If you are a fan of Clement Moore's classic Christmas poem, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," but want to focus more on the religious meaning of the holiday, then Glenys Nellist's book, 'Twas the Season of Advent will be the perfect addition to your Christmas library.

Pages are dated starting December 1 and each day includes a portion of Nellist's poem (inspired by Clement Moore's), a Scripture verse, and a devotional that helps children understand the significance of the Advent season. I love that the first day mentions that the word "advent" is found within the word "adventure." What a great way for children to make the connection that the journey of faith is an adventure. The day's selection closes with a short prayer. Throughout this charming book, Elena Selivanova's illustrations offer a stunning complement to each day's reading.

I love having a devotion written in a way that the youngest child can understand Christmas. I think children will also enjoy going straight through the book like a story reading through the poem from start to finish. The colorful and detailed illustrations help guide pre-readers through the story. If you have older children who are able to read, they may also enjoy helping to read parts of each day out loud to their family. This book is the perfect antidote to the cultural focus on Santa and the commercialization of Christmas. This would make a wonderful gift for any family with children or grandchildren. Bring new meaning to the significance of this holy season!

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of 'Twas the Season of Advent from NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.

With December 1st fast approaching, I want to recommend this book to families that want to use this advent season to prepare themselves for the Birth of Jesus Christ. I will be quickly buying a copy of for my son and his family to share a reading each night after opening their cookie advent calendars. Each day has a verse of a poem about the story of Christ's birth told in the rhyming form of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". It then follows with a biblical verse beginning with the prophecies of Isaiah up to the birth and visits by the magi. Each page then has a child friendly story of what would have been happening at the time. There are often "I wonder" questions that could be discussed as well. The illustrations by Elena Selivanova are amazing. They add so much to this book and have a lot to look at and discuss. This is not a book to be consumed in one sitting. There is a page to be read, discussed and ruminated over everyday during advent. The storytelling is recommended to children from 4 and up, and I agree with that assessment. I only read a couple of pages with my grandchildren to get their reactions and they all listened (even the 3 year old) but it was the oldest (8) who seemed to interact with the story the most. A beautiful way to end a day together as a family. I highly recommend this beautiful book.

'Twas the Season of Advent (Devotions and Stories for the Christmas Season) by Glenys Nellist is an Advent treasure to be shared by the entire family. The book is set up with thoughts on her side and a lovely illustration on the opposite page. The devotionals are a short page lone with a short caption, a Scripture verse, and a family devotional.

I especially liked how the New and Old Testament is used in the Scripture selection. Also the simple prayer at the end of each day’s devotional is wonderful. This would make a great family gift perhaps given early say at Thanksgiving so it could be used to for this year. Surely we need to be reminded of God’s great gift to each of us.

The publisher through Net Galley provided a digital ARC. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts.

Though geared for young children, this advent devotional will help all ages focus on what Christmas is really all about. That can be a struggle for everyone. Each devotional starts with a four line rhyme that is a take-off from "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and a Bible verse. This is followed by a few paragraphs that flesh the verse out and make it easier to understand in story form. You feel like you're right there with Mary as the angel comes to talk to her. The day ends with a brief prayer and a beautiful illustration.

This devotional is very well written. The stories stay true to the Biblical text. Each day ends at an appropriate spot. It would only take a couple of minutes to read each day which I feel gives you a better chance of actually using it. I think it's a great tool to help kids learn and remember that Christmas isn't just about presents and all the distractions of Christmas. It's about God, come to earth in human form to be our Savior. I'd highly recommend it.

Thank you to Zondervan Kidz for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I received an electronic ARC from Zonderkidz-Books through NetGalley.
Nellist shares her love for the Advent season through short poems, devotionals, scriptures and prayers. She brings readers through the events leading to Christ's birth and takes readers beyond this to their own ways to serve. Families can use this as their daily devotion time. All family members will be able to read parts of each page as they share together. Warmly drawn and colored illustrations offer a further look into each devotion story. Looking forward to purchasing this book for each of our grandchildren's families.

‘Twas the Season of Advent by Glenys Nellist is a sweet book that teaches children about the Advent Season. There are 25 entries and each entry tells a different part of the Christmas Story. On some of the entry’s there was a prayer. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book! (This review is also on GoodReads.)

