In Santa's Favorite Story, written by Hisako Aoki and illustrated by Ivan Gantschev, a group of woodland creatures find Santa sleeping under a tree. Upon awakening, Santa explains that he went for a hike to get in shape for Christmas Eve, wore himself out, and needed to rest. The animals are worried that Santa will be too tired to deliver all the packages. At the same time, the fox wonders aloud, "Does that mean there won't be a Christmas anymore?" Santa gently reassures them that Christmas doesn't have anything to do with him and finds renewed energy, to complete his work, through a retelling of his favorite story, the birth of God's son in a stable and the shepherds' celebration of the very first Christmas.
Now, on to that list. The last two 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 and 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
- The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Jan and Mike Berenstain
- The Nutcracker from the story by E.T.A. Hoffman
- Christmas Is Here illustrated by Lauren Castillo (words from the King James Bible)
- Goodnight, Manger by Laura Sassi
- A Christmas Wish for Corduroy by Don Freeman
- Gingerbread Christmas by Jan Brett
1 comment:
Awesome list!!!!!
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