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The Elf on the Bookshelf: Week 1

Well the first week of Advent seems to have flown by and, just in case you have missed our daily photographs on Instagram, we thought this would be the perfect time to share a round up of the festive books we have been reading, as chosen by our cheeky elf on the bookshelf, Elvis. So if you are looking for a little elf-spiration, you have certainly come to the right place!


Day 1: Ten Little Elves

Our cheeky Book Elf, Elvis, returned and with the help of nine little friends threw the children an Elf Party. You can read more about our book choice, Ten Little Elves, here.

Elf Party

Day 2: Nadiya's Bake Me a Festive Story

As we were heading the the BBC Good Food show on the Saturday, Elvis caused chaos in the kitchen before declaring himself Star Baker! You can read our thoughts on Nadiya's book, Bake Me a Festive Story, here and Mini Reviewer, Izzie, was delighted to be able to meet her at the show!

Meeting Nadiya at the BBC Good Food Show

Festive Baking


Day 3: Supertato: Evil Pea Rules!

Elvis remembered to follow us to Grandma's house and in true "Evil Pea" style he upset the locals! You can read our review of the fantastic Supertato: Evil Pea Rules! here.

Funny Bananas!

Day 4: Last Stop On The Reindeer Express

It would appear that Elvis came back from Grandma's house by reindeer and he also picked this stunning new book to read on day four, you can read our full review here

Reindeer Racing

Day 5: The 12 Sleighs of Christmas

On day five, mechanic elf Elvis, was incredibly helpful in fixing all the toy cars. He also chose this brilliant book, The 12 Sleighs of Christmas written by Sherri Duskey Rinker and illustrated by Jake Parker. 

When the elves discover that Santa's sleigh has been trashed, they have a build-off to create it's replacement, but will they find the perfect solution in time for Christmas Eve? Well that would be telling! However, we can assure you that this book is packed with gizmos, gadgets, wings, springs and turbo engines. The elves let their imaginations run wild as they create 12 amazing, if some what crazy, vehicles! The rhyming verse and comic inspired illustrations make this story a must read for vehicle lovers young and old this Christmas. Needless to say, we loved it!


Mechanic Elf

Day 6: Winter in White

So the children loved this little elfie igloo on day six, which is a good job as I had questioned my sanity as I sat gluing it together the previous evening and my husband definitely thought I had lost the plot! Our book choice was the beautiful Winter in White, which you can read all about here.

Igloo fun!

Day 7: How The Grinch Stole Christmas!

Elvis' final choice for week one was the classic and heartwarming story of How The Grinch Stole Christmas! It is a fantastic story to teach the true meaning of this special time of year.

Mini Reviewer, Theo, received a lovely Dr Seuss collection as a Christening present in November and he has quickly become a big fan. It also seemed appropriate to include How The Grinch Stole Christmas! in our Christmas countdown as this year marks its 60th anniversary, which is quite unbelievable, so Happy 60th Birthday Mr Grinch! 

Publisher HarperCollins have released a beautiful new slipcase edition in celebration. You can also find a whole host of Grinchmas ideas including printables on the HarperCollins website here.

Merry Grinch-mas!

We do hope you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas. 
It is so lovely to see the popularity of Book Advent growing. If you are doing something similar please do let us know in the comments below, we love hearing from you.


Kate & The Mini Reviewers xx



*Disclaimer: Some of these books were received from the publishers for review purposes, however our opinions are, as always, our own. This post also contains Amazon affiliate links, you can read more about what this means here.

11 comments:

  1. haha these photos are all fab, lovely little elf! #readwithme

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  2. We didn't have an elf but our two little men, Snowy and Christmas, visited us for two years and set up scenes from picture books in the same way that you have. It was quite a lot of work (I spent one evening knitting with cocktail sticks!) but it was really worth it, my daughter's face was a picture every morning! I look forward to seeing what your elf gets up to next and which books he chooses!!

    #ReadWithMe

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  3. Love this round up of the week! Great ideas! #readwithme

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  4. Some really fun looking books here, and I like how you've used them as inspiration for the elf's antics! Also very jealous that you got to meet Nadiya!! #readwithme

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  5. I'm glad to see the little impish elf is still working his magic! And Lovely books, always wonderful! Happiest of holidays to you and yours! #KCACOLS xoxo

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  6. Some great books here, I love your creative and busy little elf! #readwithme

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  7. Aw, these ideas are so cute, the igloo looks great! Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.

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  8. Love love the creative story stackers you put together with each book. Wish I actually did a book advent with my 22 year old Son now but will bookmark for inspiration next year please god. #KCACOLS

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  9. I need to get an elf for next year I think. I love the idea of book advent. What a nice thing to do. Thanks so much for linking up with #KCACOLS. Hope to see you next time.

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  10. What a lovely week you had! I need to invest in an Elf On The Shelf.. My kids would love it... I would probably forget to move him though :) #KCACOLS

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  11. Some fab ideas for the Elf here! I have to confess I ran out of ideas and almost forgot a few times too! eeek #KCACOLS

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