Collecting Christmas Ideas!

Merry Christmas!  We hope you are finding lots of fun Christmas books to read with your family!  Here are some great ideas to check out:

Our Christmas list of books we've reviewed:

Our Learning Collection Christmas books



A terrific list of ways to give a gift from MotherReader!

150 ways to give a book



A fun, meaningful gift idea for children to make:

Christmas M & M Poem

As always, enjoy learning and reading with your family!
Merry Christmas!

A Child Was Born, A First Nativity Book

A Child Was Born, A First Nativity Book, written by Grace Maccarone and illustrated by Sam Williams, is a good example of simple verse used to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.  The muted colors of the detailed pictures invite discussion as the book is read to children.  Beginning readers will also find the book easy to read to younger children.  We enjoy reading this book, but we also make a point to clarify the Child is named Jesus, which for some reason is omitted in this book.  We still find the book has merit due to its way of unfolding the birth, but we want to make it more concrete Who the book is revealing.  We hope your family enjoys this book.

Question Collection:

*What are some of the names used for the Child in this book?

*What’s your favorite scene in the book?

*Can you draw a picture to go along with the book?

Jingle Jokes

Jingle Jokes (Christmas Riddles to Deck the Ha Ha Halls), by Katy Hall and Lisa Eisenberg with pictures by Stephen Carpenter, is a lift the flap book with bright illustrations of Santa, his elves, and polar animals. Some jokes are printed on the page with the answer, and some require lifting the flap to discover the answer.  A favorite of ours is:  Where do elves keep their money?  In the snow bank

Jingle Jokes is a great book to add a little humor to your family times during the Christmas season.  As life gets busy, it’s nice to take some time out to share some good laughs with your children!

Enjoy!

Question Collection:

*What’s your favorite joke?

*Which picture is the funniest to you?

*Can you think of some other Christmas jokes?

Book of Christmas Carols

The Usborne Book of Christmas Carols, compiled and arranged by Anthony Marks and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright, is a fun book that can be enjoyed by the whole family.  Fifteen well-known carols are found in this oversized book.  When opened the left page displays the carol so it can be played by a melody instrument and/or guitar.  The right page gives the lyrics, usually with several verses of the song.  The arranger’s note indicates the tunes are written for children’s voices.

With carols such as "Away in a Manger," "Silent Night," and "O Little Town of Bethlehem," we enjoy using this book to refresh our memory of all of the lyrics!  It’s also fun for children to use a keyboard to play the melody.  We think this book would make a great gift for any family who enjoys singing. 

If You Take a Mouse To The Movies

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felicia Bond, follows the same wonderful format found in If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Take a Mouse to School.  The story starts with the boy taking the mouse to the movies where the mouse asks for some popcorn.  As readers of this series know, one thing leads to another with the story circling back round to the popcorn.   Activities such as stringing popcorn, buying a Christmas tree, building a snowman, listening to Christmas carols, and making Christmas ornaments fill out the mouse's activities.  It’s a fun read, especially during Christmas season.  If your children enjoy other Laura Numeroff books, this one is a great addition to your library.  A fun gift idea would be to buy this for a family and present it with a big box of popcorn!  Enjoy!

Question Collection:

*What is your favorite Christmas activity in this book?

*What was the funniest scene to you?

*What other Christmas activity do you think the Mouse would like?

The Christmas Story

If you’re looking for a board book to help your children understand the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, The Christmas Story, by Patricia A. Pingry and illustrated by Wendy Edelson, is a great choice.  Taking a picture walk through the book first can help children understand the story before it’s read.  It’s also fun to use the pictures as prompts so children can re-tell the story after it’s been read several times.  This book would make a great gift to families with toddlers and preschoolers. 

Question Collection:

*Which picture is your favorite?

*Can you point to the people as I name them?

*Can you tell me the story of Baby Jesus?

Christmas in the Manger

From the star to Baby Jesus, Christmas in the Manger, written by Nola Buck and illustrated by Felicia Bond, describes the characters in the Christmas story through first person rhymes.  This board book is good for children who enjoy simple pictures and a break-down of the figures usually seen together in Nativity depictions.  Although a board book, the text lends itself to being read by early readers, so it’s a book that can be used through several years.  For children who like riddles, the reader can use the clues in the rhyme to formulate questions about each character.  This simply written, simply illustrated book is able to convey the greatest story so that children can learn about Baby Jesus.

