Advent and Christmas Book List (for cozy December days and nights)

I've tried to hold off on doing this, but resistance is futile.  I'm jumping on the Catholic mom blog bandwagon and posting our favorite Advent/Christmastide picture books. If you're sick of these lists, feel free to move right along!  But if you're like me, and lists of any sort (especially ones that involve books) hold a mysterious sort of power over you, then welcome!  I suppose you never know, there may even be one or two items here that haven't already been mentioned on every other holiday book list!  I've already seen a few on other lists that I'm looking forward to checking out for next year!

In the past, we've used our Advent calendar as a vehicle for giving the kids clues as to where to search for a hidden book each day of December.  But in the spirit of just enjoying time with each other and not worrying about orchestrating elaborate scavenger hunts, this year I'm keeping most of the books in a big basket so that they're close at hand for cozy book time :)

I couldn't resist - the ** stars ** are for my very favorites!  One star (*) means it's a great book.  Two stars (**) means (in my humble opinion) you should do whatever it takes to get this book from the library or from this Amazon affiliate (I thank you in advance so very much if you order through here!)  

Happy Advent and happy reading!

Tomie DePaola Favorites

** The Clown of God 
** Joy to the World: Tomie's Christmas Stories (includes The Night of Las Posadas, the Miracle of the Poinsettia, and The Story of the Three Wise Kings)
** An Early American Christmas
Merry Christmas, Strega Nona
Strega Nona's Gift 
The Birds of Bethlehem
Jingle the Christmas Clown 
Country Angel Christmas
The First Christmas (Pop-Up Book) 

Books of Hymns and Carols

(We love to use these to learn new carols each year.  The kids call them singing books.)

* The Huron Carol, lyrics by St. Jean de Brebeuf  (we have versions illustrated by Ian Wallace  and Frances Tyrell)
* We Three Kings, by Gennady Spirin  (with gorgeous illustrations)
Tomie dePaola's Book Of Christmas Carols
The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas Carol, by Tomie DePaola
Good King Wenceslas, illustrated by John Walner 

The Little Drummer Boy, illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats

Other Stories

** The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, by Susan Wojciechowski 
Papa Panov's Special Day, story by Leo Tolstoy, retold by Mig Holder 
* A Christmas Story  and The Road to Bethlehem, by Brian Wildsmitn  (if author/illustrators had "groupies" I'd be a Wildsmith groupie!  I LOVE his artwork!!)
Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey, by Robert Byrd (this is one that I don't love, love, love, but the kids seem to!)
Saint Francis Celebrates Christmas, by Mary Caswell Walsh
Silent Night: The Song and Its Story, by Margaret Hodges
Silent Night: A Christmas Carol Is Born, by Maureen Hooper
* Silent Night: The Song from Heaven, Linda Granfield
The Stable Where Jesus Was Born, by Rhonda Gowler Greene
* The Jesse Tree, by Geraldine McCaughrean 

A Few Secular Favorites

some of the books listed below are a little camera shy and thus do not appear here

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, by Dr. Seuss (more a favorite of Russ and the kids than me!)
The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs 
* The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston
* My Wonderful Christmas Tree, by Dahlov Ipcar (I'm a big fan of Ipcar's illustrations.)

Books for December Saints

Saint Nicholas, by Ann Tompert
The Legend of Saint Nicholas, by Demi
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend, by Julie Stiegemeyer
* *The Lady of Guadalupe, by Tomie DePaola
Lucia: Saint of Light, by Katherine Bolger Hyde 

Books for Epiphany (these are some of my favorites!!)

** The Legend of Old Befana, by Tomie DePaola
Baboushka and the Three Kings, by Ruth Robbins
Babushka, by Charles Mikolaycak
Babushka, by Sandra Ann Horn
**The Greatest Gift: The Story of the Other Wise Man, by Susan Summers
Humphrey's First Christmas, by Carol Heyer
* The Last Straw, by Frederick Thury
Small Camel Follows the Star, by Rachel W. N. Brown 


(I love the legends of Befana and Baboushka.  I've just ordered La Befana: An Italian Night After Christmas and Baboushka: A Christmas Folktale from Russia.
 If you know of other picture books surrounding these legends, let me know!)  



Oh, and one other thing!  In addition to books, the kids enjoy these CD's this month too...

** Christmas Carol & Other Favorites (Jim Weiss recording) 

and ** Classical Kids Christmas :)  They're both great!  

*   *   *   *   *   * 

What are some of your favorite picture books for Advent and Christmas???

In Overwhelming Praise of Dover Coloring Books (and a resource list)

I am not a Dover Coloring Book sales person. 

But it's my hope that after reading this post, you'll have been brainwashed by the latest catch phrase that's been sweeping the nation... There's an App a Dover Coloring Book for that. 

I've previously written about my love of Dover coloring books here and here.  We used them extensively for our local wildlife study and intro to human anatomy last year.  I have since become an even greater fan for the simple reasons that:

1) they are relatively inexpensive
2) they are high quality - the informative text as well as the artwork (That's right!  Most of the coloring books include information on the subject in addition to black and white images!)  
3) and they have one for nearly every subject in the entire universe.  I have found this very beneficial in our home school. 

You're studying Mushrooms of the World, you say? There's a Dover Coloring Book for that.

You have a son who's hyper-focused on learning the history of the sword?  There's a Dover Coloring Book for that. 

Your daughter aspires to become the first fashion designer to storm the runway with a melding of Rococo-Puritan-Chinese-Fairy fashions with a touch of Civil War uniform?  There's a Dover Coloring Book for that.  (or five, actually.)

