Tallulah's Nutcracker, written by Marilyn Singer and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, is the story of a young ballerina, named Clara, who received the only Christmas present she really wanted, being picked to be a mouse in The Nutcracker for a real ballet company in a real theater. Rehearsals took much of her time, and she didn't get "to go Christmas tree shopping with her family or catch the season's first snowflakes on her tongue." She didn't even get to go to a holiday party, but she also didn't seem to notice. She was too busy bragging about how busy she had been after getting picked to be a mouse in The Nutcracker. On opening night, she didn't look elegant like a real ballerina. "She was wearing a gray jumpsuit, ears, whiskers, and a tail... But she decided that it didn't matter." She was going to dance as if she were the Sugar Plum Fairy herself. When disaster strikes on stage, Clara is worried she'll never be a star; but a little encouragement, from some of the key professionals in the ballet, convinces Clara that "in ballet, embarrassing things happen all the time, but a REAL dancer keeps right on dancing." And that's exactly what Clara did, right before she dodged her first snowball of the season.
Now, on to that list. The last six have been added since last year.
- A Christmas ABC by Alice Gold
- My First Treasury: The First Christmas by Leslie Lindecker
- Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
- The Pine Tree Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs (LOVE all of Liz's parable stories!)
- The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry (a favorite of mine)
- The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola (another favorite of mine... It never fails to bring tears to my eyes, though.)
- Santa's Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki (yet another favorite of mine)
- The Berenstain Bears Trim the Tree by Jan & Mike Berenstain
- Clifford Celebrates the Year: Clifford’s Christmas by Norman Bridwell
- Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
- God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren
- Winnie the Pooh: The Merry Christmas Mystery by Betty Birney
- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston (another one for which you'll need the Kleenex box)
- Dream Snow by Eric Carle
- Snow Happy to be Here: The Slightly Silly Story of the Snowblatt Family by Cheryl Hawkinson
- You Can Do It, Sam by Amy Hest
- The Dinosaurs' Night Before Christmas by Anne Muecke (super fun music CD with it)
- The Twelve Days of Christmas by Anne Geddes
- The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (This one will always be a classic.)
- The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg (still another favorite of mine)
- The Snow Must Go On: A Way, Way Off-Broadway Adventure by Molly Wigand
- The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne (great history here)
- Merry Christmas, Curious George by Cathy Hapka
- If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
- Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney (great rhyme)
- It's Christmas, David! by David Shannon
- The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
- On This Special Night by Claire Freedman
- My First Read and Learn Countdown to Christmas by Mary Manz Simon
- Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson
- Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson (Adina's favorite)
- The Christmas Star by Marcus Pfister
- Charlie and the Christmas Kitty by Ree Drummond (Kaden's favorite)
- The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck (Ezekiel's favorite)
- Little Golden Book: Christmas Favorites
- A Very Marley Christmas by John Grogan (So glad we have a good dog ;)!)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Robert L. May
- There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell! by Lucille Colandro
- Grace at Christmas by Mary Hoffman (Christmas is changed forever for a little girl reluctant to welcome strangers into her celebrations.)
- Tacky's Christmas by Helen Lester (Gotta love that Tacky!)
- A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz
- The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans
- The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado
- The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore (This is a Hallmark recordable storybook read by Ezekiel to Adina. It was his gift to her for Christmas 2013.)
- Tallulah's Nutcracker by Marilyn Singer (such a tender lesson in humility)
- Home for Christmas by Jan Brett
- Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol
- The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas by Justine Korman (a Little Golden Book)
- The Animals' Santa by Jan Brett
- Santa is Coming to Kansas by Steve Smallman
- Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini
- The Legend of the Christmas Cookie by Dandi Daley Mackall
3 comments:
Awwwwwwwww this sounds wonderful!!!!!!!!
I need to check this out!! Thanks for sharing. My DD is going to be Clara in the Nutcracker next year so we are a little obsessed!!
Great books! The girls always get one on December 1st. This year it was Christmas Day in the Morning (Pearl Buck) and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
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