Advent Picture Book a Day (2015 edition)

It's that time again!  No, I'm not ready to Mix It Up (you'll only get this if you've read the aforelinked book 3.27 million times like we have). I have read and sorted and analyzed (and over-analyzed), and I believe I have this year's Advent Picture Book a Day titles ready to go! As always, I intend to go all the way through the Christmas season with a picture-book-a-day, but I am still trying to time things with library requests, etc., so for now I will link the 26 titles we will be using from the First Sunday of Advent up until Christmas!  Happy reading!! 

(** denotes new-to-us titles this year)

11/29 This is the Stable (Cotten) - own

11/30 Apple Tree Christmas (Noble) - library

12/1 Christmas in Noisy Village (Lindgren) - library ** (we read the Noisy Village chapter books last year and they are so fun, this is a neat illustrated setting of the chapters on their Christmas celebrations)

12/2 How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss) - own

12/3 An Orange for Frankie (Polacco) - library **

12/4 The Baker's Dozen: A St. Nicholas Tale (Shepard) - library **

12/5 St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Stiegmeyer) - own

12/6 B is for Bethlehem (Wilner) - own

12/7 The Friendly Beasts (McGinley) - own

12/8 Mary (Wildsmith) - own

12/9 The Night of Las Posadas (dePaola) - library

12/10 Petunia's Christmas (Duvoisin) - library **

12/11 The Legend of the Poinsettia (dePaola) - own

12/12 The Lady of Guadalupe (dePaola) - library

12/13 Hanna's Christmas (Peterson) - library

12/14 Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story (Manushkin) - library **

12/15 The Nutcracker (Jeffers) - library

12/16 Great Joy (DiCamillo) - own

12/17 Mousekin's Christmas Eve (Miller) - library **

12/18 The Christmas Cobwebs (Bodkin) - library **

12/19 A Christmas Wish for Corduroy (Freeman) - library **

12/20 The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree (Houston, illustrated by the illustrious Barbara Cooney) - library ** (and how on earth have I not discovered this gem yet?! oh my goodness...)

12/21 Fletcher and the Snowflake Christmas (Rawlinson) - library **

12/22 A Gift from St. Francis: The First Creche (Cole) - library

12/23 Christmas in the Barn (Brown) - library

12/24 The Christmas Story (Watson/Wilkin) - own

As far as chapter books go, we are hoping to make it through:

A Certain Small Shepherd (Caudill)

Christmas at Stony Creek (Sheban)

The Story of Holly and Ivy (Godden/Cooney) (this is actually just a longer picture book)

The Family Under the Bridge (Carlson, illustrated by Garth Williams, the same illustrator from the Little House books)

And there you have it!  What are your favorite Christmas picture and chapter books? 

Advent Picture-Book-a-Day 2014

A dreary, cool Saturday morning the weekend before Advent begins seemed the perfect time to grab our stack of books, the library books I've requested thus far, and the laptop and make our Picture Book a Day plans for the year!  I have books selected up through Christmas Eve, and will probably request some more Christmas books as well as some Epiphany-themed ones to round out the season. Thought I would share here what I have so far:

11/30 (First Sunday of Advent) - This is the Stable (library)
12/1 - Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree (library)
12/2 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas (own)
12/3 - A Gift from Saint Franics: The First Creche (library)
12/4 - Mortimer's Christmas Manger (own)
12/5 - Santa's Secret Story (own)
12/6 - Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (own)
12/7 - (Second Sunday of Advent) B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (own)
12/8 - Mary (library)
12/9 - (the apparent beginning of our Ode to Tomie dePaola) The Night of Las Posadas (library)
12/10 - The Friendly Beasts (own - we also own the Paola version)
12/11 - The Legend of the Poinsettia (own)
12/12 - The Lady of Guadalupe (library, unfortunately)
12/13 - Hanna's Christmas (library)
12/14 - (Third Sunday of Advent) The First Christmas (library)
12/15 - Apple Tree Christmas (library)
12/16 - Great Joy (own)
12/17 - Just Right for Christmas (library)
12/18 - Christmas in the Big Woods (library)
12/19 - The Night Before Christmas (library)
12/20 - Winter Story (I purchased this on a whim because I thought it would be fun for the [day before the] first day of winter...we'll see....)
12/21 - (Fourth Sunday of Advent) Mary's First Christmas (library)
12/22 - Christmas in the Stable (library)
12/23 - Silent Night: The Song and its Story (library)
12/24 - The Christmas Story (own)

