A Real Santa Train

I used List Randomizer to chose the winner of my Silver Packages Giveaway:  Congratulations, Jen! (Thanks to all who left comments - I have another giveaway next week!)

As I mentioned in my last post, Cynthia Rylant's story was inspired by a real train, the "Santa Special" which rolls through the Appalachian Mountains each Christmas season. 

From this train, tons of toys and treats are tossed by volunteers to the children of coal towns who wait patiently by the tracks. This has been happening every Christmas since 1943.

Photo still from TIME Magazine

You can read more about the real train here, on AppalachianHistory.net.

And there's a free unit study for Silver Packages from the website Homeschool Share, here.

Want to learn more about Appalachia?  Look for a second book by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Barry Moser: Appalachia, The Voices of Sleeping Birds. 

Advent Books and GIVEAWAY

Just like opening windows on an Advent Calendar, your children can open books each night during Advent until December 25.  So I start blogging about Christmas books in November to give you a head start in planning your Book Countdown to Christmas!

Your Advent Book Calendar can be as simple or as involved as you want to make it: you can line up the (wrapped or unwrapped) books across your fireplace mantle, stack them in a basket, or put them under your Christmas tree...

photo - Detailgalblog

GIVEAWAY: I like to choose a theme each year, and this Advent I'll be blogging about Children and Christmas.  The book I'm giving away today is by master storyteller Cynthia Rylant:  Silver Packages, An Appalachian Christmas Story. update: 11/16/13 - Giveaway over.  

With Thanksgiving coming up, I chose this story (based on actual events) because at its heart, it is about selfless giving and being thankful.

A rich man who wishes to repay a debt of kindness begins a tradition: an Appalachian "Christmas Train" that travels through the mountains each year in December.  The man faithfully returns to the coal town where he received help many years before, and tosses silver packages from the caboose to the local town children who wait by the tracks.  Frankie is one of those children.  Year after year, he hopes that one particular gift will be tossed to him.  It is this enduring hope that will guide him to the true meaning of the season.

Leave a comment here (or on my Facebook page) for a chance to win a hardcover copy of this beautifully illustrated book. 

Need help finding good books for your Advent book countdown? Look at my Favorite Christmas Books list.  You can easily supplement books you already have with library books (also try used bookstores).

Be sure to visit my Advent and Christmas Resource Page for more specifics how to make an Advent Calendar of Books.

Silver Packages Giveaway ends Friday at midnight; winner announced on Saturday, 11/16/13. update: Giveaway over (pssst:  I've got a second GIVEAWAY coming next week!)