Create Christmas Memories for Children

Small children love someone to read to them. What can be better than to have a book read to them by Grandma or Grandpa? Several years ago, Hallmark came out with recordable books. I bought a copy of the Night Before Christmas and my husband recorded it for our two oldest granddaughters , who were 2 and 4 at the time. The girls loved listening to the story in Grandpa's voice. Grandpa had made sure he personalized the message in the book for each child adding their names and some of their favorite things.

After Christmas my daughter packed it away with the Christmas decorations and the next year the girls were excited to get out their "Grandpa" book and listen to it.

Since that time we have bought these books for all four of our granddaughters. We hope that they will be something the girls can keep and listen to Grandpa and Grandma's voices for years to come.

photos by mbgphoto

Here is the first book we purchased for our granddaughters. When my husband read the book he personalized it for the girls. He did this by inserting their names at appropriate times and even mentioning the family cat. The girls giggled when they heard the cat mentioned.

Each of the books has a dedication page that you can write on and also record a special message. Our oldest girls call Grandpa their "Donut Buddy", so he always mentions that this book is read by their Donut Buddy. We are building memories for the future.

The Charlie Brown Christmas has become a Christmas classic. We recorded for our oldest granddaughter last Christmas when she was 7. I was concerned that she was getting a bit old for having a book read to her since she reads herself, but she loved the book and Grandpa's interpretation for her.

Here is a photo of a page in a book and the recorder at the bottom. The book has easy to follow instructions in the front and a feature where you can lock the recording once you are finished recording.

When my husband first started these recordings he would record a page, listen to it, and then erase it and start over if it wasn't just what he wanted. They system makes it very easy to change anything you'd like to change in the recordings.

Grandpa had fun recording this one and putting in the girls names. I am not sure who enjoys this gift more--the girls when they receive them or Grandpa when he records them.

We all remember great Christmas stories from our childhood. Some of these started as books and others as songs. There is also music on the recordable books.