Told Under the Christmas Tree

 Merry Christmas!  How about a vintage book illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham?  It has Christmas themed poetry and short stories and even includes some Hanukkah ones!

Told Under the Christmas Tree

illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham 1952

Love, love, love this cover!

The Wee Christmas Cabin

The Wee Christmas Cabin

Margaret Hodges

illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root 2009

A sweet folklore tale about a foundling child who grows up to simply want a cozy cottage of her own.  But though her life proves to be full of hardship and wandering and displacement she never loses her kind heart.  Finally one snowy night the fairy folk take pity on her and build for her a little house that she can call her own.  A nice magical Christmas story.

The Mummer's Song

I just love reading about old folk traditions.  We don't seem to live much by tradition these days.  This song is put in picture book form describing the Newfoundland Christmas tradition of having neighbors disguise and dress up almost like Halloween.  They go from house to house knocking to be let in for music and dancing and drinking and general merrymaking.

The Jolly Christmas Postman

The Jolly Christmas Postman

Janet and Allan Ahlberg 2001

We've enjoyed the original Jolly Postman book (combining two of my favorite things- mail and books!) so we were thrilled to get our hands on a Christmas version.

It's snowy and cold, but the Jolly postman is on his rounds, this time with Christmas cards and presents for all the nursery rhyme folk.  There's a puzzle for Humpty Dumpty and a game for Red Riding Hood and a cheeky bit of mail for the Wolf.  The final envelope comes from none other than Mr. and Mrs. Santa themselves and it's a particularly special treat for the postman (and us!).

The Twelve Days of Christmas LeUyen Pham

The Twelve Days of Christmas

illustrated by LeUyen Pham 2014

Another version of the Twelve Days of Christmas with lusciously colorful illustrations.  We loved the multicultural element that was woven in, and the last riotous page bursting with things to find. 

Onion Journey

We've had a rash of good finds at the thrift store lately.  This being one of them.

Onion Journey

Julia Cunningham

illustrated by Lydia Cooley 1967

Cooley's illustrations are so sweet and tender in this mystical story of a boy left alone on Christmas.  His grandmother mysteriously leaves him an onion, and it's up to him to discover its purpose as he wanders the meadow and woods caring for animals and facing his fears.  It's light on plot and heavy on descriptive prose, so it's more of a slow sleepy-time read.

The Third Gift

The Third Gift

Linda Sue Park

illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline 2011 

Curious about the origin of myrrh, author Linda Sue Park has crafted a story about a boy and his father who harvest the resin "tears" from the myrrh trees in the desert.  One day they are sold to three strangers who tell the boy that they will be a gift for a baby.  Park writes about the historical tradition of the three wise men and says this about her simple story, "I love thinking about the roles of ordinary people in history's great events."