I don’t know about you all, but I’m always on the prowl for a good Christmas story. (I really don’t care whether or not I find it in June or December – I love this holiday!) I recently stumbled upon a few titles that I thought were worth a little notice. The first is called Christmas Cricket and it is about a little cricket who makes his way into the house of a little girl and up into her Christmas tree. Once in the tree he begins to sing and the father and daughter pause in their celebration to listen. They declare that it sounds like one of the angel tree decorations is singing. The main message of this book is that even little people are important. Some people might be small – but they are not worthless. I would say this book is good for children ages 2-6.
The second book is more suitable for the very young and is called Christmas Mice!. There aren’t very many words on each page and the words that are there rhyme. This is a really cute book. It is a short and simple story about a group of jolly mice who are full of holiday cheer to the point where even the cat is affected and gives them a peace making gift of cheese. My two year old son enjoyed this story on the first preview. I’m sure we’ll be bringing it out again. (For your reference, Bethany Roberts has an entire series of holiday-related stories involving these mice.)
Lastly, are you a fan of Tolkien? I am but I had never heard of the Father Christmas Letters. These were letters that Tolkien wrote and illustrated from his sons, pretending that they were from Father Christmas. Good old Father Christmas finds adventure in the North Pole with North Polar Bear and Ilbereth the Elf. I love this particular version of the book because it includes real pull out letters. Every other page contains an envelope and you get to pull out the letters from Father Christmas and read them one by one. The alternate pages include Tolkien’s illustrations of the letters. Absolutely cute and charming. This book (and the other two) are published by Clarion Books (a division of Houghton Mifflin). I can’t thank them enough, particularly for the Tolkien book. It is truly delightful!
Do you have a favorite family Christmas story that you have read and re-read over the years? What is it? Do share! I might just go hunt your favorite up and make it a family tradition in our household too!
Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.
Lindsey says
I really love “Toot and Puddle: I’ll be Home For Christmas” – the illustrations are SO sweet! I just received it to review last week and I enjoyed looking through it.
Christmas Mice looks really cute! 🙂