Tuesday Storytime: Christmas

Holidays are always so interesting.  On the one hand, it makes things easier for selection, because there's your topic hanging RIGHT THERE.  On the other hand, it limits choices because now the selection criteria include topical limitations; at least Christmas books aren't as universally unfortunate as the Thanksgiving ones are.  On the third hand (running out of hands here) celebrating (or just acknowledging major religious/cultural holidays can be a bit fraught, because there are often not enough quality resources available to do a storytime about other cultural holidays - I feel like I should be more pro-active about finding those, but this is only one of several hats I wear.  On the fourth hand, getting back to celebrating holidays, especially with Christmas, I feel like there's a distinct possibility that caregivers are just the tiniest bit sick of it all, and would be thrilled to have something else to talk about with their toddlers for an hour or so.  On the fifth hand, I do have a whole lot of parents who are either temporarily in the states or are freshly immigrated, and so there is a whole cultural phenomenon they're actively trying to figure out.

I overthink things sometimes.  

Three lovely Christmas books.

Christmas in the Country

Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Diane Goode 

ISBN: 0439073340

Narrator remembers a long-ago Christmas with her grandparents.  Less country and more old-fashioned.

Likes: narrator lives with grandparents, Christmas is shown as secular (trees and Santa and presents) and religious (two different church services), and it deals with the END of Christmas and the associated rituals that make the post-event process go smoothly (taking out the tree, putting away ornaments, a special snack).

Dislikes: no PoC, slightly too long for my wiggle-worms today, and the illustrations aren't my favorites - very cartoony and loose.  

Christmas Wombat

Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley

ISBN: 9780547868721

Australians celebrate Christmas too, and so does this very greedy wombat.

Very few words here, and sequential illustrations.  I narrated a bit more than the actual text, and asked leading questions as the book progressed, and the caregivers got a kick out of the humor, and the kids were impressed at the sheer number of carrots eaten by this roly-poly furball.  Short and funny - a perfect fit.

A Short History of Christmas

Sally Lee, with Gail Saunders-Smith (consulting editor)

ISBN: 9781491460955

A bit scattershot, but very basic and clearly laid out description of Christmas themes and traditions.

This is my second Christmas reading this book (I discovered it a bit over a year ago and was delighted with it) and while I'm still very pleased with it, I will say that the ending is a BIT sharp.  I would have liked to see more time spent on modern traditions and approaches to Christmas (we only get a single spread before it turns abruptly to the glossary).  The only other quibble I have is that the language presents the existence of Mary and Joseph and the timing of Jesus' birth as historical facts, when it could very easily have been phrased to indicate that this is considered truth for Christians, and not necessarily by others with different belief systems. The scattershot approach isn't actually a negative for me, considering the attention spans of my little ones, and the one-topic-per-spread approach means that they constantly have something new and interesting to re-engage with.  (And engage they did - lots of audience participating on this book as they showed off all that they knew about Christmas and Saint Nicholas and traditions.     

Tuesday Storytime: Christmas

It's our last storytime before Christmas, and our last of 2015, so I picked a lovely trio to end us on.  We'll start up in January with lots of books about snow, and hope that Mother Nature gets the hint.

Snowmen at Christmas
Caralyn Buehner, illustrated by Mark Buehner
ISBN: 0803729952
Luminous but cheerful and lighthearted spread paintings of animated snowpeople all festive.

This is actually a sequel to Snowmen at Night, but I like this one better as a Christmas story.  That said, I do have, and might read Snowmen at Night in the next couple of months with all the snowy themes.  This one is nice for Christmas for several reasons:
1) rhyming text means I can get through a slightly more substantial story in much better time.
2) this is one of the least-Christmassy Christmas books out there (only one veiled religious reference)
3) snowman party.


A Short History of Christmas
Sally Lee (consulting editor: Gail Saunders-Smith)
ISBN: 9781491460955
Very primary-grade juvenile nonfiction explaining the historic basis for Christmas traditions.

Really loving this series, and very happy to see them on the shelves.  This one is just as factual as Thanksgiving, and very straightforward, starting with the December festival of Saturnalia, the birth of Jesus, choosing of December 25th by church leaders, Saint Nicholas into Santa Claus, the tradition of caroling, Queen Victoria's German Christmas tree, and modern traditions of charity.  Not bad for just under 250 words total.  I just really wish there were similar books for the less-recognized holidays of the season: Hanukkah, Eid, and Solstice.


Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Karma Wilson, Jane Chapman
ISBN: 0689852789
Bear and Friends series, Bear's friends help him stay awake for Christmas Eve and Morning.

I adore this Christmas book.  It's so sweet and perfect and has just about everything you'd want out of a Christmas book - including the difficulties that children have staying awake for the fun!  Bear is the perfect sleepy focus, and all his friends are genuinely helpful and caring.  This entire series is beautiful, but this one is perfect for Christmas in a way that is deeply satisfying.  I personally would have been fine without an appearance by Santa as well, but that's not a battle I feel motivated about - it's just a slight preference.