On the Page: #TBT Favourite Christmas Reads (Part One)

The Christmas season has a very special way of making you feel like a little kid again. So for this month’s On the Page, the LMPR team decided to go back a few years and do a #TBT of our favourite children’s Christmas reads.

 

In part one we discuss classic tales of Old Saint Nick, the comical dangers of looking for hidden gifts, and the story a small Christmas tree.

 

Rachel Lowry – The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

 

 

the-night-beforeWhat better way to introduce the magical tale of St. Nick and his eight tiny reindeer than by reading Clement C. Moore’s famous 1823 poem, The Night Before Christmas?

 

This year marks a special occasion for my extended family as my brother and his wife welcomed a little boy last January – a first grandchild for my parents and my very first nephew!

 

I am looking forward to reading to him from Jan Brett’s version of the story with its exquisite, Victorian illustrations depicting the cherished imagery of carefully hung stockings and cozy, sleeping children enjoying delightful sugar plum dreams.

 

 

 

Shona Wercholuk – Finding Christmas by Robert Munsch 

 

 

findingchristmas

As a child, Robert Munsch was my favourite author – even still I greatly admire his work.

 

Quirky stories, fantastic illustrations, and perfectly structured repetition – his stories were always like a catchy song I just couldn’t get out of my head.

 

So in 2012, when he came out with his first Christmas story, I couldn’t help but read it. Finding Christmas follows a young Julie who, every year, finds the presents her parents hide. This year, however, she can’t find them anywhere and finds herself stuck on the roof of the family home.

 

I loved this book, not only, because it includes all of the qualities of a typical Munsch book, but it reminds me of myself – always trying to find the gifts my parents had hid.

 

 

 

Sarah Cruickshank – A Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles M. Schulz

 

 

Screen Shot 2014-12-12 at 8.58.07 AMA Charlie Brown Christmas is, for children and adults alike, the quintessential holiday story.

 

Adapted from the televised special, this holiday-themed picture book features some of the most famous animated characters of all time – Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang: Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and his sister Sally.

 

 

For myself and so many others, A Charlie Brown Christmas has held a special place in my heart since my childhood. To this day, in addition to an annual re-reading of this beloved story, Charlie Brown-inspired decorations still adorn my home around the holidays, including one sparse little tree fixed with a single, oh-too-heavy red bulb.

 

 

 

Check back in next week for Part Two of LMPR’s #TBT edition of On the Page

 

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