I interviewed USA today best selling author RaeAnne Thayne on my other blog and asked her about her Christmas Traditions.
My favorite answer?
We have many. When my kids were young, I would wrap up twenty-four of our favorite children's Christmas books and they would get to unwrap a different one each night of December leading up to Christmas Eve, then we would read it together. It was always so fun trying to guess which one they would open.
I LOVE this tradition. I'm starting a collection for my grandchildren.
Some are obvious. Twas the Night Before Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Frosty the Snowman. But there are so many more. And since I consider December Light, Miracles, Joy, Peace and All the Good Stuff Season, I want to include other holiday books.
Should you be moved to collect, here a few suggestions. Please add to my list and leave a favorite in your comments. And however you celebrate love, hope, joy and miracles, I wish you all of the above.
The first two we had at Reading to Kids on Saturday and I adored them.
Turkey Claus
Turkey needs Santa’s help so he won’t be eaten for Christmas dinner.
Turkey is in trouble. Again. He made it through Thanksgiving without becoming a turkey dinner, but now it’s almost Christmas, and guess what’s on the menu? Turkey decides the only thing to do is to ask Santa for help. He sets off for the North Pole, but getting in to see Santa at Christmastime isn’t as easy as Turkey expected. It’s going to take all his ideas—and his clever disguises—to find a way into Santa’s house. After many hilarious attempts, Turkey comes up with the perfect disguise, and Santa has the perfect solution! In this holiday treat, a companion to Turkey Trouble, Wendi Silvano’s story is once again matched with the watercolor artwork of Lee Harper.
Turkey is in trouble. Again. He made it through Thanksgiving without becoming a turkey dinner, but now it’s almost Christmas, and guess what’s on the menu? Turkey decides the only thing to do is to ask Santa for help. He sets off for the North Pole, but getting in to see Santa at Christmastime isn’t as easy as Turkey expected. It’s going to take all his ideas—and his clever disguises—to find a way into Santa’s house. After many hilarious attempts, Turkey comes up with the perfect disguise, and Santa has the perfect solution! In this holiday treat, a companion to Turkey Trouble, Wendi Silvano’s story is once again matched with the watercolor artwork of Lee Harper.
“OLIVE THE OTHER REINDEER” BY VIVIAN WALSH
Price: $13.59 at amazon.com Sweet little doggie Olive is confused — she thinks she’s one of Santa’s reindeer and so decides to help him with Christmas. This book is so bright and sweet and brilliantly illustrated, and though I also love the DVD version, the book is nothing like it, with so scariness or negativity. So cute!
“HOW SANTA GOT HIS JOB” BY STEPHEN KRENSKY
Price: $6.99 at amazon.com Haven’t you ever wondered how Santa got the many skills required to do his job? This book explains it all, going over Santa’s past jobs (working in a zoo, at the post office, and at an all-night diner) that got him where he is today. It’s cute, and geared towards kids younger than 5.
“AUNTIE CLAUS” BY ELISE PRIMAVERA
Price: $10.88 at amazon.com Spoiled little Sophie has an Auntie who disappears every winter, and she always wonders where she goes, so one year, she stows away in Auntie’s luggage to find out. Gradually, little Sophie figures out her Auntie’s secrets and learns that, as Auntie puts it, "It is far better to give than to receive!"
THE MAGIC VIOLIN BY MAYRA CALVANI ILLUSTRATED BY K.C. SNIDER
Eight-year old Melina wants to become a good violinist. When she loses confidence, her Rumanian teacher Andrea decides it's time for a magic dose of self esteem. A mysterious old woman in rags gives Melina some curious advice; a violinist Russian hamster, who happens to live under the old woman's hat, offers her a virtuoso performance; a shooting star fills her with hope on Christmas Eve. Is Melina actually playing better, or has her violin become magic? Who is the old woman in the town square, and why does she wear the same emerald ring as her teacher Andrea?
Price 10.36 at Amazon
“LITTLE MISS SPIDER: A CHRISTMAS WISH” BY DAVID KIRK
Price: $10.36 at amazon.com Any little one who loves Miss Spider will love seeing her as a young spider, and will love reading this Christmas-spirit poem. Lonely Little Miss Spider wants a friend to play with, and when she finds a friend in the snowy woods on Christmas Eve, she’s delighted. But where will her new friend go? Where does he live?
“OLIVIA HELPS WITH CHRISTMAS” BY IAN FALCONER
Price: $12.91 at amazon.com Olivia is a very precocious, very smart five-year-old piglet, and she’s determined to make this Christmas beautiful. She helps decorate the table, prevents her father from building a fire in the fireplace (to save Santa), and bursts into #song when appropriate. I love Olivia, and I love this book!
. “JUNIE B., FIRST GRADER: JINGLE BELLS, BATMAN SMELLS!” BY BARBARA PARK
Price: $4.99 at amazon.com Junie B. is a first grader now, not a kindergarten #baby, and she’s excited to be celebrating Christmas as a big kid. This book is just as funny and sweet as the other Junie B. chapter books, only with a holiday theme.
My Wonderful Christmas Tree isn't a traditional Christmas book in that there's no mention of Santa, reindeer, or presents. Instead, it's a lovely rhyming counting book that introduces lil readers to the wonderful animals living in the fields and forests of New England.
Eight Winter Nights: A Family Hanukkah Book by Laura Krauss Melmed, illustrated by Elisabeth Schlossberg (Chronicle, $16.99, ages 4 to 8): From lighting the menorah and telling the story of Judah Maccabee to spinning the Dreidel and eating latkes with applesauce, a family celebrates Hanukkah in this warm book with pencil and pastel illustrations.
The Christmas Eve Ghost by Shirley Hughes (Candlewick, $15.99, ages 6 to 10): A single mother in 1930s Liverpool struggles to feed and clothe her two children while keeping her distance from her Irish Catholic neighbors. A Christmas Eve emergency brings the families together in this beautifully illustrated and understated story of getting along.
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The Christmas Giant by Steve Light (Candlewick, $15.99, ages 5 to 9): While delivering a Christmas tree, Santa and his elf encounter disaster; and the two must devise an alternative plan involving imaginatively designed wrapping paper. As Light draws him, Santa is a tall fellow resembling a lumber jack accompanied by a miniature, white-robed elf. The illustrations are as distinctive as the story.
