Ok, just can’t resist doing a few more Christmas books.  These are some unique ones I’m partial to.

Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts (by Anna Grossnickle Hines.  Greenwillow, 2005).  Stunning contemporary quilts illustrate this book, most of them in intense, vivid colors and bold patterns that really appeal to kids and adults alike.  Like the title says, each poem and quilt celebrates winter light:  sun sparkling on icicles, Christmas lights, aurora borealis, Menorah and Kwanzaa candles, flickering farolitos.  Here’s one of the poems called It’s Time: 

We’ve been working.

We’ve been waiting.

We have been

anticipating.

Make it dark,

as dark can be.

It’s time to light

our Christmas tree!

When I first looked at this book, I thought the illustrations were done by a graphic artist.  Not until I reread the book did I realize that the artwork is quilting!  The back of the book also has three pages where the author/artist explains how she creates her quilts.  I bought this book for my mom (an amazing appliqué quilter).  Not only does this book have fun poems (my favorite is Lights Out, a poem about reading under the covers with a flashlight), it helps readers appreciate quilting as an art form.  Winter Lights is a great multicultural book with poems about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Lucia Day, Chinese New Year, Spanish Christmas traditions, as well as the winter season. 

little tree (by e.e. cummings, ill. by Mary Claire Smith.  Element Children’s Books, 1999).  i’ve always adored the poet e.e. cummings.  perhaps it’s his brash disregard of caps (something i’m partial to when emailing).  perhaps it’s his unique way of using space and type, or his adjectives—perfect, beautiful, and so quite new.  and little tree is typical, lovely e.e. cummings:   “little

tree . . . i will kiss your cool bark/ and hug you safe and tight/ just as your mother would . . . put up your little arms . . . every finger shall have its ring/ and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy.”  And so a boy and his sister decorate their Christmas tree.  I can’t think of a lovelier way to introduce a child (or grownup) to one of the great American poets.

Silent Night, Holy Night:  The Story of the Christmas Truce (narrated by Walter Kronkite, ill. by Robert T. Barrett.  Shadow Mountain, 2003).  This picture book developed from a story Walter Kronkite narrated at a Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.  The book tells the true story of the remarkable Christmas truce of December 1914.  In the midst of the horrors of World War I, soldiers on either side of Flanders Field put down their arms, crossed enemy lines, and joined in a spirit of brotherhood as they buried their dead, exchanged small gifts, sang songs, and prayed together at Christmastime.  “As the Christmas of 1914 drew to a close . . .  a lone voice floated across the few yards of earth on which they had stood together.”  “Silent night, holy night . . .”  One by one the soldiers joined voices to sing this last Christmas carol.  The picture book includes a CD with Kronkite’s narration and the Mormon Tabernacle choir singing Silent Night.

The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story (by Joanne Oppenheim, ill. by Fabian Negrin.  Barefoot Books, 2003).  Ever since I lived in the Southwest, I’ve loved books that celebrate Hispanic culture.  The Miracle of the First Poinsettia, along with Tomie dePaola’s The Night of Las Posadas, are favorites.  The Miracle of the First Poinsettia tells of la Noche Buena, Christmas Eve, when little Juanita dreams of buying gifts for her family and to place on the church altar for Baby Jesus.  Impossible.  Papá has lost his job, and there are no pesos for piñatas or fiestas.  Juanita cries outside the old church as mariachis sing lullabies to Baby Jesus.  But then a Christmas miracle!  As Juanita carries a bouquet of straggly, green weeds into the church to place on the altar, they miraculously transform into beautiful, red flowers.  “Qué hermosa!  How beautiful,” say the people.   “Feliz Navidad, niño chiquito, Jesusito,” whispers Juanita.  And of course, these “flor de la Noche Buena” are the poinsettias we use today at Christmastime.  Besides the bonus of Spanish vocabulary words, this folktale retelling glows with gorgeous illustrations. 