Advent & Christmas Picture-Book-a-Day 2013

This year I have picture books selected for Advent through the Epiphany.  There are so many good books...some new (to us) and some old favorites!  I smile every time I see the big pile of them in my closet.  I am going to post our title list in the order we will read them, for the most part, authors are in parenthesis, and give a brief description/commentary.  All titles can all be found on Amazon (though some are out of print).  Most of them can also be found at the local library, and we own a handful.  Blessed Advent!

1. B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (Wilner) - A beautiful, rhyming alphabet story of the Nativity.
2. The Friendly Beasts (we have two, one by McGinley and one by dePaola) - I really like both versions.
3. Gingerbread Baby (Brett) - So fun!!  We read this every year.
4. Marta and the Manger Straw (Kroll) - New for us this year, a very beautiful story of giving and sharing.
5. St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Stiegmeyer) - Why don't they make this one in hard cover??  I love it.
6. A Special Place for Santa (Pieper) - Great for helping young children realize that St. Nicholas and Santa are one in the same.  Wordy, so not great for toddlers, but I still like it. 
7. The Nutcracker (Jeffers) - Gemma enjoys this story (we have a different version), this particular version is new to us this year.
8.  On This Special Night (Freedman) - A yearly fave, we're doing Nativity stories on the Sundays of Advent.
9. Mary (Wildsmith) - For the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
10. St. Francis and the Christmas Donkey (Byrd) - I think we had this one last year.  Anything about St. Francis is a winner in my books.
11. The Legend of the Poinsettia (dePaola) - LOVE this one!  Read it every year around the feast of OL Guadalupe.
12. The Lady of Guadalupe (dePaola) - Another one (that is sadly out of print) I would love to own.
13. Mortimer's Christmas Manger (Wilson) - Cute and sweet.  We usually read this dozens of times.
14. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss) - A classic.
15. Room for a Little One (Waddell) - Another yearly Nativity story.
16. The Crippled Lamb (Lucado) - New to us this year, but a beautiful story my MIL introduced me to years ago.
17. Bear Stays Up for Christmas (Wilson) - It's just fun, we love Bear around here.
18. Great Joy (DiCamillo) - I love this story, it is beautiful and the illustrations are gorgeous.  Another that we read every year.
19. Millie in the Snow (Steffensmeier) - Another fun one.
20. Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas (Wick) - We all enjoyed this one so much last year, the pictures are really fun to look at.
21. Snow Bears (Waddell) - For the First Day of Winter
22. This is the Stable (Bettoli) - Fun and rhyming, reminiscent of The House that Jack Built
23. Four Friends at Christmas (dePaola) - Gemma loves the Four Friends and their seasonal adventures.
24. The Christmas Story (Watson/Wilkin) - A beautiful Golden Book for Christmas Eve.
25. The Story of the Nativity (Usborne)
26. The Twelve Days of Christmas (Ray) - New to us this year.
27. Christmas in the Big Woods (Wilder) - We always like Mary and Laura stories. 
28. Snowmen at Christmas (Buehner)
29. Song of the Stars (Lloyd-Jones)
30. Cock-a-Doodle Christmas (Hillenbrand) - Little people (and animals) can do big things, too!
31. Mary's First Christmas (Wangerin)
32. The Last Straw (Thury)
33. Baboushka and the Three Kings (Robbins)
34. The Not So Wise Man (MacDonald)
35. Hurray for Three Kings Day (Carlson)
36. The Story of the Three Wise Kings (dePaola) - A great story for the Epiphany.

Advent 2012

Below you will find a list of our 2012 Advent Picture-Book-a-Day selections (listed in order starting with 12/2...many of them correlate with feasts and such)...some new ones and some favorites!  It is getting more fun (and more difficult at the same time) to narrow these books down each year.

Click HERE for reviews of our 2011 books. 

We will also be reading a selection from Advent Storybook each night before bed.   

We will read a daily meditation from O Radiant Dawn as a family each night at dinnertime (I have very high hopes for this book).  I plan to use selections from Celebrating Christmas and Celebrating Advent with the Jesse Tree (even though we aren't actually doing a Jesse Tree) for morning prayers with the kids, plus some extra resources for the Advent Feasts.

