One of our favorite Christmas traditions (and my favorite one—fun AND easy) is our basket of Christmas picture books. A giant basket loaded with Christmas picture books sits right next to the tree. The books get packed away with the ornaments and decorations and only come out at Christmas. And they only come out after the kids have decorated the tree. Otherwise, they drop everything and plop down on the couches to read (I learned that the hard way this year).
We have thirty or so Christmas books and add a new one each year. By the way, you can always buy inexpensive Christmas books from the kiddos’ school book order. If you don’t have an elementary school-age kid, borrow one.
My kids each have one or two books that they love the most and that they pull out first each and every year. Here are a few of their favorites. And remember, “a book is a present you can open again and again!”
Follow the Star (retold by Allia Zobel-Nolen, ill. Tracey Moroney. Christmas Bible Playbooks, 1999). This is a small board book (about 5×5 inches) with pages shaped like buildings in Bethlehem. The short, simple text tells of the wise men’s search for baby Jesus: “Three wise men saw a star God put in the sky. They knew a great king was born. ‘Let us go and bring him gifts,’ they said. When they got to Jerusalem, they asked, ‘Has anyone seen the new baby king?’” This story works great for toddlers and preschoolers with short attention spans. The unusual shape of the book always seems to grab kiddos’ attention too—so much more fun than a plain old square or rectangle.
Olivia Helps with Christmas (by Ian Falconer. Simon & Schuster, 2007). Olivia is the poster pig for “engaging character,” and Falconer does more with black, white, and red (with some green tossed in for Christmas) than should be allowed. Seriously, he’s amazing. Olivia captures all the excitement and suspense of Christmas: Will Christmas ever get here? Let me help! SNOW! PRESENTS! STOCKINGS! Olivia helps mom set the table by finding a “perfect little tree” (she cuts off the top of the Christmas tree). Olivia saves Santa from an untimely death. As dad gets ready to build a fire in the fireplace, Olivia cries, “DADDY! What could you be thinking? Do you want to cook Santa?!” Olivia both charms and exasperates–hmmm, reminds me of . . . I won’t mention any names.
The Christmas Blizzard (by Helen Ketteman, ill. James Warhola. Scholastic, 1995). One day old geezer Maynard Jenkins walks in to McNab’s General Store, and little Sissy McNab shouts “we’re going to get a blizzard tonight!” Well, that old Maynard knows a thing or two about blizzards. When he was a boy, one year “it was so cold that when my pappy dropped his sledgehammer, it shattered like glass.” The year’s crazy weather also made the North Pole “as warm as grandma’s gravy.” Santa packed up and moved right to Maynard’s town. Trouble is, heaps of cold but no heaps of snow!! Had to have snow or there’d be no Christmas! Even bigger trouble brews when clouds arrive but “froze solid” and “crashed right to the ground.” Luckily, Maynard thinks quick and soon there are “Flakes as big as dinner plates. Flakes as fat as turnips. Flakes rounder than a Thanksgiving turkey. Flakes fluffier than a long-haired barn cat.”
A Small Miracle (by Peter Collington. Alfred A. Knopf, 1997). A wonderful wordless storybook with a beautiful message of giving. A poor peasant woman wakes and looks in her oven. No fire. No bread in her breadbox. Bare cupboards. No money. She straps on her accordion, trudges through the snow to town, and plays all day in the cold, hoping for a coin. Busy Christmas shoppers pass her buy, but none stop to drop money in the old woman’s little box. Desperate, she pawns her accordion, only to have the money stolen. Entering the cathedral, she discovers the thief stealing from the church. The poor, old woman saves the collection money and gently rearranges the trampled nativity. Weak from cold and hunger, she turns toward home but falls unconscious in the snow. But then the miracle–the nativity characters come to life. Wise men take their treasures, retrieve her accordion and buy her food. Joseph the carpenter repairs her little wheeled shack. Mother Mary watches over her as she sleeps. And on and on. Her gift to God is repayed a hundred fold.
More (or is that Moore?) favorite Christmas books to come!
What is a favorite Christmas book of yours?
One of my favorite christmas books is “A Dozen Silk Diapers”. Some spiders that lived in the barn were baby Jesus was born, spin a dozen beautiful silk diapers.