ScoutTN Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 We need to add a few to our collection this year. So share your faves, please! Tell me why your family likes it. 1) Picture books 2) Chapter books/RAs I'll start. We are Christians and generally prefer stories with spiritual themes rather than a Santa focus. So far this year, my kids favorites are all picture books. We haven't gotten to anything longer yet. Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd Jones - lovely artwork, Christ-centered text, sweet but not sappy. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston, illus Barbara Cooney. I like the old-fashioned, mountain setting and the perfect ending. The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats - We love all his books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Picture books we love : - An Orange For Frankie - the story is just so tender-hearted and sweet. - Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo, the version illustrated by Bagram (looking now, Amazon no longer sells it, except for through resellers, sad). It's just another tender-hearted story, and it warms my heart each time I read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 The Little Boy's Christmas Gift by John Speirs -- sweet story + the most WONDERFUL, gorgeous illustrations (like something from an illuminated manuscript from the Middle Ages) The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey -- makes me cry every time The Christmas Cobwebs -- a sweet, simple family story Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? -- fun Norwegian tale from Jan Brett A Christmas Memory -- more of a short story/novella, probably for slightly older kids & up; love it because Truman Capote is a wonderful writer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 The Best Christmas Pagent Ever- short chapter book, kids love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 Christmas in Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren -- my kids loved the Noisy Village books. The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett -- wonderful illustrations. Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett -- my teen's childhood favorite. Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett -- another favorite from the same child: "Those two troll books are my favorite Christmas books!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 My favorite Christmas book has always been How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was dd's very first book (she was born in mid-November,) and we still read it and watch the video every year. We even have the Latin version! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted November 29, 2012 Share Posted November 29, 2012 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey -- makes me cry every time Seconding this. It's a lovely story. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Adding a new book that we just read yesterday for the first time - The Carpenter's Gift. Loved it. Very sweet story with beautiful artwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy not in HI Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 My favorite is Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck. A sweet story of service. Makes me get all choked up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Silver Packages The Christmas Story combines scripture from Matthew and Luke; beautiful pictures The Night Tree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 A Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens - a beautiful RA Christmas short story about work, sacrifice, love, and coming home. I like it better than A Christmas Carol. It's one that you should take your time with to enjoy the rich language and descriptions. We also have Rembrandt: The Christmas Story - illustrations taken from Rembrandt's paintings and sketches, with accompanying text from scripture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco. It's a lovely story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 Thanks everyone! Many that are new to me here. Off to the library website to reserve a heap! Anyone else have some that haven't been mentioned? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 b is for bethlehem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 The Best Christmas Pagent Ever- short chapter book, kids love it. the video with Loretta Swit as the mom is fun too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELITEANDLOVINGIT Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 House without a Christmas Tree - Hands down favorite Norman Rockwell Christmas Book - Close contender The Pokey Little Puppy's First Christmas - Golden Book First Christmas - Golden Book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Picture books we love : - An Orange For Frankie - the story is just so tender-hearted and sweet. - Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo, the version illustrated by Bagram (looking now, Amazon no longer sells it, except for through resellers, sad). It's just another tender-hearted story, and it warms my heart each time I read it. These are two of my favorites. They are in the Books That Make Me Teary category as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 We just got out our Christmas book box today and I immediately looked for the title we like a lot (because I couldn't remember its name before). It's Starlight of Tourrone by Suzanne Butler. Such a sweet, faith-filled story. This is a short chapter book. This is a story about a group of children in southern France during the middle of the 20th century who want to stage a special Nativity scene at Christmas. One of the older men in the small village of Tourrone tells his grandchildren about how, when he was young, the village had held a live Nativity scene at the chapel on the hill with the youngest baby in the village playing the part of the Christ child and his mother playing Mary. Then, all the people in the town would climb the hill to the chapel and present gifts to Mary and the baby Jesus in a ceremony called the March to the Star. However, these traditions have been lost because, following World War II, the village has lost much of its population, and the chapel is an unused ruin. The children and their friends decide that they want to hold the March to the Star and the Nativity scene this year. At first, most of the adults in the village are skeptical. Since there are no young couples living there anymore and no babies have been born there for several years, no one knows where the mother and child for the Nativity scene will come from. Many of the adults are too busy with their own problems and worries about the future to help. Still, the children continue to work faithfully on their plans, drawing in the adults in spite of themselves. Just as people in the village start to feel hopeful again, something happens that threatens to ruin everything, but there is still one more miracle yet to come, thanks in part to the one person who never doubted it would happen. It's a beautiful story about the power of faith and how miracles come to those who are prepared for them. Since reading the above, The Miracle of St Nicholas has become my favorite picture/story book. It was the day before Christmas in a small Russian village. Alexi's babushka was telling him what Christmas was like when she was a girl-before the soldiers came. "Our church was as crowded as a pod full of peas. Candles made the church as bright as the sunniest day. Watching over us was the blessed icon of St. Nicholas." Alexi had many questions, including, "Why can't we celebrate Christmas tomorrow in St. Nicholas?" Babushka sadly replied that it would take a miracle after sixty years. Well, Alexi had heard enough. If there truly was such a thing as a miracle, why couldn't it happen here? And so unfolds a story that poignantly reveals how, though quiet and hidden, faith and hope cannot be suppressed-by soldiers or by time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thanks for this thread! We add a nice hardcover Christmas book to our collection each year as well, and I've just added a bunch of these to my Amazon wish list :). I'll be back to share some titles when I'm not on my ipad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 We have all loved "Who Is Coming To Our House?," and my current preschooler wants me to read it to him frequently. I love the rhyme and repetition and my 4yo's quiet reverence when he fills in the lines. I love the idea of each animal doing its part for the special visitors, and the larger theme of each of us having a special ability to offer the Lord. "B is for Bethlehem" is a family favorite and always one of the first ones we read each year, because the author was my mother's childhood librarian. DD and I read "The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas" for the first time this year, and we loved it. The ending is so sweet! And we all love Jan Brett because of the amazing pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.