I adore Christmas stories. And there is certainly no shortage of them. Every year beautiful new picture books come out. One of my favorite times of the year was when all the new holiday books would arrive at the library. Before our kids were even born I had some of my favorite Christmas books, and once they arrived I made a point every year to buy at least one new story (and on the years I was clever I wrote the year in the book.) I’m pretty sure I’ve written about the holiday books I love on either my personal blog, or my other book blog, but this year, here, I definitely wanted to cover them all. But how to do it? One big post? One Christmas book amidst other books in each post? I decided that I have so many that I will do a post of a book every single day from now until Christmas. 25 days of Christmas books! I fetched the big basket of Christmas books and counted them up. What do you know? 25! (It’s possible, though, that there are some others floating around the house, also that we might either buy new ones this year or check new ones out of the library.) I’m going to start with one that I love, just got a couple years ago, and is perfect for the start of the season.
Christmas with the Mousekins by Maggie Smith. This is a charming story about a busy, happy family and their preparations for Christmas. The Mousekins have all kinds of traditions, including baking cookies and delivering them, making gifts, and telling the story of the time grandpa mouse met Santa Mouse. Not only is it charming and cozy and you want to be a part of their world (I love the pictures), but there are recipes and crafts seamlessly included, so you too can make a paper chain of mittens or bake up a batch of cinnamon snails. I love how cheerful and merry they are and how much they enjoy their secret gift making time. This is a special book to enjoy year after year.
Fourteen Bears 