Great Holiday Reads

At Christmas, I'm always asked for good holiday books for children (might have something to do with my occupation or it could be that I am known to be a bit of a book freak!).

So I've posted some book suggestions that I think are great. If you have time, check out one or two (or three or four!) of these fantastic reads, cozy up on your own (or better yet with someone you love), and enjoy a good book.

Oh yeah, with my list comes a rule: the term "cute" is NOT to be used to describe these books. It's Murphy's Law (and now you know along with all my students). Cute is for puppies, kittens, and babies, not for books! There are way too many other descriptive words to use for such treasures!

Now, enjoy!

Picture Books
A Little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart
A Shepherd’s Gift by Mary Calhoun
Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera
Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas by Elise Primavera
Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson
Christmas Cricket by Eve Bunting
Going Home by Eve Bunting
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo
Homeless Christmas Tree by Leslie M. Gordon
How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss
I Spy Christmas by Walter Wick
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
Night Tree by Eve Bunting
Olive, the Other Reindeer by J. Otto Seibold
Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell
Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
The Bear Santa Claus Forgot by Diana Kimpton
The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans
The Christmas Cobwebs by Odds Bodkin
The Donkey’s Christmas Song by Nancy Tafuri
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
The Jolly Christmas Postman by Alan Ahlberg
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell
The Mitten by Jan Brett
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt
The Twelve Days of Christmas by Jan Brett
Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto
Who Was Born This Special Day? by Eve Bunting
Wombat Divine by Mem Fox
ANYTHING by Robert Sabuda!

Poetry
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou
Christmas Is Coming by Charles Ghigna
Christmas Presents by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Do Rabbits Have Christmas? by Aileen Fisher
It's Christmas! by Jack Prelutsky
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore
The Night Before Christmas, In Texas That Is by Leon Harris
Under the Christmas Tree by Nikki Grimes

Chapter Books
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborn
December Secrets by Patricia Reilly Giff
Horrible Harry and the Holidaze by Suzy Kline
Mr. Putter and Tabby Bake the Cake by Cynthia Rylant
Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Santa Claus Doesn't Mop Floors by Debbie Dadey
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
The Case of the Christmas Snowman by James Preller
The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Wallace
The White House Christmas Mystery by Carole Marsh
Who's Stealing the Twelve Days of Christmas by Martha Freeman