The Holidays are upon us, and there might be no better opportunity to share quality time with the ones we love. Here are a few literary suggestions to get you into the spirit of the season.
Christmas Books
Charles Dickens
Oxford University Press / 295 pages / $17.95
A Christmas Carol, Dickens's tender and comic tale of the Cratchit family, Tiny Tim, and Ebenezer Scrooge, has been a favourite since it was written in 1843. Badly in need of money, Dickens produced the book in six weeks; the first printing of 6,000 copies sold out instantly. In Dickens's original version, Tiny Tim was Tiny Fred, and Scrooge said "Bah!" but not "Humbug!"
A Family Christmas
Caroline Kennedy
Hyperion / 352 pages / $31.95
Caroline Kennedy's A Family Christmas is a lovely treasury that celebrates the holiday season. This anthology includes classic works by E.B. White, Joni Mitchell, Truman Capote, John F. Kennedy, Mark Twain, Martin Luther King, Jr and many others.
Christmas at Grandfather's House
Mark Leever
Pantheon Hill / 257 pages / $23.95
Christmas at Grandfather's House will weave you into the fabric of small-town life, revealed through the eyes of grandsons and granddaughters, grandfathers and grandmothers, as they give and receive gifts far more precious than anything money can buy. You'll never think of Christmas the same way again.
A Child's Christmas in Wales
Dylan Thomas
Candlewick / 48 pages / $25.99
With lovely poetic lilt, this simple tale captures the child's eye-view and an adult's warm remembrance of the time of presents, good things to eat, and, in the best of circumstances, newly fallen snow.
A Treasury of African-American Christmas Stories
Bettye Collier-Thomas
Henry Holt Press / 253 pages / $32.95
First published in literary journals and black-owned newspapers, these stories are written by political leaders, activists, and visionaries, among them Ida B. Wells Barnett, T. Thomas Fortune, and Fannie Barrier Williams.
Flight of the Reindeer: The True Story of Santa Claus and his Christmas Mission
Robert Sullivan
Wiley Book / 96 pages / $17.95
Flight of the Reindeer offers proof positive that there is a Santa Claus and yes, reindeer really do know how to fly. Robert Sullivan diligently gathered documentation from respected scientists, historians, zoologists, and Arctic explorers to prove once and for all that Santa is not just a myth.
A Forest for Christmas
Michael Harris / Eric Orchard
Nimbus / 32 pages / $19.95
Emily believes in the magic of the moon, of the animals she talks to, and of her lovely old town, Lunenburg. She also believes in the magic of the Friendly Forest, but she is worried that it might not be enough to stop the owner of the new whatzit factory from chopping down the trees she loves so much!
A Star for Christmas
Trisha Romance
Tundra / 40 pages / $26.99
A gentle old carpenter who has spent his whole life in the service of others has finally begun to build his own home in a quiet meadow, with nothing but a small reindeer to keep him company. Finishing by winter seems like an impossible task, but the carpenter reaps the years of kindness he has sown, and his neighbours return his love by helping complete his new home by Christmas. He has a wonderful surprise in store for them, making this Christmas one that everyone will cherish forever.
Who Will Help Santa This Year?
Jerry Palotta / David Biedrzycki
Scholastic / 32 pages / $10.99
This year, the job is just too big. Santa Claus needs help in his workshop! He posts a sign in his yard, and soon the applicants start arriving. But the mermaids get the toys wet. The fairies leave glitter everywhere. The gnomes think Brussels sprouts make great presents. And the wizards have turned Santa into a frog! Just when things are looking desperate, the elves arrive to save the day!
Secret Santa
Sabrina James
Point Books / 357 pages / $8.99
Noelle Kramer has lived next-door to Charlie Grant for almost an entire decade, and, with each passing year, her infatuation with him has grown and grown. Unfortunately, as a lowly sophomore, Charlie, one of the hottest senior's at North Ridge, seems to be oblivious to Noelle's affections; or to the fact that she is completely willing and able to hold the title of being his girlfriend for all eternity. Pulling his name from the Secret Santa sack will give her the perfect opportunity to prove her love for him.
Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer
Bruce Nunn and Brenda Jones
Nimbus / 42 pages / $12.95
Buddy the Bluenose Reindeer is sad because, despite his best efforts, he just can't fit in with Nick Klaus's fishing crew on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Santa is worried because his star performer, the famous Rudolph, is sick with a bad cold! How will Santa and Buddy set everything right? Will Buddy—and his bluest of noses—save Christmas?
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