What is your favorite Christmas story?

I have two containers of Christmas books, but I usually just get out a few of our favorites. This year I’d like to read all of our Christmas picture books and get rid of any we deem unworthy! The plan is to read at least one book as a family every evening till Christmas. I have more than 25 picture books, so I will read the others by myself or with whomever is interested, most likely Marianne and Evan. I hope that you will be inspired to buy a new Christmas book, pull out some old favorites, or see what treasures you can find at the library!

November 30^th

Tonight Evan and I explored our pop-up books. I am pretty protective of my pop-ups and only let little ones look at them while sitting on my lap. I have ordered a couple of new pop-up books, so I’ll review those later in the month.

Cookie Count by Robert Sabuda

This is one of my favorites. How can you go wrong with the combination of cookies and a pop-up? As a bonus, this doubles as a counting book. You’ll love the little mice who sample the cookies and likely be inspired to get out your favorite cookie recipes!

Winter’s Tale by Robert Sabuda

With the same title as one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I loved this book before I ever opened it. This pop-ups in this nature themed book are all in white. The story ends with a musical display. It is a beautiful book that reminds me of Susan Jeffers’ Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and makes me yearn for a stroll through the forest on a winter’s day.

The Night Before Christmas by Robert Sabuda

Clement Moore’s classic poem is illustrated by two pop-ups on each page. The large pop-up is the central focus and hidden underneath a flap is a smaller, but very detailed pop-up. The images of Santa are delightful and the village scene on the final page even has a wheel for you to turn. Read Jan Brett’s Night Before Christmas for a very different interpretation of the same poem. Her detailed illustrations are wonderful! You’ll want to spend some time exploring the borders of each page.

The Christmas Alphabet by Robert Sabuda

A simple format with one pop-up for each letter hidden behind a flap. The white cutouts contrast beautifully with the colored backgrounds. Our family likes to cover the word and guess what the pop-up image represents. I love that Sabuda has included some religious images to remind us of the nativity.

December 1, 2008

We started our “book a night” with Allen Say’s Tree of Cranes. Say is my favorite author/illustrator for all things Japanese. John served a mission in Japan, so he always enjoys this type of story. The little boy disobeys his mother and end up catching a cold. When he gets home he is sent straight to bed, but is mother is preoccupied and he can’t understand her strange behavior. Finally she gathers origami cranes, candles and a little tree and tells him a story he will never forget.

We couldn’t stop with just one book, so we also read The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Hunt. This folktale is the story of three trees with big dreams that fulfill the measure of their creation by eventually becoming part of Jesus’ life as the manger, the ship and the cross.

Marianne and Evan were supposed to be in bed, but they saw me reading Shoemaker Martin by Bernadette Watts and begged for one more story. Strictly speaking, this isn’t a Christmas story, but this tale of a man seeking Christ captures the spirit of the season. This book is based on a short story by Leo Tolstoy called “Where Love is, God is”. Martin the cobbler reads the Bible each night and wonders how he would receive a visit from Jesus. He is woken from his sleep that night by a voice saying, “Martin, be sure you watch the street tomorrow, for I shall come.” The next day Martin is ready. He receives many visitors and is filled with joy!

December 2, 2008

Tonight we read The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. This is the sweet story of the lamb who was in the stable the night Jesus was born. It reminds us that our weaknesses often provide marvelous opportunities and that God has a special place for each of us.

The second book we read is one we got years ago when the kids were little. This silly story never fails to start everyone laughing and quoting their favorite lines. Morris’s Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells is the story of what happens after all the presents are opened. The three older siblings all take turns playing with each other’s gifts, but no one wants to play with little Morris’s bear and they certainly don’t want him touching their toys. Then Morris notices a present that was overlooked. What he finds inside changes everything!

Earlier this afternoon I read the kids Merry Christmas, Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola. dePaola is a prolific author and I love his cute, folksy illustrations. I’ll have to admit that I’ve never been a fan of his Strega Nona/Big Anthony series. Although like most moms, I have a child or two that reminds me of Anthony who complains and “forgets” to do his chores. Usually magic comes to the rescue, but in this story Strega Nona refuses to use magic saying, “Christmas has a magic of its own.”

Another Christmas book by dePaola is Jingle the Christmas Clown. It is filled with drawings of adorable baby animals that any little girl will love. Jingle takes care of the baby animals and the poor, old villagers and you’ll learn some Italian words as well. The story ends with an angel pouring golden stars down upon the living Christmas tree in the village square. You can make your own golden stars with the cookie recipe for “Stelline d’Oro” included in the book.