giving her this book - the similar hairdos right down to the blue bows are a total coincidence!)

Like my goddaughter, the little girl in the book has a birthday to celebrate, and she has an important decision to make: how to style her hair!

My birthday's coming up so soon, 

I'll need new clothes to wear. 

But most of all, I need to know, 

How shall I style my hair? 

Joyous and vibrant, this picture book captures perfectly the excitement of getting ready for a celebration, as well as showcasing a dazzling array of intricate hairstyles.

Off we go to the hairdresser's.

To get it done professionally.

As for what style I choose,

You'll have to wait and see!

The little girl looks to her family - father, mother, sister, grandmother and others - for inspiration. There are so many choices to be considered and embraced...locks, corn rows, or a twist out? Braids or a high-top fade?

Which hair style does the little girl choose? Her Mommy has an idea. You'll have to read the book to find out what they decide!  

Oh, and here's my goddaughter's birthday hair - courtesy of her Mommy, not a hair salon...Happy Birthday to this sweet girl!

Meet the author and illustrator: 

Hannah Lee was born in London, where she still lives. She always loved books, but yearned to see more stories that featured children like her – so now she is writing them! 

The illustrator, Allen Fatimaharan, was born in Sri Lanka, but grew up in Southern India and France. Now living in the UK, he works as an illustrator and animator.

Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571346875
Number of pages: 32

ADVENT GIVEAWAY: A Beautiful Coloring Book

For Orthodox Christians, today - November 15 - marks the first day of Advent.  Our Metropolitan Joseph shared this thought as we focus on our spiritual health and begin this 40-day journey toward celebrating the birth of our Savior:

The Season of the Nativity is about nothing other than preparing a little room for the Lord Jesus Christ to come and shine in our souls.

And what better way to make this effort more tangible for our children than to hand them some crayons or colored pencils and let them spend time with the beautiful images of the incarnation found in this sweet new Orthodox coloring book, Beautiful Christmas.

Beautiful Christmas, illustrated by Megan Elizabeth Gilbert, is a 64-page coloring book for children aged 5-12. As they color Christ in the cave or the shepherds glorifying God with the angels, they are cultivating their own sensibility to beauty while learning to recognize some of the meaningful symbols, elements, and motifs of the Church.

Besides the coloring pages, there are several mazes to be completed and even a page of cookies to be decorated.  I like the fact that St. Lucia, St. Nicholas, a Jesse Tree, and Twelve Days of Christmas page are included among the many biblical scenes.

If you would like to enter my giveaway, please leave a comment and your email contact information at the end of this post by midnight PST on Wednesday, November 20, 2019.
*UPDATE:  If you are having trouble leaving a comment, please feel free to email me comments: wendyb[spam]1963@sbcglobal.net.

This book and many others are available from Ancient Faith Publishing.

Want to make an Advent Calendar of Books? Don't forget to check out my Advent Resource page for my Christmas book receommendations for kids. You can find it on the sidebar of my blog or go here.

UPDATE 11/21/19: Ileana won the giveaway.  Thanks so much to all who participated!

TAKE A PEEK AT THIS AWESOME SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIBRARY WITH ME!

Because of its famed children's area, I've had the Cerritos Millennium Library on my bucket list for quite awhile now.  I finally made a quick trip there!  What an amazing two-story space for books, reading, art, fish (yes, you read that correctly!), and multi-media.  Honestly, it's an architectural marvel!

First, the Children's Library...

My grandchildren would LOVE this space!  There's even an aquarium (sorry, no photos because it's temporarily closed until mid-November.) 

Fish, dinosaurs, a lighthouse, trees, a model space shuttle - does it get any better??  Yes!  Read on...

The Cerritos Library has gone through many changes and renovations, and the resulting designs, themes, and elements are truly incredible.  

This library was first dedicated on October 13, 1973, in honor of First Lady Patricia Nixon (a Cerritos, California native) and all other First Ladies, both past and present.  I appreciated the tribute to them all...

The aesthetic appeal - with cozy ready areas and study spaces, chandeliers, craftsman carpentry, and a futuristic style young adult area is only part of this library's strength.  

Its services are cutting edge, with interactive learning, a high tech conference center, museum quality art displays, and over 200 computer workstations. Amazing, and well worth a trip!

OLD WORLD READING ROOM

GREAT ROOM

YOUNG ADULT AREA

I hope you'll make time to visit libraries with your kids (or by yourself) soon.  I can't wait to go back to the Cerritos Library to explore their books and hang out in one of their fun spaces and read and read and read....