Question Collection:

*What’s your favorite picture?

*Why do you think these characters are important?

*Can you remember some of the characters from the book?

Room for a Little One

Room for a Little One, A Christmas Tale, written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by Jason Cockcroft, is a favorite Christmas read in our home.  The gentle story describes the story of animals that, one by one, enter the stable by the inn.  The beautiful illustrations add to the richness of the story with soft colors and accurately drawn animals.  The Kind Ox welcomes each animal by saying there’s always room for a little one.  Animals that are usually seen as rivals, such as the dog and cat, find room and are not harmed.  The story then finds Mary and Joseph looking for a room, and of course, the Kind Ox welcomes the donkey along with his riders.  The highlight of the story is that Jesus is born and welcomed by the animals in their stable.  We love reading this fictional account of the reason we celebrate Christmas, Baby Jesus.  We hope that you and your family enjoy the conversations that can result from the reading of this book.

Question Collection:

*Why was the Kind Ox so welcoming to the other animals?

*Did you think the animals would get along?

*Why do you think the book is titled Room for a Little One?

Advent Reading Countdown

Are you looking for a new way to begin the countdown to Christmas?  We do a paper chain (alternating links of red and green), an Advent box with 25 small doors that open to a small item each day, and last year, we started a fun, new tradition—Advent reading countdown!

We gather 25 books about Christmas, wrap them up in Christmas wrapping paper, number them 1-25, and put them in a big basket.  Then, each morning, the numbered gift is opened and read.  It’s a fun event for children to anticipate each day, and helps keep the Christmas books in rotation.  Some of the books we use are on our home library shelves all year, but the thrill of unwrapping a gift adds to the excitement of December!

Our local used bookstore has quite a selection of Christmas books priced $1-$2, so we added some new ones this year.  You could easily modify this to use library books or not do the full 25 days, but wait until the week before Christmas.   To see some of the books we read last year, click here.  We’ll be adding more
Christmas books in upcoming weeks.

The focus for us is to have some meaningful reading time during a busy season.   We hope you will find time to sit down and read with your children during this important time of year!  Merry Christmas!

Linking up to Christmas Linky Parade at Cottage Magpie!

Santa Paws

If you and/or your children like looking at funny pictures of dogs and cats, then you’ll enjoy Santa Paws, by Rachael Hale.  This board book, written in rhyme, has delightful photos of dogs and cats dressed for Christmas to accompany the story.  This is a great book to introduce very young children to a picture walk.  The photos are cute and fun.  Even primary children will enjoy reading the book.  Have fun!

Question Collection:

*What is your favorite picture in the book?

*Do these animals remind you of any pets?

*Can you count how many dogs are in the book?  How many cats?

Meeting Gloria Houston

Spruce Pine, North Carolina

What a blessing to meet a children’s author!  We were privileged to meet Gloria Houston and visit Spruce Pine, North Carolina (home of the Perfect Christmas Tree).  As we read books we try to talk about authors and illustrators, so it was very inspiring to meet an author whose books we’ve read.

Meeting Gloria Houston was delightful!  She is very personable and takes time to converse as she signs books.  We have some signed books that were gifts to our family, but this is the first noted children’s book author that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

We had fun reading her newest book, Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile.  It was fun to listen to her talk about how she gathered ideas for writing it.  Look for a book review of it here later this week.

Also, look for 31 days of children’s ABC books during the month of October!

The Night Before Christmas Pop-Up

The Night Before Christmas Pop-Up, by Clement Clark Moore and Robert Sabuda, is our favorite version of this classic tale.  The beauty of the artwork and magic of the pop-ups contribute so much to this story.  We handle it carefully because of the intricacies of the pop-ups.  This is a great book to discuss author and illustrator and how they complement each other to bring a story to life.  We read this through the holidays and traditionally read it again on Christmas Eve.  Merry Christmas!

Question Collection:

*Which pop-up do you like the best?

*How does this book compare to other books with the same story?

*Can you quote some of the lines from memory?

The Mouse Before Christmas

The Mouse Before Christmas, by Michael Garland, is a fun variation of The Night Before Christmas.  We had fun reading this and enjoying the hilarious actions of Mouse.  Younger children also enjoyed finding the mouse on each page.  It was fun to compare this book to the other versions of the story we’ve read.  Enjoy Mouse!

