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Please share your favorite Christmas read-alouds for all ages

ereks mom

By ereks mom,
in K-8 Curriculum Board

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ereks mom

ereks mom

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I'm thinking along the lines of "chapter books" such as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and also picture books like The Polar Express! During the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we do "school lite", and we bake, make crafts, learn about Christmas customs around the world, watch our favorite Christmas movies, and read Christmas stories & books--and I need book suggestions.

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MrsMe

MrsMe

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My dh and I thought the Best Christmas Pageant Ever was funny. But dd didn't get some of it because she's never been in public school.

 

I'm "looking" at Louisa May Alcott's "Christmas Treasury" and "No Fuss Christmas".

We enjoy Pioneer Christmas.

Edited by alilac
typo
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ELaurie

ELaurie

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I wrap all of our Christmas books every year, and put them in a basket near the fireplace. During the Christmas season, I have our dc choose one to unwrap, which we then read aloud. I usually add one new book each year, so it's fun to discover the new book, and to rediscover old favorites year after year . . .

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Farrar

Farrar

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I love love love Madeleine L'Engle's The Twenty Four Days Before Christmas.

:iagree: Hey, someone else knows that book! I love that book. I cannot give it enough praise.

 

On a completely different note... while none of these are things I think are excellent holiday classics, they've all been enjoyed in our house:

 

The Day Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke (not her best, but still Cornelia Funke!)

 

Stanley's Christmas Adventure by Jeff Brown (not the best Flat Stanley, but a quick little read nonetheless)

 

Judy Moody and Stink: The Holly Joliday by Megan McDonald (for fans of Judy Moody)

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MerryAtHope

MerryAtHope

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Oooh, you have to check out Jotham's Journey. What a wonderful story!! And it's all lined up to be used for advent if you do that. There are 2 sequels, but we haven't read them yet--I'm adding in Bartholomew's Passage this year & maybe the other one next year.

 

Another wonderful book that my kids love, is The Advent Book. It's pricey but it has doors to open (lift flaps) on each page to reveal a part of the Christmas story.

 

Merry :-)

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Jyniffrec

Jyniffrec

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:grouphug:

I wrap all of our Christmas books every year, and put them in a basket near the fireplace. During the Christmas season, I have our dc choose one to unwrap, which we then read aloud. I usually add one new book each year, so it's fun to discover the new book, and to rediscover old favorites year after year . . .

 

Oooh...I love this idea!

 

We like Demi's book about St. Nicholas.

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Hunter

Hunter

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Little House on the Prairie has the story about Mr Edwards meeting Santa in town and taking the presents to Mary and Laura, in a bundle on his head, while he swims across the river naked.

 

They get so little and think it is so much.

 

It's my all time favorite Christmas story.

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jewellsmommy

jewellsmommy

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Oooh, you have to check out Jotham's Journey. What a wonderful story!! And it's all lined up to be used for advent if you do that. There are 2 sequels, but we haven't read them yet--I'm adding in Bartholomew's Passage this year & maybe the other one next year.

 

Another wonderful book that my kids love, is The Advent Book. It's pricey but it has doors to open (lift flaps) on each page to reveal a part of the Christmas story.

 

Merry :-)

 

 

We really enjoyed Jotham's Journey last yr! I was trying to decide rather to do it again this yr or look for the sequel.

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creekmom

creekmom

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I wrap all of our Christmas books every year, and put them in a basket near the fireplace. During the Christmas season, I have our dc choose one to unwrap, which we then read aloud. I usually add one new book each year, so it's fun to discover the new book, and to rediscover old favorites year after year . . .

 

 

I LOVE this idea!!! Thanks for sharing! :001_smile:

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Gratia271

Gratia271

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Dickens' The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (and of course Christmas Carol)

The Christmas Mystery (Jostein Gaarder)

Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader

Rembrandt: the Christmas Story

The Nutcracker

Why the Chimes Rang

This Way to Christmas

The Christmas Porringer

Tasha Tudor Take Joy Christmas book

The Christmas Story by Isabelle Brent

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Alicia64

Alicia64

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An Orange for Frankie by Patricia Polacco

 

I'll be honest and tell you that I don't read the very last page to my seven year old boys: too sad.

