Christmas from Heaven
Thanks to Shadow Mountain for giving me the opportunity to
review this unique picture book that tells the story of the candy bomber. At
the end of WWII Gail Halverson participated in the effort to drop supplies into
West Berlin. Gail started out small in giving small treats to the children he saw
and ended up at dropping thousands of parachutes of candy on the bombed out
city. Over 21 tons of candy was
collected from company and private donations so that the sweets could be
dropped on the city during the Christmas season.
I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this little Christmas
story. As a former teacher I could imagine myself using it in a classroom
setting on those last few days before the holiday break when the kids need a
prod to focus on doing work. The story
sets up the political and social conditions that affected Europe after WWII and
shows the kindness of the human spirit. The book has instructions on how to
make your own candy parachutes that could be a fun hands-on project for younger
children. I’m planning to use this little book in my picture book advent calendar
this year, as our family counts down to Christmas. The book also includes a DVD
of Tom Brokaw reading the text of the picture book with the Mormon Tabernacle
Choir in the background. It has a scene where they drop parachutes onto the
audience during the finale that is just marvelous to watch.
Find out more about the book at Deseretbook.
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