Holiday Storybooks
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Snowflakes are falling, moms are baking, and Christmas lights are twinkling everywhere. One of the joys of the festive season is enjoying holiday-inspired music, movies, and storybooks. Kids love curling up with a hot chocolate and a snuggly blanket while you read jovial stories about the holiday season. Although we’ve sentimentally read classic and traditional favorites over and over, it’s also exciting to introduce new enchanting storybooks to our family collection – stories that glow with the holiday spirit. Here are a few new festive storybooks that you may like to add to your collection.
Dasher is a delightful story about a brave young reindeer who longs to see the North Star. Dasher and her family are the property of a circus owner and life is terrible. Listening to her mother’s stories about the North Star and the time they roamed freely made her happy. One windy evening, the pen gate flew open and Dasher ran as fast and far as she could.
Then Dasher’s fate was about to change, she encountered a man in a red suit and a horse pulling a sleigh. Yes, she met Santa and offered to help pull the heavy sleigh. Dasher shared her biggest wish ever with Santa and the rest is history! The illustrations are beautiful and the story, heart-rendering. It’s perfect for any family collection.
Little Robin’s Christmas is a touching story about having the holiday spirit. Little Robin has seven warm and cozy knitted vests so he is going to be warm during the cold days ahead. As he goes out each day, he meets a cold animal and he offers his vest so they could be warm.
But, on Christmas Eve he gives away his last vest and cannot make it home because he’s too cold. Fatigued and freezing he lands on a roof and falls asleep. But, something magical happens! He is awoken by a bearded man with lots of reindeer. Little Robin’s kind gesture of giving from the heart was rewarded. The illustrations are colorful and enchanting and the storyline stirs the heart. It’s a heartwarming Christmas tale that children will enjoy year after year.
Peppa Pig and the Christmas Play has the gang preparing for their festive school play. Peppa Pig and her friends are choosing their roles and everyone is getting excited. Peppa Pig is the Christmas fairy, others chose to be elves, some are snowflakes, shining stars, and reindeer and Danny Dog got the role of Santa.
The kids have seen Santa around town and they all invited him to the play. Although he is very busy, he said he was coming, but on the night of the play, Santa is nowhere to be found. But the play must go on! Will Santa show up? This festive story is filled with bright illustrations that will get kids excited about holiday plays and preparing to see Santa. It’s an upbeat story with a magical ending.
The First Christmas Sweater is a Celtic tale about a colorful little sheep named Hillary. Farmer Jimmy and his wife Orla have a sheep herd, but Hillary is the only one to have wool with many colors. Hillary loves everything about Christmas and she thinks about all year round. News is stirring around the village that Santa needs a sweater to keep him warm on this Christmas Eve flight. Hillary and the rest of the herd are excited. Santa has traveled across Ireland visiting local sheep farmers and looking for the best fleece. Well wouldn’t you know it, Santa took one look at Hillary’s beautiful fleece of rainbow colors and chose her.
The story also shares the colorful personalities of the other sheep within Hillary’s flock. It has a strong Irish influence and is a bit long-winded. Although the cover shows a colorful Hillary, the rest of the illustrations are in black and white… which kinda defuses the excitement. But none the less, it’s a lovely holiday storybook.
Disclaimer: I received complimentary copies to facilitate a review. All opinions are my own, yours may differ.