B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (by Isabel Wilner, ill. by Elisa Kleven.  Puffin Books, 1990).  “C is for Crowds, growing larger each day/ With more people, more animals filling the way.”  The artwork for this picture book is mixed-media collage and, as one review points out, has a “vibrant, folkloric look.”  The artwork reminds me of pointillism with all its dots.  This alphabet book adds nice variety to a Christmas book collection, and author Isabel Wilner even finds a Christmas word for the letter X! 

So for Christmas 2008 . . .  

Let me exclaim, the list grows out of sight 

Merry Christmas to all as you read through the night!

Any other Christmas books you can’t live without?  Post a comment!

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?

Originally, this post was going to be about favorite Christmas books (I’ll get to that in a few days), but I have to write about a great book we just discovered:  Adventures of Cow Too (Tricycle Press, 2007).  Written by Cow (as told to Lori Korchek) and illustrated with photos by Marshall Taylor, this book is the sequel to Adventures of Cow. 

In Adventures of Cow Too, we follow a small plastic toy cow with a charmingly innocent face on an adventure to the grocery store.  The book opens with Cow standing by his mom on top of a grocery list on the kitchen table.  Cow’s mom, a ceramic hippo sporting an orange gerbera daisy, says, “I’ve chipped my nose.  Will you go to the grocery store for me?”

Cow jumps for joy at the chance for a big adventure, and off we go!  Cow takes a “train to the store.” (We see Cow riding on the windshield of a school bus).  “Gosh, these grapes are heavy,” says Cow.  (We see Cow on the scale with three big grapefruits).

The charm and humor of this book lie in the obvious discrepancy between what Cow says and what we see.  That and a bunch of kooky, illogical details like cows with hippos for moms and penguins for dads (among other things).

Little kids love this story.  They are just so much smarter than Cow!  “No, silly those aren’t oranges.  They’re apples!”  “That’s not a frog—that’s a cow!” (when Cow sees pictures of cows he always calls them frogs).  Older kids (think middle school, high school, and middle-aged kids here) love this story.  It is just so goofy.  Cow asks five lovely fish packed on ice, “Excuse me, ladies, where would I find the mayonnaise?”  Cow looks at a price tag:  “The clock said 1:79.  It was time to go!” 

When you’re a two-inch tall plastic cow, the world is an awfully big place.  In fact, a grocery cart is an awfully big place.  The same goes for kids:  that kitchen table looks awfully high when you’re only two.  The grocery store is an adventure when you’re little (or even when you’re big and searching for Ben and Jerry’s).

On a deeper linguistic level, Adventures of Cow Too makes you think about words.  Why do the letters i-c-e-c-r-e-a-m mean ice cream?  We could call that frozen stuff in a bowl p-e-a-s.  It’s all arbitrary, but as long as we agree on the terms, the world makes sense. 

For some reason, Adventures of Cow Too reminds me of SNL’s Mr. Bill (remember him?).  Adventures of Cow Too is such fun–even funner than Cow’s night at the movies.  We laughed as we read and reread it.  Get the book and you’ll see.

Have any suggestions for books that are fun for both kids and grownups?  Post a comment!

Lemony Snicket’s picture book, The Lump of Coal (HarperCollins, 2008), has been released for Christmas.  Christmas is a time of miracles, and as Lemony Snicket says, “Miracles are like pimples, because once you start looking for them you find more than you ever dreamed you’d see.”  (The book is worth buying for that sentence alone.) 

Although not quite as dire as Lemony Snicket’s best-selling Series of Unfortunate Events (it is Christmas after all), The Lump of Coal bears Lemony’s trademark style.  Illustrations are by Brett Helquist who also illustrated A Series of Unfortunate Events.  If you’ve never seen a lump of coal sporting a suit and bowtie, you’ll be amazed at how spiffy one can look.  And this lump of coal “who for the sake of argument could think, talk, and move itself around” ventures out in search of his dream—life as an artist.   

I think picture books make great gifts for grownups.  The Lump of Coal is a fun choice.  It’s witty and ironic and full of everyday and not so everyday miracles.

Hmmm . . . come to think of it, I might buy it for my brother . . . he just started his own business . . . he could use a few miracles.