Christmas Books

A delightfully light-hearted tale of Christmas adventure, "The Christmas Aliens" has become a new Christmas tradition in our family. While most Christmas stories revel in the past, this one encourages children to dream of the Christmases to come when they meet their new friends on planet Krelb! Full of charm and wit, this unusual Christmas tale pleases the entire family.

By the time Santa Claus emerges from the washing machine, not the chimney, you and your child will be hooked. What a rollicking, foot-stomping wonder of a book! Why aren't more kids reading Mr. Silber's work?

Silbert is a genius. The best book I have read since Murakami's "A Wild Sheep Chase".

I highly recommend this book to any parent. My infant was clearly engaged. I'd like to see more from this author/illustrator team!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3EX6I8W6Q8YVI The Christmas Angel

This book is close to my heart since I used to live in Oregon and loved any and all stories having to do with the Oregon Trail. Both author Mary Jean Kelso and illustrator K. C. Snider also lived in Oregon, so this book is as authentic as you can get in a fiction story.

Eight-year-old Melissa Wheeler and her family travel from Philadelphia to join up with a wagon train in Independence, Missouri that is headed for Oregon. Before leaving Philadelphia, however, Bradford Wheeler informs his family they are only allowed to take one small cherished possession with them on the long trip since space is at a premium in the wagon. Melissa knows right away that she wants to take her porcelain Christmas Angel treetop ornament that her father had gotten for her from England.

She carefully wraps her angel and packs her between her dresses in her new camelback trunk that carries all of her clothing. Melissa checks on the welfare of her angel often during the trip, especially after fording a swollen raging river that soaked almost everything they owned. Her angel didn't get wet so she is overjoyed. She takes her angel out of the box many times during the journey, just to touch it when she feels homesick for Philadelphia and all her friends, and to conjure up the memories of the happy Christmases shared in their former home.

One day, Melissa takes the angel with her down to the creek when she brings the family's cow to the creek bank. She sits near the edge of the creek to admire her angel's reflection in the mirror-like surface. Suddenly, she notices another reflection - and it isn't hers! You'll just have to read this delightful book to find out what happens next to Melissa and her beloved treasure!

Author Mary Jean Kelso knows her history, and I found her tiniest details amazing of how life on the trail really was for an 8-year old. Coupled with the very detailed and colorful illustrations of K.C. Snider, this book is right "up there" for a real authentic feel for this period in our nation's history. The end of the book contains a section entitled: "Activities & Info Along the Oregon Trail" as well as something I found quite fascinating, even when I lived in Oregon, a "List of Supplies" the pioneers were requested to purchase before leaving Independence, and also a list of other items that might be found in an emigrants' wagon in this captivating period of western migration. There is also a two-page map of the Old Oregon Trail accompanied by questions the readers might enjoy answering as well as website listings for more information about the Oregon Trail. This is a must-have riveting story for kids today to explore a very important part of our American past.

Mary Jean Kelso has written a Christmas story that is sure to touch your heart and remain with you long after you read the last page. A child's faith, a family's trip on the Oregon Trail of the old west spins a tale that is sure to become a family favorite to be read every Christmas. It will remind the reader how one little angel dissipated fear and racism and created an awareness that children have instinctively and adults need to relearn. It's a story of universal, unconditional love shown through the eyes of two children with beautiful hearts and different lives.

The Christmas Angel is a sweet, heart-warming Christmas story about a little girl who ends up finding friendship in the most unexpected of circumstances. Set during the time of the pioneers, this is a tale that both teaches and entertains.

Eight-year old Melissa must leave her Philadelphia home to travel with her family to the West across the Oregon Trail, a daunting 2,170-mile long journey. Because they will travel by wagon, she is allowed to take with her only her most prized possession. For Melissa, this is an easy choice: the delicate porcelain Christmas angel her father once brought her from England. Carefully and lovingly, she wraps the angel and packs it in a box. Their trip is harsh, as they must walk many miles a day, mostly on foot, cross dangerous creeks, and camp overnight in wild, Indian territory. Melissa constantly worries that something will harm her precious angel. Then one day, her worst nightmare comes true--her angel is lost. Luckily, the most unexpected person brings it back to her.

This is a lovely book about friendship between two very different people from opposite cultures. It is also a tale about hope and the magic of Christmas. Children will delight in the colorful illustrations as they learn about the Oregon Trail and the pioneers, their hardships and dreams of a better life. At the end of the book there's a section with activities and information about the pilgrims, as well as a game and a map.

The Christmas Angel will make a lovely Christmas gift to any child as well as an excellent tool for teachers to teach this era of American history.

--Mayra Calvani, Midwest Book Review

I as an adult am a collector of these Dover coloring books. They are not for small children to color. I use colored pencils. For me they are a form of stress relief and some are quite complicated. This one is just pure fun to read of the traditions and color the pictures.