We have always celebrated Advent in our home, and I would have loved this book for my kids when they were little. We pieced together stories from all different sources and this wonderful resource puts together all the right elements to explain and celebrate advent for little hearts. The illustrations are beautiful, and the stories are simple and easy to understand. Each day, for 25 days in December, has a poem or prose at the top, a devotional reading and in some cases, a recommended prayer. This would make an excellent gift to be enjoyed as a family. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

There are things to like about this title — walking through the Bible and Christmas story, the little poems and mini prayers each day, and much of the artwork. But it’s not one I feel comfortable recommending. The point of view seemed off to me (i.e., “I wonder how you are celebrating this holy night.”). And perhaps it’s just the age of my kiddos, but I also didn’t like how Joseph’s story was portrayed (i.e., “Apparently, Mary was going to have a baby. And Joseph wasn’t the father.”). It’s such a great concept of course, but there are so many other Advent books that our family prefers. I’m grateful to the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's very much the kind of storybook you have to read as a family - the illustrations are great, but the text is put together in a small font and longer sentences, the kind of text that a kid won't read themselves but a parent can read aloud to them. As Christmas books for the whole family go, it's pretty good. A little for everyone.

This is a beautifully illustrated and written book. I love the way you read a page each day and it is written in a way which I feel would appeal to children.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

A day by day advent devotional aimed at families to read together.

There are some things I loved about this book and some I found a little irritating. On each page there is a stanza from a poem, a verse of scripture, a retelling of part of the Christmas story or a reflection on one of the characters or elements of the story and a prayer. Each page is beautifully illustrated.

I liked it all, except the poem. The poem follows the familiar pattern of ‘Twas the night before Christmas and in order to keep as close as possible to the rhyme, rhythm and pattern of the original means that some of the verses are forced, trivial and even inaccurate. Having said that, if you are prepared to ignore the poem and just read the rest of the content, the book is well worth a look.

As I said, each page gives either an instalment of the Christmas story or a reflection on one of the characters or aspect of the story. I found the ‘instalment’ pages well written although my favourites were definitely the reflective pages where the author asked the reader to take an element of the story and reflect on how this might apply to their lives.

My own children are now too old for this to be used in our house, but I can see its value for use in schools, particularly church schools. Taking each page in turn would be a quick and easy way for teachers to deliver a class assembly throughout December. As you wouldn’t need all 25 pages in school I would pick out my favourite ‘reflection’ pages and simply use them.

Although I have touched on the things I didn’t like about this book, overall it has such a lot going for it that I am still willing to give it five stars.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great family devotional and adds to the ways a family may prepare for the Savior’s birth with a right heart. Even though it is a very busy time of the year, these short devotions will be far worth the time invested. The graphics are light so that it does t define whatever we may picture the scene. Of course, middle school and older students may wish to read this on their own. This is one book that should be in the hands of every family.
I received an advanced reader copy for free from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review

This is definitely a book I'll be picking up before the upcoming Christmas season. The text is just the right amount for my kiddos right before bed. I love that a prayer is incorporated.

The illustrations aren't in a style that I particularly enjoy, but that's just my personal preference.

The illustrations in the book are sure to make it a family favorite to be treasured, and Glenys Nellist has written devotional content that is perfect for family devotional time throughout the Advent Season. This is a book that is sure to be treasured along with Advent wreaths and calendars that are packed away with care and brought out every Advent Season.

This is a beautiful book to read a page a day with kids for Advent. I enjoyed the bible verses and little story each day. There are little blurbs at the beginning of each page that can be read with small kids and are done often in similar style to the traditional Twas the Night Before Christmas story. The bible verses and detailed story can be read with older kids. There is a prayer for each if the 24 days before Christmas that can be said and even discussed as a family. The pictures are beautifully done and correspond with the story. I highly recommend this book for families who believe in the season of Advent and even those just learning about the season.

At first glance I thought this book was going to be quite long winded and not appealing to children, but as you read a bit each day it's bit actually that bad at all.
Lovely little chapters and verses, with some lovely illustrations too.

I received an advance copy of, 'Twas the Season of Advent, by Glens Nellist. This is a great book for the family. It tells the story of Jesus, it also has prayers to say. The illustrations were really good. I really recommend this book.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
This is a beautiful advent resource for little children. It has a bible verse, simple devotion, and a prayer for each day.

This book has pretty pictures and tells the advent story. It is simplistic and perfect for young children to learn the story!

Each day starts with a rhyme, then a verse and a devotional, and ends with a short prayer. Plus each day has it's own beautiful illustration. This book will be a sweet tool for families to use during advent.