12 Days of Christmas

 12 Days of Christmas by Lara Hawthorne (Quarto Publishing, 2020). 

What a beautiful book illustrating the traditional carol. I love looking at all the colorful, whimsical details. In the back there is a brief history of the carol, as well as a spread with all the gifts from the book for kids to find in the picture. This is a wonderful new addition to the Christmas picture book canon. 

Cats and Carols

Cats and Carols by Lesley Anne Ivory (1995, Little, Brown and Company).

I recently discovered the wonderful art of Lesley Anne Ivory, a British artist who has illustrated over 40 children's books, all about cats. I love her warm, detailed paintings, often starring her own kitties or friend's cats. 

This book has various Christmas carol lyrics with an illustration for each. It's a beautiful book for your collection. As you can see below, my own sweet Mia enjoyed it, too. 

Find more Christmas children's book ideas on my Pinterest board here.

An Early American Christmas

An Early American Christmas by Tomie dePaola (1987, Holiday House). 

This is a charming book about an early American family (originally from Germany) preparing for Christmas. There is an author's note in the beginning explaining how most people in New England back then didn't celebrate Christmas, and that he read a historical source that told of an Irishman being chased out of town because he was "a Christmas Man." This inspired him to think, "what might have happened in the early 1800s if a family who celebrated Christmas moved into a New England town?" 

A World of Cookies for Santa

A World of Cookies for Santa by M.E. Furman, illustrated by Susan Gal (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017). 

This is a wonderful book that shows how children around the world celebrate Christmas, and specifically the types of cookies or treats that they leave for Santa. There are even several recipes included at the end. As a kid, I love learning about different cultural traditions, and I know I would have loved this book. There are many parts of the world represented and the beautiful illustrations radiate a cozy warmth. Next year I'll have to try one of the cookie recipes!  You can find some of them on the book's website here.

For more multicultural Christmas books, view my post here.

To all my readers: Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I am very grateful for all of you, and the authors who have sent me their books for review this year. Thank you for your support.

The Christmas Caribbean Cat

The Christmas Caribbean Cat by Monica Surrena (2017).

I am happy to have the opportunity to review an interactive e-book, which is something new to me. I downloaded the book app and was pleased to experience an animated, narrated, interactive story with festive Caribbean music. I especially loved the narrator, a man named Gerry O'Brien, who really brought warmth and good cheer to the poem which tells the story. 

A cat lives up north but is tired of being cold all the time and decides to move to an island where it's always warm. Then Christmas comes and she misses the snow and feels lonely, not knowing anyone in her new home. So she bakes yummy Christmas cookies, and soon animals come to try them. They end up having a feast and the cat's happy because she now has new friends to help her feel at home.

One of the best things about this book is that the author/illustrator is donating 20% of the proceeds to hurricane relief in Culebra, Puerto Rico, where she lives. She is hoping to give the money to the preschool there. I really admire that she was able to create this e-book despite only getting power back a week ago. 

You can find links here to buy the book, available on the Apple Store and Google Play.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this e-book from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

A Piece of Black Cake for Santa

A Piece of Black Cake for Santa by Yolanda T. Marshall, illustrated by Miley Torres (Garnalma Press, 2017).

When I came across this book online, I had to buy it. The author is Guyanese and lives in Canada. I love this story about a Caribbean family celebrating Christmas. It's fun to see Caribbean food and drinks represented, like sorrel, oildown, and of course black cake. 

You can find 10 traditional West Indian Christmas recipes here. 

Sinterklaas

Sinterklaas by Kathy Dobson (self published, 2017).

On December 2, my mom and I traveled to Rhinebeck, NY to attend their Sinterklaas Festival. Inspired by the traditions of the Dutch who settled in Hudson Valley over 300 years ago, this festival is non-denominational and all-inclusive. It's a celebration of children, who are crowned kings and queens for the day, with dance, theater, and music throughout the day, which culminates in a huge parade that night.  

This is an enchanting book, particularly for anyone who has attended the festival. It tells the story of a Dutch girl's Sinterklaas doll that is lost at sea as she sails to America. The doll makes its journey to find a home, eventually turning into Sinterklaas the man, who walks in the parade.

You can read more about the Sinterklaas Festival in Hudson Valley here.

No Chimney? No Problem!

