Making a list, checking it twice
Books for young readers offer plenty of holiday cheer
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2021 (1589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Are you looking for a gift that doesn’t need batteries? That can be enjoyed at any time and almost any place? Then choose a book.
And remember, books are the ultimate recyclable present — just pass them on when you’re done.
Here are a few suggestions for young people on your list.
Earliest readers — ages 1-3
What is Christmas for youngest book lovers? If I Could Give You Christmas by American author Lynn Plourde (Little, Brown and Co., 24 pages, $12, board book) offers several suggestions. Is it holiday decorations? Gingerbread? Warbling carollers? Secret surprises? Skating on an outdoor rink?
Whatever it is, they will find it here in this sturdy book, with attractive artwork by Jennifer Meyer.
For a board book that is also a “touchy-feely” one, choose That’s not my Christmas fairy… by U.K. author Fiona Watt with art by Rachel Wells (Usborne, 10 pages, $13).
Each page presents a fairy with a different touchable feature: a velvety-soft skirt, a squishy yellow present, a shiny silver star, fuzzy red boots. Only on the last page do we see the chosen fairy — one with silky satin wings. Children who love to touch will enjoy this little book where they can not only turn the pages by themselves but feel the special patches.
Picture books — ages 4-8
If you are looking for a beautiful holiday book for young readers, try The Snowflake by U.K. author and artist Benji Davies (HarperCollins, 32 pages, $22, hardcover) .
When a snowflake starts its uncertain descent from the clouds, it worries as it has no idea where it may land. Meanwhile, a little girl sets a tiny tree on her windowsill to brighten Christmas morning. As the snowflake drifts over fields and houses, it spots the tiny tree and floats down to become the star on its peak.
With the book in an extra-large format, Davies’ colourful paintings add delight to this fable.
Is it Hanukkah Yet? by Nancy Krulik (Random House, 32 pages, $7, paperback) is one of the publisher’s Step into Reading series.
In this little volume, a child keeps questioning her parents if the Hanukkah holiday has arrived as they prepare the menorah, the latkes, the dreidel and other familiar parts of this celebration. Only when the special day dawns, and Grandma serves sufganiyot and Dad eats a Hanukkah doughnut, does the child believe it’s really here.
This picture book is rated for preschool to Grade 1, with words beginning readers can sound out by themselves.
Youngsters are full of questions — especially about Santa Claus. How does he get into their apartment building without a chimney? Where do the reindeer park? What if you don’t have a fireplace to hang your stocking? Is the mall Santa just a helper?
Santa in the City (Dial Books, 32 pages, $24, hardcover), by American author Tiffany D. Jackson, answers all these questions and more in an appealing picture book featuring an African-American family. California artist Reggie Brown has added amusing and attractive illustrations.
Dinosaur lovers will want to join in as they read What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas by Refe and Susan Tuma (Little, Brown and Co., 40 pages, $23, hardcover).
Written to the rhythm of the original ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, this is a rollicking account of dinosaurs who invade a home to eat Santa’s cookies and knock over the tree. As in other dinosaur books by this Missouri couple (What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night, What the Dinosaurs Did at School) the illustrations are photographs in large and brilliant colour using dinosaur models.
Littlest readers may find a connection with Tiny Reindeer by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros (Tundra, 32 pages, $22, hardcover).
Tiny Reindeer feels useless in Santa’s workshop until he reads a letter from a young girl pleading for a reindeer to pull the toy sleigh her granddad has carved. By hiding on Santa’s sleigh and parachuting down a chimney, Tiny makes it to the girl’s home, but still needs Santa to help him up the stairs to fulfill her wish.
Great artwork by the author, Naylor-Bellesteros, who now lives in France, and is also the author of The Suitcase, an acclaimed picture book.
Fans of Anne of Green Gables (and there are plenty) will enjoy Merry Christmas, Anne by B.C. author and Anne-lover Kallie George (Tundra, 40 pages, $22, hardcover).
“Inspired by Anne of Green Gables,” says the book, George imagines Anne taking part in a holiday concert on her first Christmas in the P.E.I. countryside. Despite crippling stage fright, Anne performs well as she remembers all the “kindred spirits” who have made this day memorable.
Charming pastel artwork by Geneviève Godbout of Montreal make this an attractive choice.
Want a touch of royalty in your Christmas stocking? Consider The Bench by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex (Tundra, 40 pages, $24, hardcover).
Based on a poem Meghan wrote for her husband Prince Harry for Father’s Day, the picture book shows the multiple ways fathers interact with their sons as they grow from babies to teenagers. Each stage is illustrated with understated watercolours by Christian Robinson, depicting families of different ethnic backgrounds interacting.
The father teaches his son to ride a bike, applauds his triumphs, comforts him when upset. It all takes place on a variety of benches. Some of the rhyming couplets are dubious (home and ‘lone?) but the feeling of closeness between fathers and sons is real. Monarchists take note.
