Title: Everything Christmas
Author: David Bordon & Tom Winters
Released: October 5, 2010
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Pages/Format: 320 (hardcover)
Genre: Christian Gift Book
Source: Random House
Quick Synopsis: Inspiring Christmas-themed stories, fun facts, recipes, songs, poems, quotes, jokes, and more are presented in twenty-four daily readings corresponding to the twenty-four December days leading up to Christmas.
From the back cover:
Christmas is a time of celebration and wonder, a time to embrace longstanding traditions and establish new ones. It’s a time for meals filled with memories and heartwarming stories shared around the fireplace. It’s a time for worship, reflection, and remembrance of God’s greatest gift.
Everything Christmas brings all of the best ideas for the holiday season together in one volume. In this book, you’ll find your favorite classic Christmas stories and a few ones destined to join them. You’ll discover the most delectable holiday recipes, enjoy the words to treasured hymns and carols, and be encouraged by inspirational Christmas poems and the joy of the Nativity.
Organized by the days of Advent, Everything Christmas includes everything you need to make the holiday bright. From decoration ideas to Christmas trivia and humor–it’s all here!
Short Review: Everything Christmas is a wonderful book filled with inspiring stories and ideas that will add a great deal to anyone’s celebration of the Advent season.
Long Review:
Everything Christmas is a small, thick book divided into twenty-four daily readings. These include uplifting Christmas stories, both fictional and true, yummy recipes, fun holiday crafts, quotes, jokes, and Bible verses, poems and carols, gift-giving ideas, Christmas trivia and history, descriptions of Christmas dinners enjoyed around the world, and much more. A comprehensive topical index at the back of the book is handy for quick reference.
Bordon and Winters did a commendable job of picking out the best items to include in this little volume. One of my favorites was a humor piece entitled “Christmas Gift Ideas for the Clergy” which included things such as Praying Pants with inflatable knee cushions, an Early Exit Alarm to keep the congregation “dutifully seated until dismissed,” and Say-Lit Alter Candles developed by the Ecclesial Gag Company which “provide hours of fun as your pastor watches acolytes attempt to extinguish these candles in vain.” There are many such gems in Everything Christmas.
The variety of content and the daily reading format of this book make it perfect for family reading time. It even includes the nativity story in the Christmas Eve section so you can read it out loud to the kids straight from the book. I think that this book will end up being a fixture in many family’s Advent traditions.
The layout and design of Everything Christmas is exceptionally done. Instead of a drab black and white interior, the text is green and red, and the decorative embellishments on each page add a lot to the mood of the book. The jacket design is likewise attractive.
Everything Christmas makes a wonderful gift book, and I would recommend it to any family that wants to add to their Christmas traditions or simply needs a boost to get into the holiday spirit. I think the claim on the back cover is perfectly true: “Opening Everything Christmas is like opening a box full of Christmas cheer.”
About David Bordon & Tom Winters:
David Bordon and Tom winters are partners in Bordon-Winters, LLC, a book concept and packaging company that produces successful books and gift products. Their previous titles include the 101 Things You Should Do series, especially the popular 101 Things You Should Do Before Going to Heaven.
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