I'm serious.  History, art, literature, science?  You can not fail to enrich your home study of any topic with a Dover Coloring book.  

coloring by Aaron and Dominic

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "my children don't like coloring books."  Well, neither do my kids really.  I've thrown out fistfulls of coloring books that we had for years but were never touched - things like World's Coolest Cars and Universe's Cutest Puppies.  But my kids LOVE Dover Coloring books - maybe because they're so realistic or because they look like coloring for "grownups"??  I don't know, but I do know that they get used several times a week.  Sometimes they just color for the fun of it, and sometimes they're coloring as part of an assignment. Example: Kids, you color this picture of wildlife on the African Savanna while I read to you about wildlife on the African Savanna.  (This method of coloring while listening to a read aloud has worked really well for us in several subject areas.)

this collage is somewhat misleading... while we have spotted wild turkeys and great blue heron a plenty near our home,  we have never seen them in our backyard :)
coloring by Dominic

I don't have the patience to link to every book that I mention here, and I'm really sorry about that.  But please note that Dover Coloring Books can be found on Amazon.com for approx. $3.99 each (most are eligible for Prime, so you could be coloring images of Life in a Medieval Village or North American Ducks, Geese, and Swans in just two short days, shipped for free!)  They are, of course, also available on the Dover Publications website, along with the many other cool things they offer like temporary tattoos of paintings by Mary Cassatt. (Your welcome for that stocking stuffer idea I just gave you for your friend, the one who's the fan of female Impressionists and LA Ink...)  

There are so many many fabulous Dover coloring books, that I would never get this thing posted if I were to list them all here.  But I thought I'd give you a sampling of titles, loosely sorted by topic, so that you can get an idea of the scope we're talking about here.  (the back slashes denote different titles for related topics)  And remember, just because you don't see it here, doesn't mean they don't have it!

A Lengthy, yet Incomplete, Dover Coloring Book Resource List for Homeschool...

(or just for regular life for that matter!)

AMERICAN HISTORY

Columbus Discovers America

The Story of the Pilgrims

Early American Trades / Early American Crafts and Occupations

Life in Colonial America / Everyday Dress of the American Colonial Period

Story of the Revolution / Heroes and Heroines of the American Revolution / Uniforms of the American Revolution

George Washington

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Western Pioneers / Cowboys of the Old West

The Story of the Alamo

Story of the California Gold Rush

Story of the Civil War / A Soldiers Life in the Civil War / Civil War Uniforms / Abraham Lincoln / Famous Women of the Civil War / Civil War Fashions / Story of the Underground Railroad 

Wigwams, Longhouses, and Other Native American Dwellings / Indian Tribes of North America / North American Indian Crafts

Great African Americans / Famous African-American Women

Story of World War I / Airplanes of World War I / Uniforms of World War I

Roaring Twenties Fashions

Story of World War II / World War II Warships / Airplanes of the Second World War 

History of the Civil Rights Movement

OTHER HISTORY

Life in Ancient Greece / Life in Ancient Egypt / Life in Ancient Rome

Sparta: Warriors of the Ancient World

Ancient Egyptian Fashions / Greek and Roman Fashions 

Samurai Warriors

Life in Celtic Times

Story of the Vikings

History of the Sword

Life in a Medieval Village / The Medieval Castle / Knights and Armor / Castles of the World / Medieval Fashions

Race to the South Pole

Inventors and Inventions

... and TONS more on fashion through the ages and in different cultures

GEOGRAPHY AND CIVICS

Wonders of the World

Around the World

United States / State Birds and Flowers

Historic American Landmarks

American Presidents / America's First Ladies / Homes of the American Presidents

NATURE 

(oh my goodness - there are SO many - take whatever I list here and multiply it by 9)

Backyard Nature

A Walk in the Woods

Rain Forest

African Plains

Arctic and Antarctic Life

Wild Animals

Forest Animals

Freshwater Pond

Seashore Life / Tropical Fish / Sharks of the World

Birds of Prey / Birdwatchers / Audubon's Birds of America

Wildflowers / Herbs / Medicinal Plants / Cacti 

... and TONS of books on specific animals and flowers  

OTHER SCIENCE

Rocks and Minerals

Fruits and Vegetables

All About the Weather

Human Anatomy

Exploring the Solar System / History of Space Exploration / International Space Station 

ART

Color Your Own...

Monet
Cassatt
Degas
Van Gogh
Matisse
Kahlo
Italian Renaissance Masterpieces
Sistine Chapel
Books of Kells
Medieval Tapestries
Japanese Woodblock Prints
Tiffany Windows
Modern Art Masterpieces
Famous American Paintings

MUSIC

Great Composers

Musical Instruments

LITERATURE 

(abridged stories as well as coloring pages)

Old Testament Stories

Women of the Bible

Anne of Green Gables

Tale of Peter Rabbit

Beowulf

Alice and Wonderland

Great Scenes from Shakespeare's Plays

Rip Van Winkle

Sleeping Beauty

American Legends and Tall Tales

A Christmas Carol

Sherlock Holmes

HOBBIES or JUST FOR FUN

Antique Automobiles

Classic Cars

Famous Trains 

History of Fire Engines

Hockey

Figure Skating

Nutcracker Ballet

Old Fashioned Farm Life / Country Scenes

Garden Fairy Alphabet

Garden Party

Carousel Animals 

Vintage Christmas Greetings

Victorian Houses 



And the list goes on and on, but I'll let you uncover the rest on your own.  My work here is done.  

* * * * * *

Note: I have not been paid by Dover Publications to write this review.  Although if you are from Dover publishing and you would like to pay me, I will happily entertain your offer :)