We also have our Advent Chain that I ordered from Autom this year to count down the days to Christmas.  I read through the activities on each link as I was putting it together last night and was very pleased...most of them we will be able to do.  This accidental find totally exceeded my expectations.  I hope they offer these every year.

Looking forward to a peaceful, prayerful Advent.  

B is for Bethlehem
Christmas in the Barn
The Friendly Beasts
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
A Special Place for Santa
Great Joy
Mary
Under the Star: A Christmas Counting Story
Cock-a-Doodle Christmas!
The Legend of the Poinsettia
The Lady of Guadalupe
A Christmas Story
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Usborne The Story of the Nativity
Christmas in the Big Woods
Off to Bethlehem
Silent Night: The Song and its Story
On This Special Night
Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey
Four Friends at Christmas
Room for a Little One
The Little Drummer Boy
The Christmas Story (Little Golden Book)

Picture-book-a-day, Advent 2011 (week 4)

Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson - I bought this book on a whim because of the good reviews and the fact that I was several people back in line on the "hold" list at the library.  I'm glad I got it, it is a very sweet story.  I like it more each time I read it (which has been a lot, Gemma is quite taken with it).

Song of the Stars by Sally Lloyd-Jones - "It's time! It's time!"  This book looks at Christ's coming from the perspective of all creation - the plants, animals, seas and rivers.  It's neat.  And the illustrations are in a "painted" style which adds to the uniqueness of this book.  I was on the request list for this brand new book at the library, and quite pleased that we got it before Christmas. 

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming - A cute story "read" to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas.  We'll read this on the first day of winter!

Usborne's The Story of the Nativity by Anna Milbourne - A nice, traditional story of the Nativity, starting with the Annunciation and ending with the visit of the magi (to the stable, but oh well).  The illustrations are sweet, the cover is gorgeous.  I've always been impressed with Usborne's Bible-related books.  

Asleep in the Stable by Will Hillenbrand - A baby owl meets the baby Jesus for the first time.  This is a sweet story that my sister gave Gemma last year for Christmas when she was very fascinated with owls. 

Four Friends at Christmas by Tomie dePaola - Have I mentioned it is hard (if not downright impossible) to go wrong with dear Tomie dePaola?  We checked out his Four Friends in Autumn this Fall and Gemma really liked it, and without a doubt this was a hit as well.  This story is about Mister Frog, who normally hibernates through winter, but is convinced by his best friends to stay up for Christmas.  Will he make it?!

The Christmas Story by Jane Werner - This is a Little Golden Book that I owned as a child.  A sweet traditional story of the Nativity, and the illustrations are by Eloise Wilkin.  Hard to beat. 

On This Special Night by Claire Freedman - A mother cat and her kittens (which will make this book an automatic hit with both Gemma and Kolbe) living in a barn notice a special star shining in the sky one night.  They end up following the other animals who stop in on their way to the stable and meet a very special baby on a very special night.  The illustrations in this book are beautiful.  We will read it on Christmas eve.

This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar - A nice rhyming, repetitive story with very neat illustrations.  They almost look like photographs, but not quite.

Lots of stories about the Nativity this week to prepare for Christ's coming on Christmas!  Hard to believe He's coming so soon. Check out our previous weeks' selections here... Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3.

Picture-book-a-day, Advent 2011 (week 3)

The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie dePaola - We read this for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I shortened it just a little for Gemma, but wow, what a wonderful, detailed yet age-appropriate story of Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe for children.  Yet again, dear Tomie dePaola did not disappoint.  I would love to own this book, but it is out of print and the cheapest copy I can find is $47, yikes!

The Night Before Christmas poem by Clement C. Moore - I have several versions of this checked out from the library, none of the illustrations do a whole lot for me though.  I would like to purchase a hardcover, beautifully illustrated version of this poem for our family.  Any recommendations?

Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett - Cute and fun.

Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo - This is a beautiful story that my mother-in-law introduced me to a number of years back.  The illustrations are just superb.  Breathtaking and beautiful.  Gemma enjoyed it so much she wanted to read it twice in a row.  We read it on the day that our Advent meditation was about helping the poor and lonely, so I thought that was very fitting indeed.

