Holiday Read-Alouds

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First of all, let me greet you all a very happy new year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and cherished friends. This is a belated Christmas post, too, so please forgive me. You know how December ushers in the Christmas season in the Philippines and in the hullabaloo of endless parties, shopping frenzy, paralyzing traffic and attempting to homeschool through the holidays, I was not able to post any book list for the month. On a positive note, we found that it’s best to hunt for seasonal books way before or right after the events as most books will be on sale! So be on the lookout for these books in your nearest bookstore. We also have some over at the shop, just enter “Christmas” in the search bar.

Here is a list of what we have been reading over the holidays. These are treasures to keep throughout the year.

1. Bibles

Our Beginner’s Bible for Toddlers, Tomie dePaola’s Bible Stories and My Big Book of Catholic Bible Stories came in very handy for our Jesse Tree tradition this year. We accompanied our bible stories with The Story of Christmas Story Book Set and Advent Calendar that I got on sale in a bookstore on New Year’s Eve of last year. As a special treat, my dad gave the little girl an Advent calendar chocolate treat from Santi’s Delicatessen, which capped our daily Jesse Tree and read-aloud sessions.

2. Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt

I got this book as an afterthought this year, thinking that my 4-year-old would not yet appreciate the story. She truly enjoyed it, and asked to read it over and over again. She had a lot of questions that had me thinking, though, such as why Angela would think that the Jesus in the creche was a real baby!

3. The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado and The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston

So beautiful it made me cry. These two books captured the magic and beauty and hope that is the Christmas season. Must-haves!

4. Christmas songs

We read and sang several Christmas songs, including Silent Night, Holy Night A Christmas Carol by Joseph Mohr Illustrated by Maja Dusikova, The Little Drummer Boy by Kristina Rodanas, and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer after reading the original poem by Robert L. May.

5. Tomie dePaola books

Always such wonderful treasures, we learned about The Legend of the Poinsettia and other Christmas traditions from reading dePaola’s Tony’s Bread and The Night of Las Posadas. We laughed while reading Who’s Coming to Santa’s for Dinner? and cuddled while enjoying Country Angel Christmas, Jingle the Christmas Clown, and Merry Christmas, Strega Nona. The latter made the Energizer Bunny bring out all her Strega Nona books which are still on our bedside table until now.

6. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

I read about the PolarExpress Night Tradition here and immediately grabbed a copy of The Polar Express from The Learning Basket Shop. (Yes, Mariel and I are our best customers!) As a special present, I gave my daughter a jingle bell which she adored so much that she put it around her neck and wore it for several days. Of course, we had to read the story with our cups of hot chocolate. Yum!

7. A Gift from Saint Francis by Joanna Cole

One of the things I love most about our homeschool journey is learning new things together with my daughter. For example, did you know that the first creche (belen) was first introduced by St. Francis of Assisi? Neither did I! After reading this book, the manger scenes during Christmas took on a whole new meaning for me. My dream now is to have a life-size creche or a complete one that is much like the one that my lola had when I was growing up. Nothing reminds us of the reason for the season like a belen does.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.com

8. When Someone Dies

It wasn’t all fun and games for us this season as we experienced a death in the family on Christmas day. We read this book by Sharon Greenlee which gently guides children through what to expect when someone special to them passes on.

9. Nativity books

Of course, what is Christmas without an assortment of Nativity books. These books show the true star and hero of the season – the Baby Jesus! Choose books with beautiful illustrations and those that are appropriate to the ages and reading level of your children. It is never too early or too late to teach your kids what Christmas is really about.

Assorted Nativity books

10. Books about the Three Kings

Part of the story of Christmas is the visit of the Three Kings to the Baby Jesus. More than a week after reading Christmas stories, we are now reading Baboushka and the Three Kings by Ruth Robbins, The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola, and Federico and the Magi’s Gift by Beatriz Vidal to prepare for our celebration of the Three Kings on January 5.

Having the Energizer Bunny really makes Christmas – and every day, for that matter – a wonderful and magical adventure. Here’s hoping you had a peaceful Christmas and that you have a blissful and blessed 2014!

Currently reading: Rescue by Anita Shreve

Currently reading-aloud: all the Christmas books on the list, Strega Nona, Big Anthony and the Magic Ring, Strega Nona Her Story (all by Tomie de Paola)

Read All About It is Sanne’s bi-weekly column. Read her welcome post here.