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I love this fun (and funny!) story of a moose who applies to be a substitute reindeer for Santa’s sleigh. The obstacles he faces are many, including that he’s not a reindeer, and he cannot fly. What he can do, though, is write engaging letters to Santa that spell out his willingness to learn, being a hard worker, and other common job applicants’ promises. Santa (the narrator) is impressed by Elmore’s can-do attitude. But can Santa find a place for Elmore that works for them both? The letters are funny, and comprise a large part of the narrative, so this may work best for children who are a little older. That said, every page (and letter) is a delight! The illustrations and text are engaging, the elves are super cute, and the whole book is a proper Christmas classic!
Christmas Forever: Escape to the North Pole
The delightful concept of this book is a set of varied ornaments who LOVE Christmas and, accordingly, are horrified by the 364 days of the year that are NOT Christmas. When they realize it would be Christmas every day at the North Pole, they decide to stow away on Santa’s sleigh — if only they can escape the attention’s of the family’s cat. And how will they leave the family, who love the ornaments so much? The illustrations for this charming book are just as delightful and clever as the story itself. This is one of my family’s favorite Christmas book of the year!
Snowmen’s Twelve Nights of Christmas
Exuberant holiday fun is clear on every page of this lively board book from the married author and illustrator, Caralyn and Mark Buehner (https://www.buehnerbooks.com/ ). Here, a repeating narrative shows a snowdog chasing one through twelve different snow creatures up a tree, where they all happily gather for the ultimate Christmas tree celebration, on a lovely and colorful two-page spread. You can find printables for the book on their website, with each of the characters shown to match twelve verses of the song, which is a lot of fun for sing-alongs. I think my kiddos love the fun-filled sing-song text paired with the colorful nighttime lighting illuminating each lovely page. Every page is a delight in this wonderful holiday board book!
Why Does It Snow?: Weather with The Very Hungry Caterpillar
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar is curious. Why does it snow? Let’s find out!” This simple yet informative board book explains how clouds turn to ice, and then into snowflakes, and then into snow. The illustrations, as always, are delightful as they show the caterpillar looking at lovely winter scenes. This is a lovely wintertime board book with extra chonky pages that even the little hands and eyes will enjoy paging through, again and again.
There’s a Little Snowman in Your Book
This is a delightful board book, for children of all ages, with moving features on every page. Each of the board book’s pages includes a sandwiched feature (in the space created within) that slides, moves, rotates, pops out, and more. The illustrations are darling, the text engaging, and the book’s moving features are so much fun. My little one’s enjoy playing with this quiet book over and over again.
Peter Rabbit Tales: The Christmas Star
This is a heartwarming tale of trying again, as Peter Rabbit and his little sisters try to set up Christmas decorations around their burrow as a surprise for their mother. Can they make a star to top their Christmas tree — that doesn’t fall apart? The story is wonderful, matched by the illustrations, where a special shout-out goes to the illustrator, Eleanor Taylor, who updates Potter’s classic illustrative style, while retaining their darling qualities. The board book is well made, with a reflective red cover. This book is a joy! My children love it, and I love how this endearing book inspires my own children to help get ready for our holiday celebrations.
Big Shark, Little Shark and the Christmas Tree
Many children, like mine, love sharks — baby and otherwise. So, this series is a great way to have holiday fun with all that love for all things “shark.” Here, the fun illustrations and simple text tell an engaging story of what the sharks and other fishes do to decorate a Christmas tree that somehow falls to the bottom of the sea, where some of the ornaments fall off and are broken. Can they figure out a way to redecorate the holiday tree before Christmas? And what could they use for a tree topper? This is a fun book that my young readers find engaging and love to read.
Where’s Bluey? At Christmas: A Search-and-Find Book
This is a fun search-and-find activity book for Bluey lovers! Each scene of an Australian Christmas with Bluey and her family and friends shows them enjoying a wide variety of Christmas activities, like shopping at the mall, enjoying a summer swim, and much more! Each two-page spread includes several characters or objects to search for — which are cleverly hidden (but not too cleverly for children to find). Yet each scene is fun in itself, with lots of different things happening at once. This is a truly enjoyable book for anyone who loves Bluey!
This is a nostalgic novelty book that features Jesse Katsopolis firing up his PC’s modem and going on America Online to chat with a wide range of prominent people — real and fictional — to invite them to a holiday party. It’s a clever idea, with retro-styled illustrations, told in rhyming couplets throughout. It’d be a great gift for any Millenial who longs for the good old days of a happy childhood filled with characters we all remember and love.
