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Beautiful Christmas picture books?


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Do you want religious Christmas books, secular Christmas books, or both? By "beautiful" do you mean the art in the pictures, the words, or the stories?

 

All of the above! Lovely illustrations, wonderful story, poetic language, fiction or nonfiction, Christian or secular, modern or historical, contemporary or classic... I know I've seen some books through the years that I'm going to hunt down again, but I'm sure some WTM ladies have some impressive lists to get me started!

 

In the past I have enjoyed some that were telling the stories of common carols, but I also am hoping to find a good book telling the story of St. Nicholas. And a lovely picture book version of classic stories like A Christmas Carol and the Nutcracker. But I'm open to hearing about anything that someone loves enough to share :)

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All righty then. For lovely stories, can't go further than Polacco - An Orange for Frankie and The Trees of the Dancing Goats are still on our shelves. I'm also a fan of Pinkney's The All-I'll-Ever-Want-For-Christmas Doll. And although it doesn't quite qualify as having beautiful illustrations, Jackie's Gift makes me laugh.

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Great Joy, by Kate DiCamillo, Bagram Ibatouline, illus.

 

This is the Star, by Joyce Dunbar, Gary Blythe, illus.

 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski, P. J. Lynch, illus.

 

A Child's Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas, Trina Schart Hyman, illus. 

 

Hyman also illustrates a lovely version of A Christmas Carol

 

The Gift of the Magi, by O. Henry, Lisbeth Zwerger, illus.

 

Silver Packages: An Appalachian Christmas Story, by Cynthia Rylant, Chris Soentpiet, illus.

 

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Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend written by Julie Stiegemeyer, illustrated by Chris Ellison - This is my favorite children's book for explaining how Santa Claus came to be.

 

The Legend of Old Befana written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola - an Italian folk tale.

 

Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost's poem illustrated by Susan Jeffers. This is more of a winter time poem than a Christmas poem, but the illustrations are so lovely, and it's a great book to read at this time of year.

 

A Forest Christmas written and illustrated by Mayling Mack Holm. My DH grew up on this story. He used to sit and look at the drawings for hours!

 

The Night Before Christmas - Clement Moore's poem illustrated by Jan Brett - or really, anything by Jan Brett is going to have lovely illustrations, espcially if you enjoy Scandinavian art.

 

The First Christmas written and illustrated by Carol Heyer. We LOVE the illustrations in this book!

 

The Mark of the Maker written by Tom Hegg, illustrated by Warren Hanson.

 

Owl Moon written by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr - A winter time book.

 

The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco - A Christmas and Chanukah story.

 

The Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco - Also a Christmas and Chanukah story.

 

Elijah's Angel: A Story for Christmas and Chanukah by Michael J. Rosen and Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson.

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An Otis Christmas by Loren Long. The illustrations are beautiful.

 

The Spirit of Chrismas by Nancy Tillman.

 

The First Christmas by Gaby Goldsack. This one I picked up in a dollar bin so it could be hard to find but I love the way the Christmas story is told in poetic form.

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Some of our favorite not yet mentioned:

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston, ill. Barbara Cooney

The Father Christmas Letters by J.R. R. Tolkien

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats

The Story of Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden

Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck

Wenceslas by Geraldine McCaughren

Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd- Jones

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

The Glorious Impossible by Madeline L'Engle

and of course, The Grinch!

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Patricia Polacco has several Christmas and Hanukkah books. I love the Christmas Tapestry it is such a good sotry. Her books often make me cry. The Trees of the Dancing Goats is good too. I got several other Christmas ones she wrote from the library and we will be making our way through them this month. DS loves Patricia Polacco books.

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Thanks to this thread I now have two books on order:

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long

 

If you are looking for a Santa-themed book, Jon Muth illustrated The Christmas Magic. It is beautiful and tells a different type of Santa story. The images are peaceful and calm. (and there is a sweet picture of Santa wearing bunny slippers!)

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