In just two short months it will be Christmas! Now is a terrific time to be turning our families' hearts and minds towards the true meaning of Christmas - the celebration of Jesus' birth. Arlene and I have been reviewing a fantastic resource for getting our hearts ready for Christmas as a part of the Homeschool Review Crew, The Familyman's Christmas Treasury - Audio Collection. This collection is six of the eight Christmas stories Todd Wilson has written in CD format. The Familyman also has the stories available as Digital Downloads.
For our review we received all eight of these stories as digital downloads, plus one of them on a CD. Arlene (16) and I listened to all of the stories several times. Kurt was kind enough to transfer my downloads to a thumb drive so I could listen to them in the car. Arlene mostly listened to them on her iPod while doing her housework.
We both enjoyed listening to these stories that always point back to Christ as the center of Christmas. The stories are great listening for all ages, whether in the car or at home. Several of them are told from the point of view of the kids in the story, so they should resonate with your children.
Many people are familiar with Todd Wilson, The Familyman, from hearing him speak around the USA. These stories he has written include some of his trademark humor, and a lot of real-life settings. Not that my children have ever grumbled, or I've ever lost my focus -LOL! Trust me, you'll enjoy them all!
Here is more from Arlene to whet your appetite for these fun and faith-filled stories:
The Familyman's Christmas Treasury - Audio Collection is a delightful audio book set of Todd Wilson’s Christmas Treasury books read by Jim Hodges. You may remember Mr. Hodges from one of our earlier reviews as he reads the unabridged G.A. Henty stories. The audio collection is six of the eight books in the series on CD’s, we also received audio versions of the other two stories.
The stories are all different and all fun but they all have one thing in common. Christ is the center of Christmas.
I loved each of the stories. So you know what you are getting here is a bit about each:
Cootie McCay’s Nativity is a fun story that takes place in the 1950’s. In a small Midwest town where shortly after Christmas the town Nativity gets run over by one of the town's elderly residents. That night a conference is held to see what they will do to have a nativity for the next year. It is finally decided to ask Cootie McCay, a man whose only work is literally to turn trash into treasure, even thought they are all afraid that they will have the worst Nativity in the state. No one in town really talks to Cootie so when he is asked he admits that he has never heard the story of the birth of Jesus. Over the course of the year, with frequent help from his neighbors, Cootie learns the story of Jesus from birth to death to resurrection. The town waits on edge all year until… Well, you have to find out for yourself! I will say that this is my favorite of all the stories.
Captain Chaos and the Manger Blaster is about a boy named Jason who is tired of the boring Christmas story and decides to add some fun by adding in Captain Chaos while he and his sister are playing with the family nativity. Jason's sister complains to their mother that he was ruining the story. Jason's mother sends him to his room. He starts complaining to himself and then Captain Chaos arrives and upon hearing Jason’s complaints blasts the manger away. Jason wakes up the next morning to find no Christmas tree, no holiday decorations, and no baby Jesus. Which means a sad world with no way to Heaven. Eventually however… Well I'll let you listen yourself and find out.
The Stranger is about a visiting strong man who has gone around to all of the houses of the members of a small church. He knocks on their doors, but no one lets him in, even though it is almost Christmas and cold outside. Eventually one family lets him in even though their power is out and the dog ate part of their Nativity. The stranger, whose name is Jesse is very kind and polite and starts to carve them the missing pieces. When they wake up the next morning Jesse is gone and the family Nativity is… Are you beginning to see a pattern here? The ends will be kept from this review so that you have to get copies if you want to know what happens.
The Bishop's Dream is about Nicholas, a kind old man who loves children and brings them gifts and love. One night after spending all day with the children, he has a strange dream, of a strange place where people are celebrating something called Christmas. Nicholas doesn’t know what it is but he knows the words Christ and Mass so he assumes that they are celebrating the Savior. He smiles as he see children having fun with a man in a red suite that they call Santa Claus. But he is worried that there is so little about Jesus. He meets a pastor who tells him where the story of Santa came from, and Nicholas realizes that Santa is based off of… Well you might be able to guess this one - but Nicholas is simply sad that Christmas is not all about Jesus.
Harold Grubbs and the Christmas Vest is about a young boy’s father who wears a vest that the boy thinks is ugly every Christmas. When the boy asks his father where he got it he tells the boy the story of Mr. Grubbs. A grumpy old man who didn’t like anyone after his wife died, but who one day started coming to church. Mr. Grubbs eventually came to trust Jesus, and how after that he always wore that vest every Christmas. The boy keeps asking his father how he got it and he explains that…
Gladys Remembers Christmas is the story of an older woman who is cleaning out her father's house after he moves to a nursing home. Gladys finds the love of Christmas that she hadn't had since she was a little girl before her mother died. While looking for a box that her father wants she is transported back to a time before her mother died where Christmas cookies still baked in the oven and decorations were put up every year. Gladys finds the nativity that her Father got her mother on their first Christmas for $5, which her mother always reminded her was a lot of money back then. Gladys takes it down stairs from the attic and…
The Secret of Snow Village is about a girl who loves Christmas but has always felt like there was something missing to the holiday. Then one year while at her Grandparents' house she is transported into her favorite decoration: the ceramic village in the living room. She has fun with the children there. They go iceskating and have snowball fights, but then everyone starts heading towards the little white church. There she sees and learns the true meaning of Christmas and…
It’s Called Christmas is a message from the future from a boy named Nook who tells of a world with people living on Mars, no sickness… and no pepperoni pizza. There’s also no Christmas, they have a non specific winter holiday. While shopping for a gift for his brother, an old man tells Nook that its called Christmas. Nook wonders what he means and so looks the word up. But Nook can’t find the word anywhere. No one, not even his parents or his history teacher knows what it means. So Nook goes and finds the man who tells him more about Jesus and what its all about. The man invites him to meet with other people to talk about Christmas. A few weeks after the meeting a girl he met there tells him that the old man has disappeared. He left Nook his Bible however and eventually…
Well they are all fun so get your own copies today in time for Christmas.
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