On the third day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me, something old and something new!

Today I give you a classic for your youngin' and a new book for your older child.

Something Old - Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel
ages 4-8

This classic by Virginia Lee Burton tells the story of a personified steam shovel, Mary Anne, who just won't give up when she meets a challenge.  By the end of the story, you and the whole town are rooting for Mary Anne.  As one friend of mine put it, "Not sure why exactly but it makes me warm and fuzzy inside."  I have heard similar sentiment time and time again from folks who have read this book. First published in 1939, it is the gift that keeps on giving.

Something New - The Magician's Elephant
ages 8 - 13

I love magical realism.  The genre helps create a world that keeps your mind guessing and your imagination running.  Kate DiCamillo, in her latest chapter book, brilliantly tells the tale of a young boy, a magician, and an elephant as if she is performing her own magic trick.  The tricks up her sleeve?  A cast of original and well-developed, but not overbearing, characters.  You will find yourself a new family with Peter Augustus Duchene, the boy, Vilna Lutz, his caretaker and former general, the magician, Leo, a policeman, Bartok, a hunch-back, Adele, Peter's long-lost sister, Tomas, a singing beggar, and his dog Iddo.  All these characters illuminate the recurring message, "The truth is always changing."  I just finished reading this to my students and by the end of the story, I noticed one student with tears streaming down my face.  One word: Powerful.