Having a box of Christmas books is an important Burton family tradition. The box itself is nothing special (mine is beat-up cardboard that once contained copy paper), but the books are precious because they only come out once a year.
Our treasured family copy of The Night Before Christmas is illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa, who specialized in multi-ethnic picture books. The only characters in this one, though, are a white 19th-century family (plus white St. Nick).
Recently I've gotten some great recommendations for new and diverse Christmas books. This year Wendy is giving our youngest niece The Night Before Christmas (Putnam, 2009), illustrated by Rachel Isadora with African characters and setting, for her own Christmas book collection.
The Brown Bookshelf recommends multi-ethnic holiday books: Shades of the Season
Shen's Books shares four Christmas stories: Multicultural Minute #16
(In addition to the Fujikawa, my family's Christmas box includes Cookie Count by Robert Sabuda, A Newbery Christmas, I Like Winter by Lois Lenski, and a Little Golden Book about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, among other favorites.)
4 comments:
No great literary work, but every year I couldn't wait to read the old Scooby Doo Christmas...
Our Christmas Box has grown to two, as I've gotten the kids a Christmas book every year - Katie is now 19, so that's a lot of books just for her alone! There are still some in there that were mine as a child, however, and are cherished. I also love the Newbery Christmas book!
Hope you have a great Christmas, all three of you and your families!
Ours stayed out around the year this time, though no one would dream of reading them off-season (it would be like baking Christmas cookies for Halloween).
Some of our favorites are the wonderful 'Christmas in Noisy Village' (Astrid Lindgren), a quirky 'The Nativity' illustrated by Julie Vival, and a probably under-appreciated 'Pigs at Christmas' by Arelene Dubanevich.
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