Christmas

This month has already been insanely busy, so I don't know how many Christmas books I'll have time to list.  But here's a start.

The First Christmas

Jan Pienkowski 1984

 Incredible illustrations for the Christmas story told from the King James. They're like a medieval miracle play in silhouette.

Over the River and Through the Woods

The quintessential poem for Thanksgiving.  I think I sang this as a little girl in nursery school.  Nice full page illustrations combined with the decorative text.  I'm looking forward to our cozy Thanksgiving with Chris' parents and brother and cousins.  There's always a fire in the fireplace and a football game on and plenty of delicious food.  My mother-in-law is a tremendous hostess.

N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims

This is my favorite Thanksgiving book because I love N.C. Wyeth so much.  Several years ago the Brandywine River museum had an exhibit of Howard Pyle and all of the children's illustrators he influenced and helped to train, including Wyeth.  We saw some of his original paintings and drawings for the children's books he illustrated.

N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims

Robert San Souci 1996

illustrated by N.C. Wyeth

A page at the end is dedicated to information about N.C.Wyeth. In 1940 he was commissioned to paint a series of murals that included Plymouth Colony life.

 "In these murals, Wyeth challenged the existing notions of Pilgrim society as unremittingly severe by depicting the pleasures and beauty of the colony. The paintings reveal the romantic vision and lyricism that were the hallmarks of Wyeth's style."

There's also interesting tidbits about Thanksgiving in the back pages, like how the custom had nearly died out by 1815 and it was established on the fourth Thursday of November by Congress in 1941.  The author also addresses some of the historical discrepancies in Wyeth's paintings (lovely though they are). 

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

A Thanksgiving Story

I can't help but love the illustrations from this 1954 story of Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Story

Alice Dalgliesh 1982

illustrated by Helen Sewell

The First Thanksgiving

Another fine book about the first Thanksgiving.  Beautiful paintings accompany the text.

The First Thanksgiving (Picture Puffins)

Jean Craighead George 2001

illustrated by Thomas Locker

The Pilgrims and Me

An easy early reader book about the pilgrims told by a girl who has visited Plymouth Plantation (the living history village in Massachusetts).  It combines illustrations and photographs and the more common information about the pilgrims and that first Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims and Me (Smart About History)

Judy Donnelly

illustrated by Maryann Cocca-Leffler