Snowball The Bear Who Saved Christmas (2012)

Snowball The Bear Who Saved Christmas by Jerry Gamache (2012) is written in Spanish and English. The Spanish translation is by Silvia and Carla Puky. Snowball is a young bear who gets lonely one extremely cold winter when his parents say he can’t play outside. So what does he do? He sneaks out and gets lost, of course. It happens to be the night before Christmas Eve and Snowball accidentally finds Santa’s workshop. Suddenly, it’s covered by an avalanche! Now the story writes itself. Snowball’s parents find him and together they dig through an avalanche of snow to free Santa and his elves. How does Santa reward Snowball? You guessed right! 

The Winter Gift (2000)

 The Winter Gift by Deborah Turney Zagwÿn (2000) is about a piano passed down from grandmother to grandchild. I love books about generations sharing time, space, and memories. Clee is the narrator. They recall Christmas at Gramma's home, complete with a decorated tree, cooking smells, lots of company, and music. When Gramma moves to an apartment, the piano stays behind. Clee, sibling, and Gramma show the piano to a gentleman interested in buying it. He complains about the chipped ivory keys and scratch on one side. He doubts it will hold a tune because it's so old. The contrast between this potential buyer and the emotional attachment of gramma and her grandchildren is glaring. Gramma responds by sitting down to play. "Gramma's music circled in that room. It filled all the empty corners. It tied Simon to Clee and Clee to Gramma and Gramma to her past with a ribbon of sound." Gramma stands up and tells the gentleman that the piano is not for sale. 

Country Angel Christmas (1995)

 Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola (1995) is exactly what the title says it is. The story takes place in a heavenly countryside. All the characters, except Saint Nicholas, are angels. Saint Nicholas visits the country angels to say they’ve been chosen to make the Christmas celebration for all of heaven. As the angels work on preparations for Christmas Eve, three young angels search for a way to help. They are turned away from the kitchen, away from the forest, away from the music room, and even shooed away from helping with the barn animals. Nicolas arrives on the morning of Christmas Eve and gives the three little angels an important responsibility. They are delighted and everyone is surprised by how important their contribution is at the end of the story. This is classic Tommy dePaola. The story has relevance and his illustrations are safely predictable. 

Country Angel Christmas (1995)

 Country Angel Christmas by Tomie dePaola (1995) is exactly what the title says it is. The story takes place in a heavenly countryside. All of the characters, except Saint Nicholas, are Angels. Saint Nicholas visits the country Angels to say this is the year they’ve been chosen to make the Christmas celebration for all of heaven. As the Angels work on preparations for Christmas Eve, three young angels search for a way to help. They are turned away from the kitchen, away from the forest, away from the music room, and even shooed away from helping with the barn animals. When Nicolas arrives on the morning of Christmas Eve, he gives the three little angels and important responsibility. They are delighted and everyone is surprised by how important their contribution is at the end of the story. This is classic Tommy dePaola. The story has relevance and his illustrations safely predictable. 

Christmas in the Country (2002)

 Christmas in the Country by Cynthia Rylant has cover art that made me pick it up. Diane Goode's illustrations are crisp, bright, and full of movement. They add zest to a story that's quite plain. The girl in this story lives with her grandparents in simple conditions in the country. She has three canine companions and gazes out at pastures that have horses. She has a traditional Christmas routine. Every year "Santa gave me just what I wanted: a new doll. And he always gave me something else I hadn't asked for and which was a surprise." It's a book for adult readers seeking nostalgia. It reminds me of another of Cynthia Rylant's books: In November, a nostalgic story of Thanksgiving.

I'd like to know why this girl lives with her grandparents. 

The Santa Clauses (1986)

The Santa Clauses retold by Achim Broger is a cute story of a young boy who saves Christmas. In this story, the little guy learns that there are many Santa Clauses and they are on strike. They're all in Miami Beach. In that way that children in stories seem capable of anything, Charlie leaves a short note for his parents and takes his piggy bank money "down to the docks" to ride on a ship to Florida. Of course, he doesn't have enough money to pay for a ticket, but he does accidentally secure a job as kitchen help on a ship. Eventually he finds the Santas (all of them white) relaxing on a beach and convences them to get back to work. 