 

I heard of a dad who came out of the bedroom saying, "d@*m book made me cry!" :lol:

 

Great story, but that Patricia is all about getting her readers to cry!

 

Thanks for a wonderful thread and thanks for the idea of wrapping the books and reading one a night: I LOVE HOMESCHOOLERS!

 

Alley

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ereks mom

ereks mom

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Oooh, you have to check out Jotham's Journey. What a wonderful story!! And it's all lined up to be used for advent if you do that. There are 2 sequels, but we haven't read them yet--I'm adding in Bartholomew's Passage this year & maybe the other one next year.

 

 

We read one each year when the kids were little. These are great!

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Free Indeed

Free Indeed

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We have wrapped our books for years! Love that tradition. :D I usually try to come up with some idea to do with each book, either a craft, cooking, or a movie. Some days nothing. On to our book list:

Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

Tree of Cranes

Cranberry Christmas

Little House Christmas Treasury

Jonathan Toomey

Best Christmas Pagent ever

 

There are lots more but that is what I can come up with right now.

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ereks mom

ereks mom

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I wrap all of our Christmas books every year, and put them in a basket near the fireplace. During the Christmas season, I have our dc choose one to unwrap, which we then read aloud. I usually add one new book each year, so it's fun to discover the new book, and to rediscover old favorites year after year . . .

 

:)

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pqr

pqr

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the video is a modification of the poem below.

 

Worth reading to the kids.

 

Merry Christmas, My Friend

 

 

By James M. Schmidt,

 

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,

In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

 

 

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give

and to see just who in this home did live

 

 

As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,

no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.

On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.

 

 

With medals and badges, awards of all kind,

a sobering thought soon came to my mind.

For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.

This was the home of a U.S. Marine.

 

 

I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more,

so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.

And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,

Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.

 

 

He seemed so gentle, his face so serene,

Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.

Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read?

Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

 

 

His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.

I soon understood, this was more than a man.

For I realized the families that I saw that night,

owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

 

 

Soon around the Nation, the children would play,

And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.

They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,

because of Marines like this one lying here.

 

 

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,

on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.

Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.

I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

 

 

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice,

"Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice

I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.

My life is my God, my country, my Corps."

 

 

With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,

I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

 

 

I watched him for hours, so silent and still.

I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.

So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,

and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

 

 

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold,

with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.

And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,

and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

 

 

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night,

this guardian of honor so willing to fight.

But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure,

said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."

 

 

One look at my watch and I knew he was right,

Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.

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Lori D.

Lori D.

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- Father Christmas Letters (Tolkien) -- charming, fun, all-time family favorite -- Tolkien writing as Father Christmas to his children with his lovely watercolor pictures

- Christmas Every Day (Howells) -- hilarious tale of a greedy Victorian girl -- the other Christmas family favorite

- When It Snowed That Night (Farber) -- lovely short poems of animals coming to visit baby Jesus

- The Christmas Knight (Curry) -- short, funny picture book with a moral

- The Other Wise Man (retold by Barrett) -- lovely, poignant story (WARNING: you need a hanky for this one!!)

- A Small Miracle (Collington) -- charming wordless picture book

- The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons (Sawyer) -- very fun story with charming illustrations

- Dance in the Desert (L'Engle) -- lovely writing; all creatures adore the Christ child one magical night

- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree -- quietly understated self-sacrifice at the home front during WW1

- B is for Bethlehem -- vibrantly illustrated Christmas alphabet book written in a lively rhyming pattern

- The Polar Express (Van Allsburg) -- another lovely picture book

- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss) -- this was a classic when *I* was growing up!

 

 

If you like Jan Brett, she has a Christmas treasury collection

What about all the December stories from Richard Scarry's A Story a Day collection

Here's a charming collection we've enjoyed: The Tall Book of Christmas

Edited by Lori D.
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