Now If Only I Had a Fireplace to Read By...

I've never actually read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This could be due, in part, to the fact that I'm not a huge fan of British literature. Don't get me wrong, there's some really awesome stuff from across the pond, but I don't love Brit lit like I love the American stuff. Plus, Dickens' writing is a little too wordy for me (did you know he got paid by the word? Explains a lot.). In any case, I feel a little ashamed I haven't read this Christmas classic, especially as it is part of our collective cultural consciousness. Think about it -- isn't it weird that somebody came up with that story, that someone made up the name Ebenezer Scrooge? It feels like that story has always been around,  like it's been told for a thousand years. And now I'm rambling.

Anyway, as I was thinking about how I've haven't read the Christmas classic of Christmas classics, I got to thinking about a few of my favorite Christmas books and I thought I'd share them. {P.S. - I know I've forgotten some great ones and I'm sure there are others I've never read, so please tell me about some of your favorites!}

The Santa Claus Book

Unfortunately, I didn't know about this book when I was a kid. If I had, I would have read this book cover to cover, pouring over each page, trying to pull every ounce of information I could from it. To put it another way, I would have treated it the same way Kevin did when he was a kid.

This book is a complete guide to all things Santa: who he is, where he came from, why he lives at the North Pole, who the elves are, how he gets all the toys in his sleigh, how he gets to everyone's houses in one night, and more.  The author, Alden Perkes, is a Ph.D.S., so he's a Santa expert. The book is written like a reference book, full of questions and answers, diagrams, charts, and great illustrations.  This book has all the answers.  I would have loved it as a kid; I'm glad I know about it now so I can pass it on to my little guy.

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

This book is another that I discovered as an adult. When I worked for Barnes & Noble, one of the job requirements as community relations manager was to conduct storytimes twice a week. Having pretty much skipped picture books as a child (I went almost straight to novels once I knew how to read), I had to acquaint myself with all the Christmas picture books. I found a few great ones, a lot of just-okay ones, and a bunch of crappy ones.  Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree was one of the great ones I came across. Not only did I find the story charming, but the kids I read it aloud to also enjoyed it.

The book is about a rich man who gets a huge Christmas tree, only to find that it's too tall to fit. So, the top gets cut off and thrown away. The maid fishes the top of the tree from the trash, takes it to her room, and as she's about to decorate it, she notices it's just a little too tall, so she cuts off the top and throws it out. As you can probably guess, that top is found and used and so on and so on. The kids I would read it to loved seeing how far the tree could go - just when they thought it couldn't get any smaller, it did.  I love this little story, as well as the illustrations.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I wonder if I really even need to go into the reasons why I love this Christmas book. Probably not.  Who doesn't know and love the story of the Grinch?  That Dr. Seuss truly had a gift.

The Life of Our Lord

I may not have read A Christmas Carol, but my list still includes a book by Dickens. This isn't a Christmas book, per se, but I always think of it as such. Probably because my mom gave it out to everyone as a Christmas present a few years ago. It also reminds me of Christmas because I read from it every day to Max four years ago, during his very first December whenever I nursed him. Now that I have my voice back, I'm going to start reading at bedtime again and I think this is what I'll pick for this month.

For those not familiar with this book, it's a sweet, simple telling of the life of Christ. Dickens wrote it exclusively for his children and refused to have it published in his lifetime. There's something really innocent and tender about the way he tells the story of Jesus, from His birth to the Resurrection. In my mind, it's the perfect read-aloud for the Christmas season.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

When I thought of writing this post, the first book I thought of was this one. I can't even tell you how many times one of my teachers read it or how many times I read it on my own. Every year, when I pull out boxes of Christmas decorations, movies, and books, I can't help but flip through this book when I come across it. I still read it almost every year.

 As a kid, I thought the Herdman kids were hilarious (and a little scary) and I loved reading about the chaos that followed them. But more than that, I love the ending of the book. The angel shouting at the shepherds, the wise men beating each other up, and, of course, the Herdman depiction of Mary. The ending is neither preachy nor predictable. Instead, it's touching and poignant. Totally a Christmas classic, in my opinion.

The Night Before Christmas
I almost didn't include this one because it seemed so obvious and technically it's a poem, not a book. But then I thought about a couple things. First, the beautifully illustrated telling of the poem my mother-in-law gave us this year, and second, I remembered how much this poem meant to me as a kid.

When I was little, we always listened to the poem on Christmas Eve. My parents used to have an old phonograph and they had a record (seriously, from the 30s or 40s) of the poem. We'd listen to the scratchy recording on Christmas Eve as a family and I would imagine the scenes in the poem happening at my house. In my young mind, the way the events played out in Clement Moore's poem was exactly how Santa worked. I could practically see Santa coming to my living room (except for the chimney part, since we didn't have a traditional chimney. To our relief, Dad always put the housekey under the mat at the front door.), leaving our presents, and eating our cookies.  That poem almost felt like my evidence of Santa.

So when Kevin's mom gave us this edition of The Night Before Christmas, illustrated by Tom Browning, and when I finally flipped through it, I was mesmerized. The paintings are absolutely beautiful, but more than that, the pictures capture how I imagined everything. The way Browning depicts Santa is just how I imagined him to look. One of my favorite things about Browning's depiction of Santa is how he shows him taking his time at the house, carefully brushing off his soot-covered suit, looking around the room at the decorations, and admiring the toys he's putting under the tree.

 I don't mean to sound overly sentimental, but there's something really special about the paintings in this edition. Turning through the pages conjured up all the feelings I'd had once, reminding me of the wonder and sincere belief of my childhood, of those Christmas nights when I couldn't sleep because Santa coming to my house, just like he had in the poem.  That's what I love about a great Christmas book -- those timeless feelings of wonder, of reverence for the spiritual side of the season, of the joy of giving, and simple delight of celebration are there, to be read and relived over and over again.