My family knows when I am really stressed as the colored pencils and books come out. It is a unique and fun thing to collect and doesn't take up much space. I think over 30 yrs or so I have about 20 different ones.

My 15 yr old and 11 yr old love to color and learn about how other children celebrate Christmas in other Countries. This book is very well done with wonderful information that kept their interest. The paper is exceptional quality to color on. It will be a nice memory for the girl's to share in years to come.

I am a teacher, and my first grade class studied holidays around the world. This was an awesome teaching tool. Each coloring page was full of detail and made a nice follow-up activity to a story read about traditions from other cultures. There is informative text at the bottom of each page, which I used for a shared reading experience.

My little girl loves to color when I read, and I like the coloring page to be related to topic. When I found this book I was so happy. For the month of December we added this book to our geography lesson.

This is not just a book of Christmas short stories...it's a book of inter-connected stories. They are well crafted and touching. I think I speak for all who have read this wonderful book: We want more books from Mark Leever!!!

I also highly recommend:

Christmas Gifts, Christmas Voices--a story that celebrates the spirt of giving.

The Other Wise Man--a Christmas classic that will warm your heart.

If you want a Christmas gift for someone you care about, whether a mother, father, grandmother, or grandfather, I recommend this book. It is beautifully written, and although it is fiction, as I read the book, it felt like I was reliving my childhood. It was also so convincing, at times I had to shake myself back to my senses; the book had me believing my grandfather was still alive, even though he passed away in 1992. It may be a cliche, but this book truly is the gift of love.

This is without a doubt the most moving book I have ever read. It is also the cleverest. I am an avid reader, going through about one book a week. I thought I had seen everything until I read this book. It made me laugh, but mostly it made me cry with probably about a dozen incredibly touching moments sprinkled throughout. And when I thought it was just about done, the author didn't let me off the hook, shocking me to the very heart-wrenching core with a twist that I don't think even the slickest reader would see coming. (At least I didn't!) Mark Leever is now my favorite author. I hope there's a sequel!

I've never spent much time in small towns, but novelist Mark Leever made me feel as though I had. Specifically Wharton, where reading this book makes it hard to believe it is a work of fiction since I now feel a part of all the families there and their Christmases past and present.

In the first story, Fine Thread, you are visiting your grandfather's house and you remember exactly what it was like to be 10 years old there at Christmas....30 years earlier.

Mary Ellen, despite her successful escape, takes us back to Wharton to face the ghosts of her past in The Wharton Echo.

In Snowflake, 12 year old Thomas Mullen and his grandfather lead us through a Christmas Eve in 1985 that turns magical and although we know "nothing lasts forever," we find that Christmas is a time for wishing and remembering and perhaps that is what lasts forever.

Seasons' Greeting is a great title for this wonderful story as indeed the seasons are plural!

Then there's my favourite character - lovable, comical Carlton, in Ninety Degrees who spends a riotous Christmas Eve at the hospital.

All the stories come together in a nice, neatly wrapped package in Christmas Day and throughout them all we see Dr. Glover.
Dr. Glover is just one of the reasons I love this book. In 1985 Dr. Glover had been the town's medical practitioner for 53 years. He is the connecting thread throughout all of the stories. He seemed to be at the grassroots of the small town and grew with it over the years, along with his expanding girth! But the good doctor is not without fault.

Christmas at Grandfather's House has a powerful, pleasing, all encompassing quality, brilliant in its ambiguity and now is sine qua non on my bookshelf! It brims with interesting characters, and they all make me feel that they are as real as the people in my own family.

As in the author's own words regarding snowflakes..."each precious gem carrying with it a simple but true promise of Christmas"....and so each of the tightly connected stories that make up Christmas at Grandfather's House are gems unto themselves with each story having its own unique theme: love, salvation, hope, forgiveness - to name a few - and the overall motif of the book culminates with a humanness all its own.

To see what happens to Dr. Glover, Tommie, Carlton, Mary Ellen and the rest of the people who love, live and breath in Christmas at Grandfather's House, you'll need to read the book!

This book is a delight! It approaches the Christmas season from such a different place (literally--a Candle Factory!)that it is educational while being sweet, colorful and fun for kids. Besides the tale of the older cat learning to value the younger, bothersome one, it's a great inside peek at what life is like for a small "mom and pop" candle shop. We're not talking Santa's workshop here--you really get the feel of candle making for the small independent manufacturer, in all its colorful and wonderfully-scented holiday variety--thanks to the warm and wonderful illustrations of the artist. Parents, young children (skip some of the words for three-year-olds or younger) small business owners with kids, ALL CANDLE SHOPS, and any cat-loving family or individual should own this book. It really rounds out a good children's holiday book collection. (And I should know--I have five kids and I value quality books!)

