We have a lot of Christmas/Holiday traditions in our family. I love them all. The first thing we get out is the Christmas music. My in-laws used to live in Maryland and when we drove down for Thanksgiving, we would bring all the Christmas music for the ride.
The next thing we get out are all the Christmas stuffed animals. I don’t love these as much as the kids love them. We have lots of musical ones that are loud and get quite tiring after the first day….the kids love to play them over and over and over!
The next thing we get out are the Christmas books! These I love and so does everyone else! We have A LOT of Christmas books. Every year it is fun to get them out and reread them all. Some are more loved than others. Six of my favorite all-time favorite Christmas books are:
1. The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Anderson. When I was a little girl I would read this story over and over again..I always hoped that the little girl would find a home and not freeze to death..but the story never changed. I actually have found some newer versions where the little girl doesn’t die at the end..but that just isn’t the story….When I read it still..I think it is so beautiful and sad….it always brings a tear to my eye.
2. Santa’s Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki and Ivan Gantschev. Even though I am not religious, I love this book and the story it tells. It is simple, yet complex. And the illustrations are gorgeous! It is a story about a sleeping Santa and how the animals are very concerned if Christmas will go on with a tired Santa. It talks about the true meaning of Christmas.
3. A Dozen Silk Diapers by Melissa Kajpust and Illustrated by Veselina Tomova. This might be my all time favorite of the favorites! The story is so incredibly..cloth diapering mothers will love it! It is such a creative story…and the illustrations are vivid and so unusual and beautiful. It is about a family of spiders who wonder what they can give as a gift to the new baby Jesus.
4. The Night After Christmas. This story reminds me of the Little Match Girl. I received this book as a gift a long time ago and took it to heart. I am an animal lover and the little dog in the book is so loving and kind. It is about some homeless toys and how a little homeless dog helps them all. In the end, he doesn’t find a home, though he helps everyone else find one……such a sad ending!
5. The Snow Child which is a folk tale retold by Freya Littledale and illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. This story is about an older couple who always wanted children and never had any…so finally a little snow child comes to them and becomes their child..but she must go away every summer. Again, it is a sad story, yet beautiful.
6. The Night Tree by Eve Bunting. This is a very nice story about traditions and nature. A family that goes into the woods every year and decorates a tree for the animals. So simple, yet important.