The story has a curious beginning. Mr. Jones, a newspaper reporter, wrote a fake story about how there was no such thing as Santa Claus. ". . . since there was no other exciting news that day, he wrote a big headline that said 'THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUS!' All the other reporters saw it and copied the story in their own papers.'" Consequently, fewer children wrote letters to Santa and the Santas felt dismissed. 

The title says this story is retold, but I did not see any credit given to the original version. 

The pictures by Ute Krause have that childish cartoon like quality perfect for a book like this. 

*Wake Up, Bear . . . It's Christmas! (1981)

 Wake Up, Bear . . . It's Christmas! by Stephen Gammell is lots of fun! The illutrations are beautiful, as usual. Bear is a full-bodied, cuddly looking character always wearing a smile. And while the narration is in prose, Bear speaks in rhyme. 

Bear plans to wake up from his winter nap to enjoy Christmas. He snuggles into bed and falls asleep until his clock wakes him on Christmas Eve. Snow covers the woods ourside his tree trunk home. Wearing red scarf and red mittens, he walks out into the weather and finds a small pine tree. The tree is decorated and stocking hung as he plays a guitar and settles in to enjoy the evening. 

A surprise visitor taps on Bear's door. It's a man in a red suit, green striped mittens, and white beard. "'Hello, Bear. I saw your light. I'll warm myself, if that's alright?'" It's after an evening of conversation and song that the little man asks Bear to join him for a ride. You can guess the rest."'Oh, what a Christmas!' hollered Bear. 'I've never had such fun. I'd like to think that it could be like this for everyone.'"

Christmas Makes Me Think (2001)

Christmas Makes Me Think by Tony Medina reminds readers that Christmas is a time for helping others. It’s a brief story in which a child redefines the holiday.  Medina’s main character challenges the tradition to decorate a cut evergreen and dine on ham and turkey. Some children don’t have toys, and not everyone has food and shelter. This child notices the world around them and thinks of ways to share the holiday differently. Chandra Cox's illustrations are as minimal yet effective as the text. 

Honestly, it took several readings for me to appreciate this very short story. I was unfamiliar with the choice of a single run-on sentence on each page. I longed for punctuation. Cox's illustrations seemed so basic as to have phoned them in. But then I noticed the clarity of the main character's expressions. Cox captures the concept of thinking in both facial expression and gesture in her cover art. The child appears both questioning and skeptical as he looks over at a decorated tree. He's surprized and dismayed to discover that Christmas trees are cut down from a tree farm. His face shows wonder at homeless people while his friend is head down playing a video game. This book is minimalist and powerful. 

This book is read aloud online by Sarah Sabbatini.

My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

The Christmas Boot (2016)

 The Christmas Boot by Lisa Wheeler is a story about isolation. Hannah lives in a ramshackle cabin in a wooded, mountainous countryside. One day, she finds a boot in the snow, and it fits her foot perfectly. When Hannah speaks to the boot, it grants her a matching one and warm mittens. It’s the magic of Christmas! Soon after, Hanah hears a knock on her door.  A man with a white beard and wearing a red suit is looking for his lost boot.  This surprise guest stays for tea and conversation. Then, he gifts her warm mittens and boots of her own.  As he flies off in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, Hannah finds another happy surprise.

There are no elves or bright-eyed Rudolf in this Christmas story, no tinsel or pile of ribbon-wrapped presents. However, Jerry Pinkney’s lush and thoughtful paintings bring to life this Christmas story for the older reader. Isolation is a topic for our time.

This book is read aloud online by MettaThoughts.

My Picture Book Talk lesson for this story is here. 

