A Visit Down Memory Lane with some Favourite Christmas Stories
Alright, alright, I know it sounds pretty corny, but when our children were growing up, we make time for either Kevin or I to read to the kids. Now this was pretty a pretty common tradition and routine of ours, but every once in a while as we approached Christmas, we would let the kids stay up a little extra lates so that everyone would choose their favourite Christmas stories to have read to them out loud. It was a special evening and I always hoped we would never lose that tradition.
Well, guess what? Once the kids grew up a bit and their schedules included Christmas band concerts, singing events, and Christmas plays, I think we just ran out of evenings to read to them. After all these years, I still kept all of our Christmas books in their own box with the other Christmas decorations, and I always put the favourites on display in our home during the Christmas seasons. It would be a bit of Christmas magic when I get to see them picked up and read and loved again.
But in the spirit of romantic gestures, I went in search of that beloved box filled with our holiday books, and brought them into the living room for Kevin and I to read. We chose a night to put on a fire and spend some time revisit our these beloved classics to read aloud to each other! As I was choosing my selections for this event, I came to realize that my most favourite (or perhaps the most famous) book of all was missing from the collection! No “T’was The Night Before Christmas” book anywhere to be found!! Where could it have gone? Truth be told, I really haven’t look specifically for it for years! So, Kevin, I hope you’re taking the not-so-subtle hint… THAT’S on my Christmas list for this year - an new copy of an old favourite.
But after revisiting so many beloved stories, I did pick out a few titles that I want to share with readers, just in case this idea resonates with you.
The Nutcracker - Pop up Book written by E.T.A. Hoffman
If you lose the storyline, the pop-ups are an incredible work of art and wizardry - who figures that stuff out? Just so levely!The Reindeer Christmas written by Moe Price
When we were expecting our first child at the end of November, we bought this lovely storybook and personalized it with a message to her, before she was even born! And a beautiful story follows. But this year we need to give it to her - so she can begging to build her own Christmas traditions.Christmas Tree Memories written by Aliki
An incredible story of Christmas Traditions gone by. Evey Christmas Eve the family gathers to remember where their beautiful tree decorations have come from. Aliki is a gifted writer of many many children's books and it was great to add her Christmas edition to our collection of her works.Christmas Cookies - Bite Size Holiday Lesson written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
If you’ve been following the blog avidly, you may recall this title as a reference to the cookie decorating date! Amy has written at least three “Cookies” books where we all learn how to support one another and to share our cookies. This book is a lovely holiday tradition and always included the cookie recipe at the end. Thanks to Dennis for this gift that just keeps on giving!.The Snowman written by Raymond Briggs
This magical book gets to have a different story every year as the illustrations have no captions, so the story gets told as you go along. This was a favorite book for our family. We did indeed delight in “reading” it to each other, and Kevin and I did a pretty good job of traveling down memory lane!The Polar Express written by Chris Van Allsberg
This wonderful story comes to life in our house every Christmas because we can see, from our front window, the computer train going by every night across the water, and we always asked our kids, when they were little, if that was the Polar Express as the trains look magical all lit up in the wintery evenings. This magical journey will convince even the most ardent of non believers that the magic of Chirstmas is true!