Christmas 2022 book selection

 

I've posted my Christmas book choices over recent days. This year I didn't try to have a theme - I just gathered a random selection of Christmas books to share here on my blog. Some are old, some are new, some are long out of print, a couple are Australian, and hopefully nearly all of them will still be in a school or public library. I found a few of these at a recent charity book sale and others I borrowed from a very well stocked school library. 

A Small Miracle

The Snow Angel

Christmas Magic

A House for Christmas Mouse

Strega Nona's Gift

Merry Christmas, Blue Kangaroo!

The Polar Bear who Saved Christmas

The Polar Express

The Animals' Christmas Carol

Green is for Christmas

e-mail Jesus @ Bethleham

The First Noel

Emily Brown and Father Christmas

Grace and the Christmas Angel

Dasher

Check my past Christmas books by clicking Christmas on my sidebar. 

Christmas book list of assorted titles

Someone asked a huge but very timely question on a Facebook forum last week:

"Hello, dear friends: I am looking for  Christmas themed picture books/early chapter books recommendations! What your faves?"

Begin with my post from 2018 where I list many Christmas favourites. My own answer to this question on the Facebook forum would include these (note some are Australian because that's where I live). Sadly too, many of these are now out of print but they might be in your local or school library:

Harvey Slumfenburger's Christmas Present by John Burningham

The Silver Christmas Tree by Pat Hutchins

Truffle's Christmas by Anna Currey

The Christmas caravan by Jennifer Beck illustrated by Robyn Belton (New Zealand)

A Small Miracle by Peter Collington

Max's Christmas by Rosemary Wells

A Letter to Father Christmas by Rose Impey and Sue Porter

Ruby the Christmas Donkey by Mirabel Cecil

The empty Stocking by Richard E Curtis illustrated by Rebecca Cobb

Tree of Cranes by Allen Say

Wombat Divine by Mem Fox illustrated by Kerry Argent (Australian)

Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle by Glenda Millard illustrated by Stephen Michael King (Australian)

Christmas Always comes by Jackie French illustrated by Bruce Whatley (Australian)

The last straw by Fredrick H Thury illustrated by Vlasta van Kampen

The Christmas book by Dick Bruna

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson illustrated by Garth Williams Chapter book

Over 200 people responded to the question above. Here are a few books which were mentioned that I have in my collection or I had in my former school library or that I have mentioned previously:

My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera

Great Joy Kate DiCamillo illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski Illustrated by PJ Lynch

The Fourth King by Ted Sieger

The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg

Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Cobweb Christmas: the tradition of Tinsel by Shirley Climo illustrated by Jane Manning

A Christmas Tree for Pyn by Olivier Dunrea

Olive, the other reindeer by Vivian Walsh illustrated by J Otto Seibold

Legend of the Pointsetta by Tomie de Paola

The Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

The year of the perfect Christmas tree by Gloria Houston pictures by Barbara Cooney

The Christmas Day Kitten James Herriot

I love If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff illustrated by Felicia Bond

The Christmas Pine by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Victoria Sandoy

Here are some of the books which were mentioned that I need to explore:

• A Certain Poor Shepherd by Rebecca Caudill
• Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett
• Mr. Willoughby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry
• Silver Packages Cynthia Rylant
• The Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
• The Animals Santa by Jan Brett
• Jingle Bells by Izra Trapani
• The Great Spruce by John Duvall
• December by Eve Bunting
• Christmas Tree Memories by Aliki
• Dream Snow by Eric Carle
• The Great Christmas Kidnapping Caper By Jean Van Leeuwen
• The True Gift by Patricia MacLachlan

Christmas Magic by Margaret Wild illustrated by Craig Smith

 

This is another older Christmas book and it is Australian which is great but sadly it is also out of print. I was amazed to find this book. I had not seen this book from 1992 even though by then I had worked in several school libraries for over eight years.  I found this book in a library a couple of weeks ago. It is by two of our most wonderful book people from here in Australia - Margaret Wild and Craig Smith (Black Dog; My Dog's a Scaredy Cat).

Tom and his family used to live on a farm. I love that Margaret Wild does not tell us why they have moved to a city and now live in the suburbs.  With an older child I think after read the opening scene in this book I might be tempted to grab a copy of Farm Kid by Sherryl Clark.