Written by Barbara L. Johns and illustrated by Carolyn R. Stich, Christmas At The Candle Factory is a tender holiday story about a candle factory cat who has to cope with looking after a brand new kitten. The feisty kitten is constantly getting into trouble, leaving the older cat at her wit's end... but when the kitten is taken away, the old cat comes to realize how lonely she was before the little one came into her life. A happy reunion just in time for Christmas concludes this wonderful story of friendship. Also highly recommended is the authors' previous picutre book, "The Cat In The Candle Factory."

This is a sweet story about friendship. Children who celebrate any holiday in December will enjoy reading about life in the colorful and scent-filled factory. The illustrations are charming!

This picture storybook was written for children of all ages, but especially for those aged 3-8. The story follows the adventures of Midnight (who was a real candle factory cat) as she works to "train" an ornery kitten during the candle factory's most colorful and exciting time of the year. The illustrations by Carolyn R. Stich are delightful.

This is a wonderful edition of a Christmas classic. Combines the eloquent prose of Dickens with a classic leather cover, beautiful gilt pages, and a crisp, clean font. Saw it in the book store in December and really couldn't help myself.

This book is well worth the read. At 156 pages, you can whip through this book in a couple of days. Illustrations are few, but excellent. Quality of book is great for the price. This is a nice addition to any library.

This is a beautiful book. Hard cover, black leather, with gilt pages and Title.

To stay within the confines of this book... the quality of this publication of the two most popular Christmas stories was very well done. The quality is in line with those books put out by Easton Press, but without the extreme price associated with their books. I have several Easton Press books and I have this leather bound book displayed right next to them. The only difference is this Deluxe Edition by Literary Classics has a bit of a cushions cover where most Easton Press books aren't. The paper used is of standard hardbound paper stock and will stand up to the test of time very well (I think).

The two Christmas classics included in the book "A Christmas Carol" and "The Night Before Christmas" are both edited well and presented with a series of older reproduction prints. The few pictures are very nice for the time period they were made in, which reflects well on the book itself. It would have been nice if there were more graphic prints within the two stories for children to look at so they could follow along, but then again, this isn't exactly a childrens book either. I also loved the fact that Literary Classics stayed true with the authors original texts and did not stray with modern time transalations of the narratives, but stayed with the original manuscripts. The old english grammer is wonderful as tradition calls for, but sometimes it can be a little hard to understand.

This book will always have a place of honor in my library for many Christmas' to come and I would highly recommed it to anyone who is looking for a quality bound reprint that stays true to the original manuscripts. If you are wanting a book that has more pictures/graphics for children to read and look at, then this book isn't for you.

Cats love Christmas too, so why not share the Christmas spirit by singing their own special version of carols snuggled together around the xmas tree. If you have cats, you will identify with every xmas carol in this book.....Truly enjoyable.....

This is a really funny book - best read aloud in the company of like minded feline fanciers. Better still - sing a-long around the piano. Add a glass of wine (or 2) and you are guaranteed a great laugh. Excellent present for those fond of cats.

Anyone who lives with a cat will know exactly where the writers of this book are coming from. A very humourous collection of songs which reflect the moods of many a cat.

Not only are the songs enjoyable to read, but the illustrations are an added pleasure.

The only thing which lets the book down is the size of it. A few more songs, for the price paid, wouldn't have gone a miss.

This little book is full of big laughs. Very creative. If you have cats or know someone who does, it's the perfect gift. I brought it to work and everyone wants one now. I recommend this to everyone. Even the illustrations are great.

Max Lucado may not be the best theologian out there, but when it comes to turning out a heart-warming story he knows how to hit the mark. Another great book by Lucado on Christmas.

This book was purchased as a Christmas gift, but of course, I had to read it to make sure it was a good book. I loved the story and cover. It was a soul touching story about a man that found the grandfather he had never known. The miracle of the whole situation was uplifting. I love small, beautiful coffee table books and this is now on MY coffee table, along with three others I had purchased to give as gifts. I just couldn't part with it. It moved me. If you love stories about miracles at Christmas, you need to purchase this book.

Max Lucado's THE CHRISTMAS CHILD is a retelling of an earlier work, THE CHRISTMAS CROSS which is now out of print. The new edition is illustrated with photographs from a movie version of the work

If we look at what works and does not work in fiction, THE CHRISTMAS CHILD should not work. It is sappy, sentimental, and predictable. One of these characteristic in a book meant for an adult can work, two of these characteristics would be a maybe at best; all three would be fatal flaws for a book. Yet this work has all three characteristics and all three work together rather well. When a person reads this story about redemption and forgiveness, it is easy to be moved to tears. Lucado has a gift at touching the heart through his writing, and in doing so teaches the essential message of Christianity. The author of this little volume understands the miracle of the Christmas story, but knows that human nature has been weekend by sin, an ever present reality even at Christmas, and that the true miracle of Christmas is the redemption offered through the child born in a manger. Lucado demonstrates this through two very human people: a Chicago journalist who has been having marital problems and a church maintenance worker who has known great tragedy through mistakes he has caused.

