BOZ and You and Christmas Too

Whether or not your preschoolers love the big green bear, BOZ and You and Christmas Too offers up lots of Christmas fun.

Based on the popular BOZ Christian DVD series, this board book focuses on several aspects of Christmas, but most of them are secular. The book comes with three dry erase pens, and each two page spread prompts children to use the book for drawing or workbook activities. For example, the first page shows BOZ with a bunch of decorations for various holidays; "Can you circle the decorations used for Christmas?" the book asks.

Throughout the book, BOZ wraps presents, decorates a Christmas tree and wreath, hangs Christmas lights, helps build a snowman, thinks about his favorite Christmas food, and more. On the final two page spread, the book reads:

"We celebrate Christmas because it's the birthday of baby Jesus! Something special twinkled in the sky over the manager. Connect the dots to find out what it was."

This is the only mention of the true meaning of Christmas.

What I Like: My three year old adores this book! She loves activities found in it, and has as much fun wiping the pages clean and she does actually writing in the book. I appreciate that there are some learning activities, too; for example, there are matching games and a maze.

What I Dislike: My first complaint it that the pens are not made with washable ink. My daughter accidentally got some ink on her shirt, and despite my best efforts (and a lot of stain remover), I could not remove it. A warning that the inks aren't washable would be nice. I was also concerned my daughter would now think all books were good for drawing on. To combat this, I suggest reminding your child every time you use the book that only this one, special book is appropriate for writing in. Finally, some of the activities are beyond many preschoolers. For example, younger preschoolers will have a hard time with the connect the dots activity. However, bit of this is okay with me, since I think it helps inspire young kids toward new activities.

Overall Rating: Good.

Age Appeal: 2 - 5.

Publisher Info: Zonderkidz, 2008; ISBN: 0310716527; board book; $8.99

Buy it Now from ChristianBook.com for $6.99

OR buy from Amazon.com for $8.99

Special Info: Some parents will object that this book depicts a Jack O'Lantern on the holiday decorations page.