Maestra Amanda's World: {25 Days of Holiday Book Reviews}: The Carpenter's Gift

I'm the poster for today! Yay! I thought I'd write about one of the new holiday books I got this year, thanks to Random House (@RandomHouse), The Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas Tale About the Rockefeller Center Tree by David Rubel.

image via google image search

You may recall that I was involved in a blog tour at the end of November (November 26th to be precise) promoting The Carpenter's Gift. I shared videos about the book, the tree and how it all ties to Habitat for Humanity. My part of the tour was a guest post by author David Rubel.

But I never wrote my thoughts.

I love everything about this book. I love the illustrations. I love the message of generosity and helping others. I love that I now know what happens to the tree in Rockefeller Center after the Christmas Season is over. I love that the tree goes to Habitat for Humanity. I think that's wonderful!

I shared this story with my students on the day the Rockefeller Center tree was lit this year (November 28th), and I had a couple kiddos tear up. I admit, I might have too. First, they were floored by the concept of Habitat for Humanity. "Mrs. Furman, poor people need a good place to live! The tree is helping them!"

To me, this is the more awesome version of The Giving Tree (Shel Silverstein). Don't get me wrong, I like The Giving Tree. But I think the boy is selfish and the book kind of promotes that take take take attitude. In The Carpenter's Gift, it's always about helping someone else. And I love that the most.

I was able to go to NYC on Saturday (which was apparently the day EVERYONE decided to go to NYC for Christmas---it was so crowded), but we were able to get close enough to see the tree and take some pictures (which I'd like to share). I thought about bringing my copy of The Carpenter's Gift and holding it in front of the tree to take a picture, but it was just so crowded it wouldn't have been a good picture.