Ten Great Christmas Books for Children

1.
Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
A perennial favorite at my house as Mr. Willowby's giant tree that "came by special delivery" keeps gets a trim at the top so that every creature around gets to share in the Christmas joy. Written in rhyme with cute illustrations.





2.
Best Christmas Pageant Ever
This is a tale of the horrible Herdman family, a rowdy bunch of neglected children who get tired of juvenile delinquency and decide to participate in the local Christmas Pageant. Told from another child's judgmental point of view, the narrator and the reader move from impatience to pity to awe as the Herdman family gives their own spin on the Biblical story. Boys and girls alike will get the message - Baby Jesus was an outcast, too.




3.
I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles
With fantasic illustrations of snowy nights and heaps of toys, this is the book equivalent of having your nose pressed against a winter window. Fun for the whole family, and one you will turn to year after year.






4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas: A 50th Anniversary Retrospective
Except for the music, this is the exact same story as the famous television special, so parents often learn to recite it from memory. And like most Dr. Seuss classics, it never gets old and always seems fresh.






5.
The Polar Express
A gorgeous picture book, this is a truly unique spin on what happens at the North Pole on Christmas Eve. More text than a usual picture book, but quite fascinating.





6.
This Is the Stable
A simple rhyming tale of the animals in the stable where Jesus was born with realistic illustrations. Sweet and easy for small children.







7.
The Night Before Christmas
The classic Clement C. Moore poem without the edits that some modern readers prefer - yes, Santa smokes a pipe in this one.






8.
Morris' Disappearing Bag
Rosemary Wells is known for her "Max and Ruby" series, and while this book predates those by almost 20 years, the magic is the same. Morris is the youngest of four bunnies and jealous as his siblings play with their fantastic gifts. Then he crawls inside a "disappearing bag" under the Christmas tree and becomes special in his own way. 




9.
The Story of Holly and Ivy
An old-fashioned sweet story of a doll who needs a home and a lonely girl who needs a doll, written by the great Rumer Godden ("The Doll's House")  and illustrated by Barbara Cooney ("Roxaboxen). A good book to read aloud to a class or over several nights at home. Also great for middle readers - girls mainly.





10.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) (Little Golden Book)
This book really needs no introduction. Rudolph is the misfit from the old song, but his unfortunate nose turns out to be the gift that Santa needs. Nice illustrations based on the Hanna-Barbera

Ten Halloween Books for Kids on a Spooky Night

Here are some classic Halloween Books that my own kids adored when they were growing up, and they are really fun to read.




Four on the Shore: Level 3 is literally a "campfire ghost story" book that is designed for beginning readers. But like all books by the late great James Marshall, the vocabulary is humorous, and there are twists and turns that no one expects. Don't scream!








Space Case is another Marshall classic, and this one has a plot centered around Halloween. What if an alien landed on the one night of the year when children are dressed in bizarro costumes? Beep-Beep-Beep!



 



 Beastly Boys and Ghastly Girls by William Cole may be out of print, but you can still find it in libraries or at book sales, and now and then on Amazon. I adored this poetry book as a child and relished the macabre fate of boys and girls who misbehaved. It's hilarious - rather like a rhyming Willy Wonka and the Oompa Loompas chorus. The line drawings by Tom Ungerer are are funny and nostalgic for parents, too.








 In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories is a read-aloud "Gotcha!" book for mid-level readers, with the steady repetition and suspense of all great ghost stories. A better book for sharing, rather than leaving alone with a child, especially one who has nightmares about monsters under the bed. Probably better for a daytime story hour.









The trick behind Jean Marzolo's picture book I Spy Spooky Night is the fantastical photography by Walter Wick, capturing the essence of a haunted house full of little goodies and details. Parents and children alike will love pouring over the pages in search of little ghostly goodies. A great interactive experience and no computer required.






Generations of people have honed their reading skills on The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree so this is a perennial favorite at Halloween. Do you dare walk near the spooky old tree?







The fabulous Edward Gorey always wrote to please himself above all, and the darkly humorous ABC book The Gashlycrumb Tinies is a good example. Older kids will love the black-and-white drawings and the matter-of-fact death knells of unfortunate children: "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears. C is for Clara who wasted away. D is for Desmond thrown out of a sleigh . . ."





 

James Stevenson has a flair for sarcasm which kids adore, and the main character of The Worst Person in the World is a snarky old man who sits in his spooky house alone sucking lemons until one day he meets a friendly monster and some children who turn his life around. Not really a Halloween book, but certainly captures the atmosphere of the classic strange house at the end of the road.






Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is Book Two in J.K. Rowling's Potter series, and includes everything you need for Halloween - a spooky castle, a creepy cat, a giant spider, a haunted forest, witches and wizards making potions in cauldrons, a Death Day Party complete with headless ghosts (and one "nearly-headless ghost"), and lots of candy including Bertie Botts Many Flavored Beans. Fun for older kids to read alone or parents to read aloud.





Some schools have probably banned Jack Prelutsky's Nightmares: Poems to Trouble Your Sleep because it is not for the faint of heart. But many children remember this fondly as one of their favorite books, because let's face it - kids enjoy a good scare sometimes! The drawings by famed children's illustrator Arnold Lobel are an extra, such as the eerily patient monster sitting on the playground: "The gruesome ghoul, the grisly ghoul, without the slightest noise waits patiently beside the school to feast on girls and boys."



Pic via The Haunted Closet