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What are your top two favourite children's Christmas books?


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STILL read aloud every year, by request of adult DSs ;) :

 

1. Letters from Father Christmas (Tolkien)

out-of-print -- find copies at Abe.com

either this edition: ISBN 10: 0261103857 / ISBN 13: 9780261103856

or this edition: ISBN: 0261102559 / 0-261-10255-9

(other editions are SO abbreviated they are NOT worth it)

 

2. Christmas Every Day (Howells)

out-of-print -- find copies at Abe.com

ISBN: 0671003267 / 0-671-00326-7  -- or -- ISBN: 9780671003265

 

 

MORE must-haves ;) (because it IS impossible to limit it to TWO)

- A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens -- OR -- abridged retelling by Vivian French)

- The Other Wise Man (retold by Pamela Kennedy)

- When It Snowed That Night (Farber)

- The Christmas Knight (Curry) -- out-of-print

- A Small Miracle (Collington)

- The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons (Sawyer)

- The Thirteen Days of Christmas (Overton)

- Dance in the Desert (L'Engle)

- The Last Straw (Thury)

- Polar Express (Van Allsberg)

- How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss)

- Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (Wojciechowski)

- The Christmas Trolls (Brett)

- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (Houston)

- The Tall Book of Christmas (Smith) -- out-of-print, vintage

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I'm another who just cannot limit the list to two. Some of our favorites are:

 

The Trees of the Dancing Goats - Polacco

Christmas Tapestry - Polacco

Christmas Trolls - Brett

Who's that Knocking on Christmas Eve? - Brett

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - Baum

A Christmas Memory - Capote

The Story of Holly and Ivy - Godden

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey - Wojciechowski

The Polar Express - Van Allsburg

A Christmas Carol - Dickens

The Night Before Christmas - Moore illustrated by Ingpen

Georgie's Christmas Carol - Bright

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas - Hoban

Mortimer's Christmas Manger - Wilson/Chapman

The Beautiful Christmas Tree - Zolotow

How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Seuss

 

I can't wait until Thanksgiving night! We get to start reading Christmas stories again! : )

 

ETA- Have fun adding to your collection!

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A few that I don't think were on the lists in previous posts:

 

The little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats

Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

Corgiville Christmas by Tasha Tudor

Christmas Day in the Mornong by Pearl Buck

The Jesse Tree by Geradline McCaughrean

 

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Many of those listed we like, but I would have to add:  "Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Clause"  Beautifully illustrated version of the newspaper editorial response.

 

That's a strangely appropriate spelling error given the journalistic connection!

 

 

And for those who are interested, the book is also available in Latin:

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus in Latin!: Vere, Virginia, Sanctus Nicolaus Est! by Francis Pharcellus Church, Virginia O'Hanlon and Matthias Kringe

 

Regards,

Kareni

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The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

One Wintry Night

 

The first book is also one of my holiday favorites. 

 

The second book is illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson who also illustrated the book The High Rise Glorious Skittle Skat Roarious Sky Pie Angel Food Cake by Nancy Willard and Richard Jesse Watson (not a holiday story) which is another personal favorite.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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This has been such a fun thread to read, folks! Thanks so much for sharing your favourites! I've ordered a slew of books -- my dh won't be impressed when he finds out, I'm sure! Oh well, I want to create those memories now...as it was in my search I found a book that had been one of *my* favourites as a kid and ordered it...so I hope that when my kids are grown they'll have fond memories of their favourites. :)

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LoriD, thank you for mentioning Tolkien's Letters From Father Christmas -- I had seen that a while ago and wanted to put it on our reading list for this year, but I had forgotten. I saw your post just in time to add a good used copy to an amazon order for other books, and I expect that my Hobbit-obsessed children will love it!

 

My favorite children's Christmas book is Who Is Coming To Our House? A board book, yes; all of my toddlers have LOVED it, and I have read it many, many times. I love it because they love it but also because I love the deeper meaning that everyone has a special talent or gift that they can use for Jesus.

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