Christmas in the Big Woods based on the Laura Ingalls Wilder series - These books are cute enough.  I haven't liked all of them (due to some issues I've had with their accuracy to the original stories), but they are - for the most part - a nice introduction to the Little House series.

Cock-a-Doodle Christmas by Will Hillenbrand - I forget how I stumbled upon this, but it really is a cute story about a small farm in Bethlehem and the rooster whose once tiny voice helps announce the birth of the Christ-child.

The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats - Not much to say about this one.  It's a classic for sure.

Check out our previous selections here, week one and week two.

What are your favorite Christmas picture-books?  Please share in the comments.

Picture-book-a-day, Advent 2011 (week 2)

Who's Hiding? by Vickie Howie - Gemma got this last year from St. Nicholas.  It is a very cute lift-the-flap book about the Nativity.  The repetitive text makes it fun for very young children.

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson - We love bear.  Karma Wilson is one of my favorite contemporary children's authors.  I have yet to check out a book of hers that I didn't like.

Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Julie Stiegmeyer -This book is beautifully illustrated, and a nice, simple take on the legend of St. Nicholas.  It was a bit above Gemma maybe, but it will be a great story for our family to grow into, and she did listen to and enjoy the whole thing.  We read it on the eve of the Feast of St. Nicholas.  Of all the St. Nicholas books out there, this one really is very beautiful.  I bought the paperback edition last year, and now really wish I had gotten it in hardcover.  Oh well.  Any other good St. Nicholas book recommendations?  We own A Special Place for Santa (so glad I got it for $.01 on Amazon when I did, it's pretty pricey now), but I may wait until next year to pull that one out.

All for the Newborn Baby by Phyllis Root - Beautifully illustrated, simple poetic text.  I liked this one probably enough to own it (most of our selections, as you've probably guessed, have been from the library).  Gemma was very taken with the illustrations.

Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown - This is a simple, rhyming book about the Nativity.  It is strangely similar to The Big Red Barn, which I find a little odd (I really like Big Red Barn, it's just weird hearing another story so similar), but other than that it's still a nice story.  Definitely not Margaret Wise Brown in her best form, but alas still a good selection.

The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola - We love Tomie dePaola around here.  This story is on deck for the feast of St. Juan Diego.

A Charlie Brown Christmas: An Interactive Book with Sound by Charles M. Schulz - Oh how the children love this book.  They got it during Advent last year from my in-laws.  It is the only "sound" book we own, and we only get it out during Advent/Christmas.  And yet we've still already replaced the batteries twice (once last year and once this already).  But it's worth it.  This book is a classic!

Check out week one's selections by clicking here.

Picture-book-a-day, Advent 2011 (week 1)

At the recommendation of my friend Kansas Mom, I decided to do a picture-book-a-day with the kids during Advent leading up to Christmas.  I didn't wrap our books like she does, but each week I will set seven books out on the fireplace and we will choose a different one to read each day after our Advent Wreath/Morning Prayers.  Here is a list of the books we have been enjoying this first week.

The Friendly Beasts by Sharon McGinley - I love the "eastern" type, colorful illustrations in this version, and this has been a favorite carol with Gemma the past few years.  We also own Tomie dePaola's version. 

The Story of the Nutcracker by Deborah Hautzig - Gemma was very intrigued by this.  She even asked me to read it to her again another day.  She was very fascinated by "the guy who lost his teeth."  It is definitely an interesting story.

Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell - I really like Martin Waddell as an author. We have enjoyed many of his books (most especially the Big Bear and Little Bear stories).  This story was a sweet and simple take on the Nativity Story and it had beautiful illustrations.

Under the Star: A Christmas Counting Story by Jane Yolen - A counting story about the crowd of various people and creatures who came to visit the manger.

Who is Coming to our House? by Joseph Slate - Very cute.  Repetitive, rhyming and simple.  Kolbe really seemed to enjoy this one.

Little Owl and the Star by Mary Murphy - Nothing special about this story, but it featured an owl which made it an automatic hit with my kids, because for whatever reason they both love owls very much.

Please take a moment to share some of your favorite Christmas picture books in the comments section!!!  I am always looking for more suggestions.  And check out more Advent and Christmas ideas over at Catholic Icing's Wishing Jesus Happy Birthday post!