Lori Walburg

What a sweet interesting book The Legend of the Candy Cane is even though is geared for toddlers, it kept the attention of my nine year old. The book is made of hard cardboard, and great for little hands to carry around.
The book is beautifully illustrated with bright colors, and the children noticed the dog and cat in the pictures. The boys wished they could be Lucy and help unpack all that candy; a child’s dream comes true.
When it came time to tell the legend of the Candy Cane, they were show more enthralled at the story, and sad about Jesus blood being represented by the red and white stripe. They have looked this book over and over, and are able to read a lot of the words themselves. This one is a real keeper for the Christmas Season, right on our coffee table.

I received this book from Booklook Bloggers of Harper Collins Christian Book Publishers, and was not required to give a positive review. show less

Not at all what I was expecting…

When I read the word “hardcover”, I assumed it was a regular hardcover book but what arrived in the mail was a board book.

Imagine my surprise…

Regardless of my surprise, my children LOVE it! Even though it is simple enough for a very young child to enjoy, my children (who are 8 and 11) are enchanted with the beautiful story inside!

My daughter has claimed it for her very own. She took it OFF of my shelf and proudly carried it to her own, where she gave show more it a place of honor.

My son is not quite as possessive of it but he stood over her shoulder as she read and did not once have a comment about it being a “baby” book – which is his usual comment about any book his sister who is three years younger, picks up to read.

Not that I can blame him… since he is reading on a high school level already.

But I think it says a lot about how wonderful the story within!

I am actually excited! Now, instead of donating the book, we have what will become an heirloom!

Exciting!

And no… we don’t have any other board books we will be able to pass on, none of them survived my own children. I’m so very thankful they are both learning to appreciate books now – being cautious with them and cherishing their favorites.

And The Legend of the Candy Cane is clearly already a favorite!

I received the book in exchange for an honest review. show less

First sentence: One dreary evening in the depths of November a stranger rode into town. He stopped his horse in front of a lonely storefront. The windows were boarded shut and the door was locked fast. But the man looked at it, smiled, and said, "It will do."

Premise/plot: This is a picture book "origin" story for the popular Christmas treat, the candy cane. Children learn from a candy maker (candy shop owner) the spiritual significance and symbolism used in the candy cane.

My thoughts: I show more liked this one well enough. I do love candy canes (though it is an extremely rare treat these days). I have heard most of these before though that might just be because I read this twenty-five years ago. show less

This book was a bit disappointing. The illustrations are very old fashioned, which is quaint, but rather unappealing and comes off a bit odd. The story tries to ascribe religious meaning to the shape and colors of the candy cane.

The story explains that the shape J is for Jesus and flipped the other way, for the shepherd’s staff. They then assign the colors to give them a religious meaning. The assign red for the beating that made Jesus blood run down like red stripes and white for being show more washed clean from Jesus’ forgiveness. It appears that this has been toned down in words and illustrations from previous versions, but it still is a concept that small children will not understand. The thing that concerned me the most is that while the book is labeled for ages 4-8, this is a board book which is usually given to younger children 1-4.

I do not recommend this book for below age 4 and probably would raise that age up a little. I would recommend the parent read the book first, and decide if your child is ready for the content.

I received this book from the BookLook blogger program in exchange for an honest review. show less