Kids Picks
The holiday season is here again and most of us are left wondering how it got here so fast! There are so many things to be grateful for, and celebrating the true meaning of the holidays with friends and loved ones is truly a blessing! With all of the excitement, it’s easy for the real meaning of each day to get lost. Here are some books to help you stay in the holiday spirit for all of the right reasons.
Ages 3-5
“Ten Little Snowmen” by Amanda Sobotka
“Ten Little Snowmen” takes children on a magical counting adventure. The story begins with 10 snowmen who lose their way one at a time until there is only one snowman left. The book uses tactile snowmen buttons for children to count how many snowmen are left on each page. The adorable illustrations of the snowmen and their winter friends will keep children entertained the whole way through.
“Li’l Rabbit’s Kwanzaa” by Donna L. Washington
So far, Kwanzaa hasn’t been very fun for Li’l Rabbit. Because Granna Rabbit is sick, his family can’t celebrate the big feast, Karamu, and that is his favorite part of Kwanzaa. To cheer Granna Rabbit up, Li’l Rabbit sets out to find Granna a treat that will help her celebrate Kwanzaa anyway. He looks everywhere and meets a lot of friends along the way but can’t find anything for Granna Rabbit. He thinks maybe he’s too little to help, but maybe just what he needs is some help along the way!
Ages 6-8
“Hanukkah Bear” by Eric A. Kimmel
On the first night of Hanukkah, the smell of Bubba Brayna’s latkes wakes a hungry bear from hibernation. He heads into town in search of the latkes. Bubba can’t see or hear well and thinks the bear is her rabbi when he comes to the door. She invites him in to engage in fun Hanukkah activities and, of course, a delicious meal. When the bear leaves, the real rabbi and Bubba’s friends come to the door, but there are no latkes left for them. Children will delight in the illustrations and humor that make this a captivating and fun Hanukkah story to tell for years to come.
“Amelia Bedelia Wraps It Up” by Herman Parish
What do you do when the holidays are right around the corner and you don’t have enough money to buy everyone something? That won’t stop Amelia Bedelia! She decides to start a gift- wrapping business with a few of her friends to help raise money for the holidays. The business is such an overwhelming success that it expands into tree decorating, snow shoveling, carol singing and so much more! With all of this going on, there is bound to be some confusion along the way. Amelia Bedelia will make readers laugh at her silly antics while learning a lot of vocabulary words in the process.
Ages 9-12
“A Boy Called Christmas” by Matt Haig
Nikolas, nicknamed Christmas, is 11 years old and has only gotten one toy in his entire life – a doll carved out of a turnip. He loves the doll because his parents gave it to him. When Nikolas’ father goes missing, he must find his way to the North Pole to save him. He meets a lot of characters along the way, including a reindeer and a troll, and discovers an enchanted frozen village called Elfhelm. The elves in the village have their own problems and it’s up to Nikolas to fix everything and find his father before time runs out!
“Who Stole New Year’s Eve?” by Martha Freeman
College Springs has a winter carnival every year between Christmas and New Year’s Eve with ice sculptures all around. This year someone has stolen them, all 37 of them. Fortunately, there are two 12-year-old sleuths in town, Yasmeen and Alex. Unfortunately, Yasmeen and Alex have been fighting. Yasmeen thinks the new girl is going to replace her as Alex’s sidekick. The whole group needs to find a way to come together to solve this mystery, and the clues are pointing to a fracking operation and the laboratory of an inventor.
