passionately sharing, discussing and admiring children's picture books
Day 6 brings us a delightful vintage book from 1963 called Christmas in Noisy Village. It is written by the wonderful author of the Pippi Longstocking series, Astrid Lindgren; and beautifully illustrated by Ilon Wikland.
This is a story about 7 children who live in a small town of Sweden and the joys that come around the preparation and celebration of Christmas.
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Day 5 brings us a sneaky tale from the infamous Dr. Seuss, How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
The tale written and illustrated in 1957 has become a classic about the Scrooge-like creature known as the Grinch who despises the joy and merriment of Christmas and decides to sabotage the poor town of Who-ville’s holiday. Thankfully, the true spirit of the holiday works wonders on the Grinch’s heart and the tale ends delightfully with a carved roast beast!
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Our fourth book of the 25 Days of Christmas Books is a classic and beloved story, The Nutcracker. Some brief research revealed that this story has a long history and various adaptations, so I’m going to highlight my simple Golden Book copy and encourage the use of whatever version you’ve come to own and love. My book is from 1991 and was written by Rita Balducci and illustrated by Barbara Lanza.
This is the story of a little German girl named Clara who receives a nutcracker from her magical godfather at a party, turning her evening into a frightful and beautiful night of fighting large rodents and celebratory dancing.
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Day 3 of our advent list includes a story from 1940 by Jean de Brunhoff, Babar and Father Christmas. As with all Babar stories, this one is a little odd, but still quite entertaining.
In this tale, Zephir the monkey discovers and tells Babar’s children about Father Christmas who visits Man’s country and brings toys to little boys and girls. The children are excited at the possibility and write to ask Father Christmas to visit Elephant country. When the lack of response discourages them, Babar learns of it and decides to search for Father Christmas himself and extend a personal invitation to him.
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Today we visit a fun pop-up book by J. Otto Seibold and Vivian Walsh, Olive, the Other Reindeer. It was originally created in 1997, but this deluxe version came out in 2007. And what fun it is!
What kid doesn’t love singing Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer…? And I’m guessing most people have experienced the circumstance where a child (or adult!) misunderstands a lyric. Well, now you understand dear Olive, who just so happens to be a dog who misheard the song lyrics and decided to report to Santa as a reindeer ready for action.
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First up on our Christmas children’s book advent list is this charming classic by Robert Barry, Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, from 1963.
This is a dear favorite of mine that I discovered a few years ago. It all begins with a rich old man, Mr. Willowby who acquires the biggest Christmas tree he had ever seen. Unfortunately, the tree is too big, even for his giant mansion. So, he of course has his butler chop off the top of the tree to make it fit. The butler then decides to present the chopped off tree part to his friend, the upstairs maid, who is delighted to have a Christmas tree; but alas, it is too big for her space. So off goes the top… and so begins a glorious tale of the Christmas tree that keeps on giving.
Continue reading “25 Days – Book 1: Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree”
Three Books a Night 