I have a fun, heartwarming holiday story to tell you about today! This book is for everyone who has a furry family companion around for the holidays. If your children are pet/animal fans, they will adore this tale.
This book was written by John Grogan, the author of the popular Marley & Me. The inspiration and backstory behind this charming book is all in the letter from John to the book’s readers.
This book hit a familiar chord with our family. Our first pet as a married couple was a long-haired domestic cat (Odyssey) who became INSANELY excited about Christmas. I chuckled as I read the tale aloud to the kids, since it triggered funny memories I have of the morning we woke up to find that Odyssey had ripped open all of the Christmas gifts under the tree….or how she (literally) used to sit nose-close to the television whenever we put on our VHS copy of Rudoloph. (Odyssey’s still around. Though she’s toned down her spunkiness some as she’s grown, her playful tendencies always make a comeback as December arrives. It never fails.)
Pets really do understand that big things are happening at Christmastime….and they want part of the action and fun! Marley is no different. He prances from one amusement to another, making one mess after another, frustrating the adults and amusing the children. If the storyline doesn’t put an immediate smile on your face, the illustrations will. (Want a sneak peek? Click here.)
HarperCollins also offers a fun set of printable activities to stretch the story for your little ones. How nifty is that!
To see just for yourself (and share with your children) how much pets (especially Marley) love Christmas, pick up a copy of this book at your nearest retailer today. Don’t wait till Christmas; this book needs to be enjoyed as the big day approaches!
Win it! One of you will be able to bring (John Groban’s and) Marley’s fun-loving book into your home just by commenting here on this post. Just tell me, in one comment, a funny pet story (relating to Christmas would be great, but any personal funny pet blurb will do). I’ll close the contest at 11pm EST next Thursday, December 4th, 2008 and announce the winner the next day. Good luck!
Carmen (3 years ago)
We got a puppy one year for Christmas, I think I was about 8 maybe. The little guy was quite helpful in tearing open or maybe it was tearing up our gifts. Mom didn’t even mind the mess that year. Thanks for hosting~!
Chrismas Sale Online » Blog Archive » Muse Reviews » Book Review - A Very Marley Christmas (3 years ago)
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onMuse Reviews » Book Review – A Very Marley ChristmasHere’s a quick excerptWe got a puppy one year for Christmas, I think I was about 8 maybe. The little guy was quite helpful in tearing open or maybe it was tearing up our gifts. Mom didn’t even mind the mess that year. Thanks for hosting~! … [...]
Jayme (3 years ago)
i have a CRAZY boston terrier named vinny and every year we go back to michigan to visit family over the holidays. my sister brings her boston named miles and when he and vinny get together all they do is play play play…last year vinny came home with bloodshot eyes and slept on our bed for 3 days straight. i guess you could say he had
“too much of a good thing” and literally crashed from all the excitement!!
i read marley and me on the plane to dallas a few years back and bawled my eyes out once i got to the end of the book…such a great book! i’d love to win this one too!
LaDonna (3 years ago)
This isn’t a really funny story but one year our dogs knocked over the Christmas tree and ate all of the Christmas bulbs! Thankfully they didn’t get hurt but that sure was a few anixous days.
Amber (3 years ago)
I’m sure there are better stories, but here goes…
Last year, we went out of town to visit family for Thanksgiving. Apparently, my pet sitters accidentally locked one of the cats in my bedroom for the last day or so. We came home to discover our bed peed on in more than one location. Oh yes – getting cat pee out of your nice mattress is not very fun!
jenna (3 years ago)
My cat Smokes likes to take showers and looks like a drown rat when finished….it is so funny! Thanks for the giveaway!
Cindi (3 years ago)
Hello, I love John Groban’s Book “Marley and Me!” My children and I would enjoy reading this Marley Christmas story together. We had a wonderful pet dog named Kayleigh. She was so easy to train. At night, we would tell Kayleigh it was time for bed-there she would head, up the stairs to our bedroom and right to her bed. She would work and work her blanket until she was completely covered by it! Thanks, Cindi
Kristie (3 years ago)
Our dog, Bear, has done all sorts of silly things. One thing that really sticks out in my memory is when I saw him running around aimlessly in the field with his nose in the air. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing, until I saw the bird flying above him in a similar pattern to how he was running. I haven’t seen him do it since, so I think he figured out no matter how much he chased birds, he was never going to catch them in the air.
sarah b (3 years ago)
we have a big dog. 220 lbs. and at Christmas he always gets to open his present first. if not, then he hears the paper crinkle and he starts jumping all over everyone and their gifts trying to find his bone.
very funny, but yes the dog gets his present first.
Kimberly (3 years ago)
Humm…. let’s see. My cats think our artificial Christmas tree is real and eat the “pine needles”. Then they throw them up because obviously they are not real. I have tried everything to stop them even going so far as to sprinkle black pepper on the branches but the cats still eat the branches.
Last year out dog was a puppy and never got near the tree. This year, oh boy, I’m not looking forward to what he’ll do to the tree.