Tom desperately misses the farm where he lived with mum, dad, sister Jess and baby brother Ben. "He especially misses the animals".

Tom is not enthusiastic about Christmas this year. He doesn't want to decorate the tree or help with the cards or mince pies. His sister suggests they dress up and make a nativity. Baby Ben can sit in his pram and take the part of the baby Jesus. But the Nativity story involves animals and Tom just cannot see how they can make a Nativity without cows and horses and sheep and pigs and ducks. Tom's dog, named Dog, tries to help but he is only one dog.

Late that night, on Christmas Eve, Tom and his friend Dog sit beside the window. It is midnight and Tom knows magic can happen at Christmas so he makes a wish. They look outside again and something wonderful happens. The grass grows long and they hear sounds - moo, neigh, baa, oink, quack and cluck. It is a night filled with magic. Tom gathers his sister and brother and the children all sit together on the window ledge. Outside they see the Nativity just as it should be with animals, Mary, Joseph, the baby and the wise me too. You can see this scene on the book cover.  On Christmas Day Tom tells his parents about the magic he and his siblings witnessed last night. Mum and Dad don't believe any of the story but Tom has something wonderful in his pocket (rather like the bell that Harvey Slumfenburger finds in his pocket) - two feathers and a tuft of wool. He plans to keep these forever!

Christmas Always Comes by Jackie French illustrated by Bruce Whatley

 

No it's okay I have not lost my "blogging" mind (even though I do currently have Covid).  I realise it is not Christmas but this is a new picture book published in 2021 and it is on the CBCA 2022 Picture Book of the Year Notable list.

This is a nostalgic, heart-warming and quintessentially Australian Christmas story by two masters of the picture book genre. I love the way the little boy is so insistent about the ingredients essential for every Christmas celebration and the way these things (pudding, presents, and a tree) are all there on Christmas day. 

It is a strength of this writing that I was so invested emotionally that I just sighed with happiness when all everything came together for Joey. He has unwavering faith and infectious optimism about the magic of Christmas. So many of Australian Christmas stories take a rather “ocker” approach – this one is so much better. Bruce Whatley gives the reader lovely contrasts between the pages from the cool night air to the blistering heat of outback Australia.

Jackie French shares a tiny slice of Australian rural life from the past with her readers. She is such a master wordsmith:

"It was a dusty journey down the drought-bare road verges that Christmas Eve to find water for the cattle."

"Sunrise was a pale pink garland when Joey shook Ellie awake."

"The old man's shirt was frayed. He looked as if he had forgotten how to smile."

"The land was gold, not brown, as Ellie and Joey, and Blossom and Brownie climbed out of the gully. Diamonds glittered from the cobwebs on the barbed wire."

Hopefully this book will lead to a class discussion about the events of 1932 and why this family are droving the long paddock (city kids will need to discover what this means). The time frame of this story is just over two days and yet so much happens for Joey and Ellie and more importantly for old Mr Darcy. And so much is unsaid in the text but implied by the illustrations and tone - I love this layering in the story. 

The sunshine and summer feel of the cover is very appealing but I wonder if Jackie French or Bruce Whatley discussed any other possibilities - my favourite image is the one used on the title page and later on the third double spread which shows a pair of mismatch old socks hanging on a wire fence beside a dusty paddock - I wonder if this might have been considered for the cover? 

When you explore this book with a group of older students you could perhaps compare Bruce Whatley's illustrations with the work of other artists:

This is by Jan Hendrik Scheltema

Hans Heysen An Afternoon in Autumn

Jackie French and Bruce Whately have collaborated on many previous picture books:

If you need a Christmas gift perhaps to send to children living overseas I would like to suggest you should put this title at the top of your shopping list. This book would be a terrific Australian ambassador. It explores rural life in Australia, Christmas in the Summer, our dusty landscape, the way European Christmas customs were/are followed especially in the past, and the joyful surprises that can come on Christmas Day. Christmas does indeed always come!

