Better Late Than Never

I suppose I should have posted this yesterday or the day before, but I just plain didn't have time. I read holiday stories for Preschool Storytime last week, and if you particularly liked a couple, but couldn't remember the titles, here they are:

My First Kwanzaa, by Karen Katz. This tells about Kwanzaa in very simple terms.

The Hanukkah Mice, by Steven Kroll. A girls gets a dollhouse and its contents on the eight days of Hannukah, and a family of mice get to enjoy it.

Wake Up Santa Claus, by Marcus Pfister. Santa has a bad dream that everything goes wrong on Christmas Eve and he can't deliver presents.

Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear, by Don and Audrey Wood. The little mouse first wants to protect his presents from the Big Hungry Bear, but then decides to share Christmas with him.

Who Is Coming To Our House, by Joseph Slate. The animals prepare the stable for the visit from Mary and Joseph. (I read this only on Wednesday.)

The Story of Christmas, by Vivian French. This is a retelling of the birth of Jesus. I'm afraid it had the kids rugrolling. It might be more successful one-on-one at home with your child. I've had a hard time finding an interesting age appropriate retelling of the first Christmas. If you know of one, please let me know in the comments.

I should have thought of posting this earlier, but if you're at a bookstore and they're having a good clearance on Christmas books, here are some of my favorites (besides the ones above). Most of them are for older children, but yours will be ready for them before you know it.

A Small Miracle, by Peter Collington. This is a wordless book about a poor old woman and the Nativity set people who come to life to help her. It's much cooler than it sounds.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by Dr. Seuss. A classic everyone needs to have.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski. A woodcarver makes a Nativity Set for a boy and his mother and learns to find joy in the holiday again.

The Christmas Bear, by Henrietta Stickland. A young bear accidentally falls into Santa's workshop and gets a tour. Absolutely gorgeous illustrations.

Carl's Christmas, by Alexandra Day. One of the wordless Carl series, it has fabulous illustrations, as usual, and a subtle message of helping one another.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson. This is a chapter book that I read every year to my girls. Yes, even this year. It's one of our holiday traditions that we love. I have the first paragraph memorized, "The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lied and stole and smoked cigars (even the girls)...." It has seven chapters, and each can easily be read in one sitting. It's such a funny, yet touching story about some troubled kids having Christmas "come over them all at once." Maybe you've watched the movie or seen the play, but nothing takes the place of the book.

I hope your Christmas Day was wonderful. Mine was. See you next week.