Question Collection:

*How is this book like the original story?

*How is this book different?

*Can you think of how other animals might appear in another version?

Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama

Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year, but for children it can become overwhelming!  If you and your children are looking for a book that explores (in a funny, heartwarming way) the drama of Christmas, take some time to read Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney. 

The Llama, Llama books are favorites of ours.   We have referred to them in various life situations because it’s easy for kids (and parents) to identify with the Llama family.  Llama, Llama, Holiday Drama continues the series with lots of fun situations and pictures.  We hope that your family enjoys this book as much as we do!

Question Collection:

*What’s your favorite holiday activity?

*Are there any activities that make you feel like Llama?

*How do you feel about the ending?

The Queen of Christmas

The Queen of Christmas, by Mary Engelbreit, teaches an important lesson about Christmas through the antics of Ann Estelle.  Anyone who loves the Mary Engelbreit’s illustrations will enjoy the colorful details in this book.  Children can relate to Ann Estelle as her Christmas wish list grows and grows and grows!  By laughing at Ann Estelle we also learn much about ourselves.  This is a fun book to add to your collection of Christmas books.

Question Collection:

*Does Ann Estelle remind you of anyone?  Who?

*What do you think of Ann Estelle’s list?

*Did you think the ending would be like this?

Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Claus?

Where, Oh Where, Is Santa Claus?, a fun book by Lisa Wheeler, uses rhyming words and a easily read rhythm to bring enjoyment to a comical story.   This is a great book to use your voice (and that of the listener) to further the cadence.  The animals’ sounds (example:  pit-pat, pit-pat) help lead the reader and listener to Santa. The illustrations by Ivan Bates add to the beauty of the scenery.  This book makes us laugh out loud!  We hope you enjoy it too!

Question Collection:

*How many animals are in the story?

*Which animal sound is your favorite?

*Can you find some rhyming words?

Telling the Greatest Story--Christmas Nativity Set

One of our favorite ways to learn about the birth of Jesus is through our Nativity sets.  Some of them require more adult supervision because of their breakable, fragile nature, but this one by Fisher Price is great for children!  The story can be told and retold while playing with the figures.   It’s very meaningful to read the story from the Bible as the child acts out the story with the figures.

We’ve watched as children of all ages are drawn to this set we display in our playroom.  Like the Thanksgiving set we’ve used, this is a fun display to video as the child retells the story.  It’s become an important part of our family Christmas tradition.  We hope your family enjoys telling the story of Christmas as much as we do!

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston, is a wonderful Appalachian story to be shared with children.  The timelessness of the story shines through in this wonderful family tale of true giving. Barbara Cooney's illustrations further enhance the story's beauty.  This book is a great conversation starter to connect generations with Christmas memories of growing up.   We recommend this book to start a yearly Christmas reading tradition with your family!

Question Collection:

*Which illustration is your favorite in the book?

*What things in your house could you use to make gifts for others?

*Have you asked your grandparents about their Christmas traditions when they were a child?

The Jolly Christmas Postman

The Jolly Christmas Postman, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg, is a delightful Christmas story.   The Jolly Postman visits familiar nursery rhyme characters (Baby Bear, Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty, The Gingerbread Boy, and Mister Wolf) to deliver Christmas greetings. The reader checks an envelope page creatively addressed to each recipient to read the greeting.  These messages become stories within the main story to further develop the plot. The rhyming verses of the story add to the overall fun.  The Jolly Postman receives a surprise at the end, which will delight young readers!  We love the Jolly Postman series and are so glad to have this one in our collection.  Happy Reading!

Question Collection:

*Which greeting is your favorite?

*Which nursery rhyme character would you like to send a greeting to?

*What greeting would you send to that character?

The Little Reindeer

The Little Reindeer, by Klaatje Van Der Pu, is a fun puppet book to read with toddlers.  They enjoy touching the reindeer as the rhymes are read on each page.  They can move the reindeer’s head as the story unfolds.  It’s a fun way to introduce the playful element in reading.   Enjoy!

Question Collection:

*Can you make the reindeer move his head?

*What do you think the reindeer wants to say?

*What do you feed a reindeer?