2006-12-06 00:17:05 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
David K. Brown made a list of books for sharing with children, called "The Twelve Books of Christmas." Since Christmas is a time for remembering childhood as well as sharing with children, you might want to check out the books he mentions. [1]
Taking my cue from him, I have made out my own list of "Twelve Books of Christmas." (Notice I don't say "The...," for there are many, many more!) These are books my family and I have enjoyed in times of Christmas past. Regrettably some of these are no longer in print, but you probably can find copies at a good used-book store or online at abebooks.com. They include picture books and an alphabet book for young children, traditional stories with new illustrations, and chapter books, some of which are not very well known. What I have not included are such classic stories as “A Christmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens; “Gift of the Magi,” by O. Henry, and “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote.
Twelve Books of Christmas
Hans Christian Andersen, The Fir Tree, illustrated Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Robert Burch, Renfroe’s Christmas
Thomas M. Coffey, The Donkey’s Gift
Tom Tegg, A Cup of Christmas Tea, illustrated by Warren Hanson
Masefield, John, The Box of Delights
Louise Moeri, Star Mother’s Youngest Child, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
Clement C. Moore, The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Tasha Tudor [Note: Tasha Tudor is the only illustrator I know who has gotten it right. Santa is a “jolly old elf,” meaning he is a small, round man, of the size that might actually slide down an old-fashioned chimney. Tudor paints him only a little taller than her corgis.]
Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Paul Theroux, A Christmas Card
Tournier, Michel, The Four Wise Men, translated from the French by Ralph Manheim
Isabel Wilmer, B Is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet, illustrated by Elisa Kleven
If you want to add some hardy adult reading to balance these family books, here are three that will challenge the heart, the mind, or the soul—maybe all three.
Oscar Hijuelos, Mr. Ives’ Christmas
Stepphen Nissenbaum, The Battle for Christmas: A Social and Cultural History of Christmas That Shows How It Was Transformed from an Unruly Carnival Season into the Quintessential American Family Holiday
Paul William Robert, In Search of the Birth of Jesus: The Real Journey of the Magi [A travel book that reflects on the roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Zoroastrianism]
2006-12-09 15:06:05 · answer #1 · answered by bfrank 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
John Grisham, Skipping Christmas
Fannie Flagg, A Redbird Christmas
Laurien Berenson, Jingle Bell Bark
Debbie Macomber, Christmas Letters
J.R.R. Tolkien, Father Christmas Letters
Thomas J. Davis, The Christmas Quilt
Anne Perry, A Christmas Visitor
Owen Parry, Our Simple Gifts
Pearl Buck, Christmas Day in the Morning
Truman Capote, A Christmas Memory
L. Frank Baum, A Christmas Treasury
Donna VanLiere, The Christmas Shoes
Max Lucado, The Christmas Child
Jean Gietzen, If You're Missing Baby Jesus...
2006-12-06 02:32:55 · answer #2 · answered by Melanie D 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Polar Express. The Grinch who Stole Christmas.
2006-12-06 08:05:07 · answer #3 · answered by silverside 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas Jars by Jason Wright
Here's a link for some other great Christmas Books:
http://deseretbook.com/store/view-list?list%5fid=599
2006-12-06 00:21:22 · answer #4 · answered by tnmtngirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Cup of Comfort for Christmas (Stories that celebrate the warmth, joy, and wonder of the holiday)
http://www.amazon.com/Cup-Comfort-Christmas-Stories-Celebrate/dp/1580629210/sr=8-1/qid=1165412517/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-4781699-0774448?ie=UTF8&s=books
I got this book for Christmas last year and I still have to finish it. It a book compiled full of stories that people have told about how they celebrated Christmas.
I like it because it gives you and understanding of how different people celebrate Christmas. It's like a Chicken Noodle Soup book.
I guess it all depends on what you like reading? The stories are heart warming and inspiring.
2006-12-06 00:44:59 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is a really short book, but it's one of the best reads you'll ever have. The book centers around a church at Christmastime with an unwilling director who has cast the town bullies as Mary and Joseph. It's quirky, funny, and when you're done, rent the movie!
2016-05-22 23:44:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that Christmas Shoes is a very good christmas book, though admittedly its very sad.
2006-12-06 01:51:10 · answer #7 · answered by Sarah D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck
On Christmas Eve, a man recalls the holiday many years ago when he gave his father, a struggling farmer, a most-appreciated gift:he boy rose extra early to do his father's biggest chore, the milking.(review from Amazon)
If you like romance check out
A Christmas bride by Mary Balogh
(review from Amazon)Wealthy businessman Edgar Downes comes to London seeking a young, well-born wife, having promised his aging father a daughter-in-law by Christmas Day. Instead of the youthful miss he seeks, Edgar finds himself under the spell of Lady Helena Stapleton, a beautiful and sensuous widow his own age with whom he shares an irresistible night of passion. Their liaison surprises the straight-laced Edgar but wounds Helena to the core. Fearing she can only bring destruction to those she loves, she has lived her life on the edge of respectability, deftly avoiding any entanglements. Now that Edgar has breached her protective battlements, she must face her growing love for him. When, to their mutual surprise, Helena discovers she is pregnant, Edgar takes her as his Christmas bride over her protestations of disinterest and unworthiness. They retire to Edgar's country house for a family Christmas, and Helena is thrust among kind, loving people. Despite her best efforts, she finds herself warming to them and to the man who has become her husband--a man determined to find the reason for his bride's pain and bring about the healing necessary for her to accept his love.
2006-12-06 02:24:39 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a christmas carol is always a good classic to read nothing really beats a good old classic.
2006-12-06 07:30:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I like John Grisham's, "Skipping Christmas". It's hilarious and has a point... people get too taken up with the 'show' of xmas...
2006-12-06 00:20:24 · answer #10 · answered by boots&hank 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