25 Days – Book 3: Arthur’s Christmas Cookies

Day 3 is a lovely day for a book about Christmas cookies… that are not what they intend to be. A chapter book in the adorable Arthur series, I know you’ll delight in Arthur’s Christmas Cookies, by Lillian Hoban, 1972.

Last year, my daughter brought home an Arthur book from her school library, sparking a memory about the Arthur books that I had completely forgotten. I immediately went online to our library system and tried to put a hold on this Christmas cookies story. It was a lost cause as the hold list was in the triple digits. So of course I tracked it down online for surprisingly just a few dollars. Now it graces our Christmas book collection and is requested again and again.

It all begins on the Saturday before Christmas when Arthur and his sister Violet are left alone while their parents are out shopping (Oh, the 70s!). Violet is being sweetly resourceful and making a gift for their mother. Arthur is bemoaning his attempts at making gifts that didn’t work and his lack of sufficient funds to buy gifts. Finally Arthur decides to make Christmas cookies as gifts and use Violet’s Bake-E-Z oven of course. While he is beginning the process, their friends Norman and Wilma show up and join the fun. The making is quite eventful as you can imagine when four “children” are left alone and are attempting to make cookies by themselves for the first time. But soon they are watching the cookies bake and serving themselves hot chocolate with marshmallows. Unfortunately, something has gone wrong with their mix and the cookies don’t turn out as they should. Terribly sad and discouraged, Arthur silently drinks his cocoa and ponders the problem, coming up with a solution that is adorable and delightful and fills you with all kinds of Christmas giving cheer.

While the Arthur books are now considered vintage and many things have changed in culture and society, the charm remains and the simpler actions of the plot and the solutions are always fitting. This book is a joy for the season and surely a classic to many.

Thanks for following along! Check out tomorrow to see our next book in the 25 Days lineup!