A Visit From St. Nicholas (1995)

      A Visit from Saint Nicholas (Twas the night before Christmas) (1995) is a unique little book  This particular book includes more than the story penned Clement Seymour in 1822 and later illustrated by Mary C. Ogdensburg. It begins with the letter by David de Ogden (great-great-grandson of Mary C Ogden). An introduction describes the origin of the poem and extensive annotations explain individual portions of it. For example, “The references to Santa and the chimney were particularly appropriate in a time. What many homes boosted a fireplace in every room.” Another section traces the manuscripts including a reproduction in Clement Seymour‘s own handwriting. We also learn how Thomas Nast created in the image of the jolly old elf we recognize today. This is book is a special treasure for the history buff.

This book has no ISBN and was unlisted on Goodreads. It does appear on Amazon. 

Linda Lee has Identifying Nouns in "A Visit from St. Nicholas". Chris Bartal has 'Twas the Night Before Christmas Literacy Pack. Stephen Conley has 'Twas the night before Christmas. 

Santa's Secret Helper (1990)

     Santa’s Secret Helper by Andrew Clements is a clever twist on a familiar traditional story. Santa’s elves are especially busy preparing two sleighs, two Santa suits, and two teams of reindeer because “this year Santa has a secret helper”. Debrah Santini’s watercolors have the hint of sepia palette to complement this time-honored tale of reindeer flying over rooftops delivering gifts around the world. We see Santa’s helper eating cookies, resting the reindeer, and waving to parents who are still awake late at night. The surprise ending may help explain how Santa takes so many packages to happy children in only one night.

     This book is read aloud online by Kristn Hubert.

    My Picture Book Talk for this story is here. 

 

The Secret Santa of Olde Stonington (2003)

 TheSecret Santa of Olde Stonington by Mark KimballMoulton, illustrated by Susan Winget (2003) is a large, lovely story written in rhyme. “Nestled on a windswept coastline, up old New England way, lies the village of Olde Stonington with her protected bay.” It’s been a difficult year for the village and winter approaches with the residents unprepared -- despite their persistent hard work. In strolls a stranger, somewhat familiar yet not. He helps residents with their chores and then he leaves. And when Christmas arrives, no one is disappointed.

Carl's Christmas (1990)

 Carl is one of the greatest dogs ever. Alexandra Day proves this to be true in Carl's Christmas (1990), another of her wonderful wordless picture books. Carl and baby are on the town Christmas Eve and no one seems to think this is odd. I smiled when the Irish terrier Paddy was on the sidewalk outside a shop as Carl and baby emerge with a Christmas basket. Like Paddy, Carl and baby donate to help the needy. Carl and baby race home to wait for Santa, and sure enough, he shows up! It's another marvelous book from the Carl series. 

Olivia Helps With Christmas (2007)

      Olivia Helps with Christmas  by Ian Falconer (2007) is not at all fun for me. The illustrations are primarily in black, white, red, and green. The pages are full of empty space. The text is predictable. Fans of Olivia may welcome  this story to help celebrate the holiday because it models a popular approach to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that will appeal to some families. This book is for an audience that wants simple text and spare pictures.

     Teacher Chip's School Store has a Quiz for this book. Fun With Books has an Easy Sequencing Activity. Summer Robertson has Book Activities.

  

The Boy and the Whale Christmas Fairy Tale (1994)

 The Boy and the Whale Christmas Fairy Tale (1994) I wondered why the beginning of the story felt contrived to me. It’s a bit long and tedious . About half way in, a real whale appears on Christmas Day in response to a lonely boy’s wish. When the boy exclaims, “‘I will call you Shamu,’” I nearly closed the book in disgust. Shamu was the name of a whale at Sea World. Such marketing is familiar, perhaps Disney being the most obvious. “Merch” is everywhere these days. In this case, I am offended because there’s no obvious clue on the cover nor at the outset that this is embedded advertising. I didn’t take note of the small "Sea World Editions” trademark on the dust jacket. There’s no cover art on the book itself, so anyone reading it without the dust jacket would need to read the copyright page to find this information. Maybe I would have enjoyed the story more if the marketing hadn’t taken me by surprise. It’s too late for me to know. This book is not literature but a marketing trick, in my opinion.