How Carrot and Cookie Saved Christmas
This funny — and “punny” — book will delight children with its uplifting story set around Santa Claus and Christmas. The humorous text, which includes many food-related puns shows two good friends worrying about what to get for each other. When a sickly Santa crashes his sleigh, the two friends learn that helping others just may be the greatest gift of all. The zany humor matches the playful illustrations well, creating an entertaining book my children love reading (and chuckling over) again and again.
Roald Dahl: Phizz-Whizzing Christmas Book
This charming Christmas book explains all the different ways we celebrate the holiday. It features original illustrations of beloved characters from Roald Dahl’s many books, transformed into various Christmas settings and celebrations. The text is fun to read, in varying font sizes and weights, intended to delight children of all ages. This is an excellent introduction for young children who are learning about Dahl’s many memorable characters — and for those who celebrate their cherished memories of them all — in a delightful context of Christmas!
Dear Santa: A Christmas Wish List and Gratitude Journal for Kids
This book can be colored and so forth, yes, but it also poses questions that children are encouraged to write out, including to describe family holiday traditions, write a thank you letter to a family member, and what they’re doing to get into the spirit of Christmas (this book being an excellent approach in itself). It describes what gratitude is and its impact and value. It also includes daily countdown pages, with writing prompts like, “I am grateful for _____ because ____…” and “Good things this day has brought.” I, for one, am grateful for this book that’s helping my children to learn more about gratitude throughout this holiday season.
The Little Engine That Could Saves Christmas
What if Santa couldn’t deliver all of his presents? Is there a little train engine that could help out? I think I can think of one that could! This expansion of the classic folktale and children’s book offers a similar narrative arc where the little engine repeats, “I think I can,” which is phrased like an onomatopoeia of how a steam engine chugging along. Here, though, the Christmas toys and elves help the train to fly across the Christmas Eve skies through a little holiday magic, and together, “I think I can” is transformed into “We think we can!” The vintage style illustrations are a joy on every single page. An instant Christmas classis, this is a magical book that, honestly, anyone who loves the holiday season would enjoy.
This lovely gift set includes three classic Corduroy books that my little ones love to have me read to them or just flip through on their own. “Corduroy” tells the story of a stuffed bear in a department store. When a little girl, named Lisa, says she wants to take him home, and her mother refuses because he’s missing a button for his overalls, he sets off on an overnight journey to find his missing button. When a security guard discovers him upstairs, how will he every find a home — and a friend? In “A Pocket for Corduroy,” the little bear realizes his clothes don’t have any pockets, in a memorable story obviously skipped over by women’s clothes designers everywhere. In “Corduroy: Lost and Found,” the little bear goes on another nighttime journey. This time, he needs to find a birthday present for Lisa. When he discovers a big bright ball shining in the nighttime sky, he sets off to bring home the “balloon” for his friend. These charming stories work very well as board books, and our baby follows along with the heartwarming illustrations just fine.
There are major winter holidays celebrated around the world, and many feature light — literally and figuratively — amid the shorter days and darker nights. This enlightening book aims to illuminate them all, including Christmas, Chanukah, Diwali, the Lunar New Year, the Winter Solstice, Bodhi Day, and Kwanzaa. We gather as families, decorate our homes, sing our songs, eat our feasts, offer our prayers, and remember all we may be thankful for, including all we’ve gained or lost. These celebrations bring our different groups together, yet as this book wisely observes, bring all of humanity together as one. My children and I absolutely love this book, including its truly beautiful illustrations, each painted from different viewpoints, just as the explanatory text in the sidebars offers different perspectives and descriptions of each holiday portrayed.
Eight Sweet Nights, A Festival of Lights: A Hanukkah Story
The elegant and insightful writing, alongside the delightful illustrations, make this book a treasure. Each two-page spread explains what happens each Hanukkah night, with engaging pictures showing families gathering for the celebration. The foods, games, and more are each shown and described, with sidebars explaining specific elements in detail, like interpretations of Yiddish and Hebrew words. It’s a wonderful and heart-warming guide to the festival of lights.
The charmingly endearing illustrations help explain Diwali — another festival of lights — which is the celebration of the Hindu new year, celebrated by many India-based religions. In a clear and warm way, the book explains how the holiday is celebrated, in different ways, all over the world. this is not only a beautiful book for children to look through and read, it’s also a wonderful way to introduce and explain to children about the delightful celebration we can all enjoy. This would be a great selection for any (and every) library!