Christmas Elves Being Themselves

Yolanda T. Marshall fills Christmas stockings with joy in Christmas Elves Being Themselves illustrated by Daria Lavrova.

The Christmas elves are celebrating the holidays and each is doing it in their own special way. From how they dress to the food they eat, they all celebrate in ways that are unique to them and their families, much like the children reading the story.

Through the story, Yolanda T. Marshall allows readers to celebrate their own uniqueness when it comes to the holidays. Many cultures celebrate at this time of year but we all celebrate in different ways. Even in Canada, we all have different traditions that reflect our families. Children will feel encouraged to share how they celebrate the holidays and if it’s not Christmas, she includes questions at the end for readers to share holidays that are unique to their own cultures or families, if this boo is being shared with a group of readers. Chances are, if you are sharing this at home, you celebrate Christmas and it offered the opportunity to talk about how we all celebrate a little differently and that is part of the magic of the holiday. Just a quick note that the rhyming text, while lovely and lyrical has a couple spots where it is a bit forced so just read it through yourself before sharing. It’s a beautiful celebration of differences and traditions that should be shared regardless of a couple little forced rhymes.

The backmatter in the book is great. There are questions to lead discussions about traditions and holidays as well as a yummy recipe. There is even a website link to go and discover other great family friendly recipes (www.nowyourecooking.ca)

Daria Lavrova’s art is outstanding. The joy just spills off the pages with all of the colour and razzle dazzle! I love that Santa is a Black man in this story and the elves are many different ethnicities, inviting so many more children into the story and creating the space for them to share their own holiday joy.