No Chimney? No Problem! by Jodi Wojtowicz, illustrated by Breanna Sipple (Moon Jump Press, second edition 2017). 

Well, it's just about Christmastime already, and Santa will soon be visiting boys and girls around the world. But what if, like many people nowadays, you don't have a chimney? How will Santa deliver your presents? This book answers that question in a fun way that can lead to a new tradition. All you need is a magical key that only Santa can use (included with the book) and hang it on your front door. 

I wish I liked the illustrations better because I really like the idea of the magical key. I do appreciate that the characters have brown skin; it's nice to see that diversity, especially as the characters are drawn in such a way that many different types of people could see themselves as represented. 

You can buy the book here.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Counting to Christmas

Counting to Christmas by Nancy Tafuri (Duck Pond Press, 2014). 

I really love this book. The text is simple but lovely and the illustrations are wonderful. It shows a girl as she counts the days to Christmas and what activities she does each day, such as baking cookies, making cards, stringing popcorn, playing recorder at a recital, and making treats for wild animals.  I like that it starts with her opening an advent calendar, and the image on the calendar is then the last page of the book. Also her pet Keeshond follows her throughout, which is very cute. In the back of the book are instructions for the activities and recipes that were shown in the story. I definitely recommend this for a nice holiday read!

For more Christmas books, see my Pinterest page. I also have a list of multicultural Christmas books here.

On Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Beni Montresor (Young Scott, 1961). 

Normally when I think of a book from my childhood, it's the illustrations that come back vividly. While the orange pages (which unfortunately my camera tried to make white in the images below) with blank ink definitely made an impression, what I really loved about this book as a kid was the ever talented Margaret Wise Brown's words.  A quiet tension runs throughout the book.  It's at once peaceful, with tranquil words describing children unable to sleep while snow falls softly in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, but it also combines that with the heart-pumping excitement and anticipation of Christmas.  It's a great classic to read the night before Christmas. This version is out of print, but it was republished in the 90s with new illustrations.

I've made updates to my list of multicultural picture books that I originally posted last year.  You can check that out here. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!  

Who Built the Stable?: A Nativity Poem

Who Built the Stable?: A Nativity Poem by Ashley Bryan (Atheneum, 2012).

I was interested to read this book because I love Ashley Bryan's colorful illustrations.  I'm not religious so I was curious to see how he portrayed this nativity story.  This poem asks "Who built the stable where the Baby Jesus lay?... Was it made by human hands, was it built by God?" The answer Bryan gives is that "A child built the stable, a little shepherd boy."  This little shepherd boy shelters Mary and Joseph so that they can have their baby. In the end, the boy looks in the baby's eyes and knows in his heart that he will be a carpenter, and a shepherd, too.  A great nativity story and beautifully illustrated.

I was surprised to learn that Ashley Bryan is 92 years old now.  He has a great website here. 

The Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas Eve!  In honor of the day, I am sharing with you all the picture book versions of The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore that I own.


I am starting off with the book my mom used to read to me every Christmas Eve when I was a kid.  The book was originally hers, illustrated and "animated" by Meg Wohlberg, published in 1944.  As you can see, unfortunately it's not in good shape anymore because it's been well loved for many years. But it's a great interactive pop up book.

Next is Tasha Tudor, published 1975. I love how her St. Nick plays with the pet cat and corgi and the toys that come to life. He also fits the original version from the poem, being short like an elf.

Rachel Isadora's African take (2009) is refreshing and works very well.  I love her illustrations.

Niroot Puttapipat is a cut-paper artist who grew up in Thailand and now lives in England. This book (2007) has such wonderfully intricate pop-ups and designs. I love the silhouettes with the Victorian illustrations.

Another from my childhood, this book by Michael Hague (1981) has nice cozy illustrations with fun pop-ups that make it very accessible for children. 

Jan Brett was one of my favorite illustrators as a kid.  This book came out in 1998 when I was a little older, but I still really appreciated her signature borders and Scandinavian style.  I also like that she included Santa's elves.

While this book was originally published in 1949, it is new to me, just buying it this year. I love Leonard Weigard's mod illustrations.  

 Well, that's it.  For a Pinterest board of all the Christmas books I owned and read as a kid, you can click here.  For other Christmas book suggestions, you can view that board here. 

Merry Christmas!  Thank you for reading.