Read more about this book:

Paperbark Words - Joy Lawn shares the plot and some of the illustrations

Reading Time review

Just so Stories review

Here are a few other special Australian Christmas stories with similar themes:

Tea and Sugar Christmas

All I want for Christmas is Rain

Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle

Christmas Day

This is my final post for my 2021 Twelve Australian Books for Christmas because today is Christmas Day!

Kathleen screamed with delight as she saw him. Father Christmas. 

His beard was blinding. 

His clothes were so Christmas red! Just like all the pictures she had ever seen of him. 

And here he was. Real. Here, in the middle of the desert. 

Blurb  by Jane Jolly: The Tea and Sugar Train only came once a week on a Thursday. But the special Christmas train only came once a year. Today was Sunday. Four more days without sugar. Four more days until the Christmas train. Please, please be on time. Please don’t be late. Join Kathleen in the Australian outback as she eagerly awaits the Christmas Tea and Sugar Train. Will she meet Father Christmas? Will she receive a gift from him? A delightful, heartwarming story from the National Library of Australia that will intrigue and captivate readers, and introduce them to a slice of the past.

Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly illustrated by Robert Ingpen would seem to be a perfect choice because:

• The scenes in this book could only happen in Australia
• The setting of this book is outback South Australia (the end papers are maps)
• Jane Jolly comes from South Australia
• Father Christmas gives Kathleen the best present possible - a book to read
• The illustrator of this book - Robert Ingpen - won the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award
• This is a longer picture book which can be shared with older children (and younger ones too)
• Tea and Sugar Christmas is based on real events (watch the video on this link) - from 1915 until 1996, the Tea and Sugar train travelled from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie one a week. 
• Tea and Sugar Christmas was an Honour Book for the CBCA Eve Pownall Award in 2015. The winner that year was A–Z of Convicts in Van Diemen’s Land by Simon Barnard. 
• You can see the whole book on Story Box Library if you have a subscription. It is beautifully read by Ursula Yovich.
• Here is a very comprehensive set of teaching notes
• Good news this book is still available

Try to find some other books by Jane Jolly - One Step at a Time; Glass Tears; Ali the Bold Heart; Limpopo Lullaby; and Radio Rescue (also illustrated by Robert). Jane has a new book but I can't talk about it here because it has been entered for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award (and I am a judge and so it has to stay a secret!). 

This book was also included by Natalia Bragaru on her blog Kids Book Explorer this year as a Christmas favourites. Take a look because her post contains many pages from this scrumptious book. You can also read about other books illustrated by Robert on this her blog. 

IBBY Australia will have a special presentation for International Children's Book Day in 2022 where you can discover a little more about Robert Ingpen and our other Australian nominees for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Save the date - 2nd April and join IBBY Australia.

Robert Ingpen's timeless, soul-stirring illustrations and paintings make for a goosebumpling and emotional production. Featuring striking, monochrome pencil sketches that fold out into divine, full colour vistas, the book is a true feat in striking production. The four-page-fold-out scene of the inside of the train is just breathtaking, and the landscape vistas are equally beautiful. The pencil sketch of Kathleen when she sees Santa will not fail to bring a tear to the eye. Kids' Book Review

Christmas is coming to Australia try an ABC book for fun

B is for beach; I is for ice-cream; K is for koalas kissing; and P is for pavolva.

Last week I visited a large city bookstore (because they were offering a good discount on all purchases) and I spied The Aussie ABC Christmas.  This is not a new book, it was published in 2018, but I had not seen it and because I am starting to collect Alphabet books in preparation for an IBBY talk with Dr Robin Morrow early in 2022 I decided it to add it to my own Christmas book collection. 

Perhaps if you read this book with a young child you could begin by trying to guess some of the possible word choices for your favourite letters.  I like the letters M and L and E and C.  My guesses would be mince pies; laughter; excitement; and candy canes. Of course I was wrong. The Aussie ABC Christmas has M for milk; L for lights; E for emu; and C for carols.

Inside this book you will also find a frilled necked lizard; two kangaroos; kookaburras laughing in a gum tree; a hills hoist clothes line; the Sydney Opera House; and a gum leaf wreath. 

You can read more about this book on the blog  - The Bottom Shelf. My own favourite Christmas alphabet book is the one by Robert Sabuda (sadly out of print). You can see the pages here.