Jesus' Christmas Party

This is one of my favourite re-tellings of the Christmas Story, probably because I sympathise with the sleep-deprived crabby innkeeper.  Late one night, Mary and Joseph arrive at the inn, which as we all know, is full up - but there is the stable round the back.  The innkeeper's sleep is disturbed by shepherds, a bright light, and lots of noisy singing.  Absolutely furious, the innkeeper himself storms round the back to see what is going on......

The pictures are funny, the text lively and it reads aloud very well indeed.  It apparently makes a good nativity play for nursery or P1 too, or so I am told!

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

A real Christmas classic!  The story of how the Grinch with his heart two sizes too small decided to stop Christmas from coming has been loved since it was first published in 1957.

The Whos in Who-ville are all getting ready to celebrate Christmas, and their preparations are all very noisy, the Grinch hates the noise and decides to stop it, once and for all.  The story whizzes along as the Grinch makes his plans and steals all the presents, and decorations and all the food for the feast. Only to find that Christmas comes anyway, despite all his efforts.

The rhyming text is great fun to read aloud, and I love the expression on the Grinch's face when he has his brilliant idea.



Have a look at the Dr Seuss website for more Grinch-ly fun http://www.seussville.com/grinch/

The Christmas Eve Ghost

Shirley Hughes has given us a delightful picture book for Christmas this year The Christmas Eve Ghost.

Inspired by her own childhood in Liverpool in the 1930s, Shirley Hughes gives us a look back at how things were for people during very hard times.  The two children, Bronwen and Dylan, are frightened by some strange noises on Christmas Eve, some very ghostly noises! Their mother has gone out to the shop at the end of the road, and in going out to find her, they literally run into their next door neighbour.  She takes them into her house where they have never been before - will this visit help solve the mystery of the strange noises?

As usual with a Shirley Hughes book, the pictures are full of the tiny details of daily life. The close relationship between the children and their mother is shown as they go through the day. Much of the detail is of historical interest, depicting the lives of the family and the community in which they live.  This is a wonderful book to share with children, as there is a fair bit of text and some of the pictures may need some explanation. As we live through our own times of austerity, it is fascinating to see how an earlier generation coped with theirs.

Lucy and Tom's Christmas, Angel Mae and Snow Lady are other seasonal Shirley Hughes picture books to enjoy.

You can watch Shirley talk about the making of The Christmas Eve Ghost here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfRvSeE1RRg