Some could call THE CHRISTMAS CHILD a CRIPPLED LAMB or JACOB'S GIFT (two Lucado books intended for children) for adults. To put this work in the same category as THE CRIPPLED LAMB and JACOB'S GIFT is a compliment. All three works move the heart and retell the wonderful story of Christmas and how the Christmas message applies to our lives all through the year.

Entertaining, comforting and joyous. Leaves the reader feeling good.

The journey you and your child will take in this book is wonderful. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story is delightful. If you are even considering this book, think no more and just buy it!Neither you nor your child will be disappointed.

Could Christmas really be every day? Only in Michael Garland's imaginative holiday treat. With sparkling illustrations as bright as ornaments on a tree and catchy rhyming text youngsters will share an exciting adventure with Tommy.

Tommy is blessed with a unique aunt who sends him a fascinating invitation on Christmas Eve. She invites him to get in the taxi that is waiting in front of his house and come to meet her.

Lo and behold, there is a magic taxi waiting for him and it carries him to an even more magical city where it is Christmas every day. Once there Tommy looks for his aunt but instead finds clues that take him through the wondrous Christmas City in a search of his aunt.

Very much like a treasure hunt over 200 items are hidden throughout the book as well as a holiday message to be decoded.

Youngsters will have as much fun as Tommy does as they turn pages to happily discover the many surprises in store.

- Gail Cooke

This is a wonderful addition to anyone's Christmas book library. The illustrations are stunning, with many, many hidden little things to uncover. It would be a perfect gift for a family with children of different ages- the little ones will love hearing about Tommy's journey, while the older ones will like hunting for the hidden images, going through a tricky maze, and solving the riddles.

My son checked this out of the library and begged me to get it so we could "keep it forever." I will be sending copies of this book to several of our friends this holiday, but I suspect it will be a book kept out and enjoyed all year long.

Michael Garland is back with a holiday sequel to last years innovative, Mystery Mansion. Come join Tommy as his Aunt Jeanne sends him on another creative and inventive treasure hunt. It's Christmas Eve when the invitation arrives telling Tommy to hop into the waiting cab outside his door, and in no time he's soaring through the air on his way to Christmas City. But where is Aunt Jeanne? Follow the cleverly worded, rhyming clues to find her, and along the way solve puzzles and collect the more than two hundred holiday items, some hidden, some in plain sight, including snowmen, angels, reindeer, elves, and candycanes, all the characters from the song, The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Santa's reindeer, holiday greetings in ten different languages, and a series of letters that when arranged, spell out a special message. Mr Garland's bold, bright, and busy computer generated artwork is engaging, and sparkles with energy, dazzling color, intricate, eye-catching detail and playful humor. Imaginations will soar as youngsters 6 and older pore over the pages, and revel in all the fun-filled magic. Christmas City offers hours of interactive entertainment, and sends kids on an imaginative, holiday fantasy adventure of a lifetime.

We get this book out every Christmas and share our answers. Sometimes our answers change from year to year so we can continue to use the book for years to come and continue learning about one another, friends, family, children. In fact, I have had people request to borrow it for church lock ins and other family events.

and its really not just for Christmas time. I have grabbed this little volume many times and modified the questions for non-holiday (and also without solely using the 'Christmas' word out of respect for people outside my belief system.

I have used it in parties where I type the questions onto strips of paper and pass around a basket with each person pulling a question and then answering it... it never fails to get people thinking, creating connections with one another and otherwise seeing the holiday in a different light.

I have also used the questions to guide my own inquiry... especially when I (for whatever reason) don't have the desire to ask my own questions...for a busy entrepreneurial writer Mom, sometimes I take all the help I can, even if it means employing a simple book in the process!

Enjoy this one, refer to it regularly.

As a lover of Christmas and all things holiday, I cant recommend this book enough. It is ideal as a coffe table book that can be opened onto any page in no particular order, with questions that can be read at random or one after the other--which usually happens becuase the questions are so much fun. Its delightful to hear friends and family pull from thier memories, their traditions, perceptions, and beliefs about christmas, while you share your own. It is bound to leave you with a happy feeling, and an anticipation for the holiday. This small book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do--It is a wonderful converstaion piece and I highly recommend it.

I found this book on my mom's coffee table and couldn't put it down. I would say I drove my family crazy, asking one question after another, but they enjoyed it as much as I did!

This book asks questions ranging from silly to serious - and though many of the questions don't ask you to explain your answers, invariably, explanations are offered. It really is a great "conversation piece."