Advent and Christmas Stories

The Last Straw

Book cover: The Last Straw
Author(s): 
Frederick Thury
Illustrator(s): 
Vlasta Van Kampen

To celebrate Christmas, in addition to baking Christmas cookies, setting up the manger scene, decorating the tree, and numerous other seasonal activities, we also like to pause in out preparations to cozy up together and read good books that encapsulate the true meaning of Christmas. The Last Straw by Frederick H. Thury is one such book.

The First Noel

Author(s): 
Maite Roche
Translator(s): 
Marianne Lorraine Trouve, FSP
There is nothing like a nice new book for children about... Christmas! This new Pauline Books & Media volume is a translation of an original French book. I had my 8 year old read it aloud to me, and she loved the illustrations that bring together the human and the supernatural very well. She loved the sweet, cute angels and all of the animals at the familiar stable!

Christmas Turtles

Book cover: Christmas Turtles
Author(s): 
Sara Ann Denson
Illustrator(s): 
Tara McMillen

This is a simple, charming and true story, from the author's own childhood, of a grandmother and her four grandchildren, for whom she makes Christmas Turtles each year with the pecans from her own yard.

The children discover the real "magic" that goes into making these favorite treats and how very much their grandmother really loves them. A recipe for the turtles is included in the back!

The Legend of the Poinsettia

Book cover: The Legend of the Poinsettia
Author(s): 
Tomie de Paola
Illustrator(s): 
Tomie de Paola

This lovely retelling of an old Mexican legend transports us to the mountains of Mexico, where a young girl, Lucida, prepares for Christmas with her family. Her mother is a fine weaver, and the Padre asks her to make a new blanket for the Baby Jesus. When her mother falls ill, she longs to help finish the blanket, but only seems to make a mess of things. With no gift for the Baby Jesus, Lucida hides and watches the procession from afar.

The Trees Kneel At Christmas

Book cover: The Trees Kneel at Christmas
Author(s): 
Maud Hart Lovelace
Illustrator(s): 
Marie-Claude Monchaux

Maud Hart Lovelace is famous for her Betsy-Tacy series of chapter books. The Trees Kneel At Christmas is a delightful story of two Lebanese-American children in 1951 Brooklyn. Their grandmother tells them how the trees kneel on Christmas in their homeland of Lebanon, but in their new home of Brooklyn the people do not have enough faith for the trees to kneel.

The Jesse Tree

Book cover: The Jesse Tree
Author(s): 
Geraldine McCaughrean
Illustrator(s): 
Bee Willey

Take a grumpy old man working in a Church, add an inquisitive little boy, assorted other characters and mix in the greatest story ever told and you have the book, The Jesse Tree, written by British author, Geraldine McCaughrean. This is sure to be an Advent classic!

"The Shop of Ghosts"

Book cover: '"The Shop of Ghosts"'
Author(s): 
G.K. Chesterton
Found on pages 82-86 of G.K. Chesterton Collected Works Volume XIV, 1993, Ignatius Press, 802 pages, softcover, Catholic perspective

This is a charming and humorous story about the spirit of Christmas through the ages. Good for a chuckle and a little perspective.

The volume in which this story can be found is available from Ignatius Press
You can also read this story online by clicking here

The Miracle on 34th Street

Book cover: The Miracle on 34th Street
Author(s): 
Valentine Davies
Illustrator(s): 
Tomie de Paola

When I was little, there was one Advent tradition that really stands out in my mind: the annual viewing of the movie, Miracle on 34th Street. It usually aired on the last weekday before Christmas Eve – we'd be home on Christmas Break, wrapping presents or decorating the house, and this classic would be playing in the background. I'm talking about THE classic 1947 movie – Natalie Wood as the little girl, Maureen O'Hara and John Payne as the "love interest", Gene Lockhart as the judge with a heart, and the ultimate St. Nick: Edmund Gwenn.

On That First Christmas Eve

Book cover: On That First Christmas Eve
Author(s): 
Carol Schulze Dowgiallo
Robert Dowgiallo
Illustrator(s): 
Dorothy Perez

This is one of those delightful children's books that I wish was hard-covered instead of paperback! This book is a simple idea: a 40-some page poem that details the first Christmas Eve. Sounds pretty traditional and common, yes? The unique thing about this book, though, is that the authors link that first Christmas Eve to Jesus' baptism and death on the Cross and then come back full circle to the first night, but now with children of the world surrounding the manger. It's a beautifully done explanation for WHY Christ was born.

The Friendly Beasts

Book cover: 'The Friendly Beasts: An Old English Christmas Carol'
Illustrator(s): 
Tomie de Paola

"The Friendly Beasts" is a lovely old English Christmas carol (the words and music are included in their entirety on the last page). Tomie de Paola has drawn beautiful pictures, in his signature style, to accompany the words to this song. (We didn't know the song before we came across the book. Now we tend to sing it, rather than read it, to the children.) It has been a favorite in our family partly because of its beautiful simplicity and is frequently requested (even when it's nowhere near Christmastime) by our younger children.

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