Young hockey enthusiasts will enjoy On the Line by St. Catherines author Kari-Lynn Winters (Pajama Press, 36 pages, $20, hardcover). The opening words, “Jackson Moore came from a long line of hockey heroes” sets the tone for this book, because Jackson, unfortunately, isn’t the star like his brothers. How can you hold your head up when you have trouble staying up on the ice?
Jackson finds an innovative way to get his team’s respect and defend his family’s reputation. Vancouver artist Scot Ritchie has contributed plenty of amusing, kid-friendly illustrations.
Mid-level — ages 8-11
There’s an old story that Father Christmas (Kristoffer in his native land) had a sister named Kristtörn who was accused of witchcraft by her neighbours and fled, to spend her life searching for her lost brother.
In The Legend of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza (Viking, 56 pages, $25, hardcover) this theatrical pair recount the dark side of the Christmas story as they show Kristtörn travelling the world in sorrow until she finally meets Kristoffer. He has grown up to become the man who delivers gifts on Christmas Eve.
Kristtörn is angry that Christmas is threatened to be destroyed by greed. She stamps her foot and is swallowed beneath the ice of the South Pole. But as the ice begins to melt are we likely to see the return of this angry Christmas witch?
Plaza is better known as an actress, having starred in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, while Murphy is a writer and producer living in Los Angeles who is Plaza’s long-time creative partner. Victoria, B.C. artist Julia Iredale has added copious large and suitably scary illustrations to this extra-sized volume.
What happens when a lawyer tries to influence an Old Order Mennonite community to testify in court about a cookie recipe? Waterdown, Ont. author Caroline Stellings has used as background an actual court case in account of The Great Cookie War (Second Story, 144 pages, $11, paperback).
Beth dreams of being an artist, but in her community such an occupation is deemed frivolous. However, when a high profile lawyer arrives in her home hoping to borrow her grandmother’s recipe book to prove a recipe’s origin, it gives her a way to realize her ambitions. It takes an emergency where Beth has to demonstrate courage and resourcefulness to help change her family’s attitude.
This story is based on a real legal challenge between Nabisco and Proctor & Gamble in 1979, when they challenged the recipe that appeared in Edna Staeblers’s iconic cookbook, Food that Really Schmecks.
In its first paperback edition, A Boy Called Christmas by U.K. writer Matt Haig (HarperCollins, 272 pages, $13, paperback) entertains readers with an account of how Nikolas, an 11-year-old Finnish boy, endures many setbacks before becoming the Santa Claus we know today.
With whimsical black ink illustrations by Chris Mould, we follow Nikolas’ journey from his home in southern Finland to Elfland in the north. When Nikolas realizes the elves have become enemies of humans because a young elf has been kidnapped, he springs into action. He is also looking for his father, who has vanished while seeking to verify that elves really exist.
Haig has written two other books in this series: The Girl who Saved Christmas and Father Christmas.
Poison for Breakfast by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) is the arresting title of the latest Snicket offering (Penguin, 168 pages, $24, hardcover). When Mr. Snicket receives a mysterious note telling him he has eaten poison for breakfast, he cannot imagine what it means. Was it the tea? The toast? The egg? The pear? In a series of bewildering and sometimes philosophical chapters, each of the possibilities is explored.
The author has written 13 volumes in the A Series of Unfortunate Events collection, as well as a number of picture books. His series has been adapted into a Nickleodeon film as well as a Netflix offering.
Young adult — ages 12 and up
Humberto Ak’abal was a celebrated Mayan poet who lived in Guatemala but died tragically in January 2019. While he wrote for adults, editor Patricia Aldana, with the help of translation by Hugh Hazelton, has chosen a selection of poems, written in both Spanish and English, suitable for young adults in Aquí ere el paraiso/ Here Was Paradise (Groundwood, 172 pages, $20, hardcover).
The attractive collection is divided into sections such as Love, Living and Dying, Birds and The Poet and His World. Ak’abal’s descriptions are especially powerful: “The ninety year old man… Short of stature,/ strong of personality.” “The air dances, / spreads its wings and circles around.”
Lines from The Rain seem particularly appropriate with today’s threatening weather: “Yesterday I came across a weeping cloud./ It told me it had taken its water/to the city/and got lost. It looked for landscapes and the city had swallowed them all.” Or from The Force of the Wind: “the river has lost its bearing and is now sweeping away everything it finds in its path.”
Ak’abal’s poems are short and full of evocative images. Lovers of poetry will delight in perusing the pages of this book which are illustrated with beautiful watercolour art by Guatemalian-born Amelia Lau Carling.
Helen Norrie is a Winnipeg writer who will give (and hopefully get) plenty of books for Christmas.