Thanks for the great giveaway. I read Marly and Me and it’s such a sweet book. I’m happy to see they have this Christmas one.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Abby (3 years ago)
Last year we got our Maggie (our golden retriever) a squeaky toy in her stocking for Christmas. She LOVED it! In our home video of watching everyone unwrap their gifts all you can hear is that thing squeaking in the background!!
jodi (3 years ago)
we have a beagle who is anything but typical beagle…once when we lived in Raleigh, we saw a young bunny beside our front porch, so we called Maci to see if she would react – she came running, tail wagging…the bunny panicked and took off running – right between Maci’s legs…Maci continued to wag her tail and look at us like – what’s the big deal…why did you call me? Sweet dog never even saw the rabbit. We still laugh about it to this day!
Ginny (3 years ago)
My very first cat used to always sleep in our tree. It was the funniest thing when we’d see her eyes up in the tree branches.
megan (3 years ago)
Dogs are almost as fun as kids at Christmas.
Gina Stratos (3 years ago)
We had a kitten who tried to climb up our tree one year. Needless to say, lots of ornaments were sacraficed.
gkstratos@yahoo.com
Marci (3 years ago)
My Mom had a pet mouse that my brother named “Kitty”. Kitty was very funny about eating his food. He removed most of his food from his box and then would eat the couple of morsels that were left over.
Alice Hansen (3 years ago)
My dog growing up hated the cold around Christmas time – he was so funny about snow and would do his business outside immediately instead of taking long walks which he usually liked. Thanks for the chance!
rebecca (3 years ago)
I have to stress that this was before we knew that chocolate was bad for dogs (early 70s) _ not giving away my age.
We used to have a Staffordshire bull terrier named Rocky, but he was the most docile dog around. At Christmas, we used to have a tin of wrapped candies and we all used to laugh as he would push the lid off, and unwrap and eat one wothout damaging the wrapper!!! It was our Chrismas party trick. he lived till a ripe old age, and he had a good life!
My son would love this book, I read him 5 everynight and tonight had one Christmas themed and one with the dog Smudge, maybe it’s an Omen.
5 Minutes Around The Blogosphere - Week 61 (3 years ago)
[...] Muse Reviews – A Very Marley Christmas (children’s book) by John Grogan (Dec 4th/US) [...]
Jamie (3 years ago)
What a sweet book. My little guy would love this!
Stacey (3 years ago)
Our cats used to hide in the Christmas stockings and pounce on us whenever we walked by. It was cute the first 30 times but now it just gets irritating. Ok, it’s still cute.
betty rood (3 years ago)
I feel like our home is invaded with animals..lol,between the cat and the dog.oh well the boys love them .Billy and kolby would like this book.enter me please and merry christmas.
oldplace.betty(at)gmail.com
Nicole (3 years ago)
my bf just got a new puppy and he just experienced snow for the very first time and he kept butting his head into it and trying to eat it! very cute!!
Janelle (3 years ago)
Our cats try to eat the branches of our fake Christmas tree every year. It is a very, very sad sight! Thanks!
Kristine (3 years ago)
We love the original Marley book. We adopted a puppy from the Humane Society this summer by the name of Mojo. He HATES to get his feet in the snow and tries to hop around not touching it-no luck!
Callista (3 years ago)
If your giveaway is open to Canadians, I’d like to enter. Our family dog Bailey opens up his gifts and stocking himself every year. He rips the wraping paper off and pulls the items out of his stocking. It’s hilarious!
callista83 AT cogeco DOT ca
Aimee (3 years ago)
A few years back we came home from a movie one night to find our two labs had shredded open ALL the Christmas presents that had been wrapped under our tree. It was SO hard to be mad at them because they reminded me SO much of a little kid who just couldn’t wait until Christmas. Gotta love ‘em!!
Renee G (3 years ago)
Before we went to the Humane Society to adopt a pet, I checked out all the dogs available online. Based on the description and a picture, we headed to the animal shelter and picture in hand I hunted for Sammie. I couldn’t find the dog in my picture anywhere. Finally, my husband told me that he had found a sweet dog that I should look at. His choice was the same dog that I was looking all over for. It was fate that Sammine was headed home with us.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo.com
Rebecca C (3 years ago)
One year when we first got one of our cats she wouldn’t stop messing with the tree we tried to deter her but she wouldn’t be thwarted. She hadn’t learned the lesson our other cats had. One morning we wake up in the wee hours and hear a crash! WE knew exactly what it was, the tree toppling, we were prepared, we knew that they needed one good scring to stay away so no fragile ornaments were up. She is still frightened of the tree!
Chris (3 years ago)
Sad but true…our dog died in his sleep under the x-mas tree.
Chrysa (3 years ago)
Last year, one of our cats thought it would be fun to climb the Christmas tree. He brought the whole thing down!
Muse Reviews » Book winner! (3 years ago)
[...] to Random.org, The lucky winner of A Very Marley Christmas by John Grogan is commenter # 12, Jodi! [...]