Last year, I posted a holiday reading list people adored (which some folks asked for again this year!). In the spirit of this wonderful season, I’m reposting that blog in the hopes it’ll inspire, delight, and maybe give you a few gift-giving ideas.

Whatever holiday you celebrate, I wish you a warm and wonderful time with family and friends–and a New Year filled with health, happiness, and love.

 Namaste 

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The Snowman (Raymond Briggs)
A little boy rushes out into the wintry day to build a snowman, which comes alive in his dreams that night.

The Gift of the Magi (O. Henry)
A sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving.

A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
Written by one of England’s greatest and most popular novelists, this story has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.

Too Many Tamales (Gary Soto and Ed Martinez)
Christmas Eve started out so perfectly for Maria. Snow had fallen and the streets glittered. Maria’s favorite cousins were coming over and she got to help make the tamales for Christmas dinner. It was almost too good to be true when her mother left the kitchen for a moment and Maria got to try on her beautiful diamond ring . . .

The First Noel: A Christmas Carousel (Jan Pienkowski)
Part carousel, part shadow box, this elegant, stand-alone Nativity book, designed by a master paper engineer, reflects all the wonder of Christmas and will be treasured for seasons to come.

The Polar Express (Chris Van Allsburg)
A young boy, lying awake one Christmas Eve, is welcomed aboard a magical trip to the North Pole.

The Legend of the Poinsettia (Tomie dePaola)
This Mexican legend tells how the poinsettia came to be, through a little girl’s unselfish gift to the Christ Child.

Madeline’s Christmas (Ludwig Bemelmans)
Something is not right with the famous “twelve little girls in two straight lines.” All are sick in bed except brave Madeline, who must run the school, for even Miss Clavel is not feeling very well. But when Madeline finds help from a magical merchant, the girls embark on a Christmas journey that will surely make them forget their sniffles and sneezes.

Holidays on Ice (David Sedaris)
Once the kids are in bed, put a bit of Baileys in that hot chocolate and curl up with this hilarious collection of holiday stories by humorist Sedaris — he’ll make your own family look a little saner by comparison.

The Snow Queen (Hans Christian Andersen)
When a boy is cursed with an inability to perceive goodness, a young girl must go on a lonely quest to restore his heart and vision and free him from captivity in the palace of the Snow Queen. A classic tale of the power of love to conquer even the chilliest hearts.

Christmas Treasury (Louisa May Alcott)
Readers of all ages will cherish these fifteen enchanting tales filled with hope, sorrow, faith, joy, redemption, strength, and goodness from the author of Little Women.

The Christmas Train (David Baldacci)
On a train ride to Los Angeles, cash-strapped journalist Tom Langdon encounters a ridiculous cast of characters, unexpected romance, and an avalanche that changes everyone’s Christmas plans.

The Faber Book of Christmas (Simon Rae)
The history of Christmas across the world that you might not have heard about. Best not to ask what’s for Christmas lunch on the 19th century American Emigrant trail.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Barbara Robinson)
The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year’s pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever.

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