Ho, ho, ho, it's nearly Christmas! Whether you're sweltering through the summer heat, or rugged up against the snow, it's the perfect time to dream about reindeer, North Pole, Santa, family ... and wrap them up with villains and adventure in a Christmas-themed book! Check out some of my favourite book recommendations for 2018. They might become yours too! (Book titles and images contain affiliate links).
1. A Boy Called Christmas, by Matt Haig. Would you like to know how Father Christmas came to be? Well, when he was a young boy, Nikolas was abandoned by his father who had gone off searching for elves. But Nikolas believed in magic, and so he set off to find him. If you want to believe in the impossible, you will enjoy this beautiful Christmas tale with illustrations to match. And if you've already read this, then you might want to try Matt Haig's other Christmas books: The Girl Who Saved Christmas, and Father Christmas and Me.
2. The Christmasaurus, by Tom Fletcher. It’s William’s dream come true when Santa accidentally gives him a real baby dinosaur instead of a stuffed dinosaur toy. But when the evil Hunter wants to add the dinosaur – the Christmasaurus – to his collection, William must try to help his new friend escape.
3. A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Do you remember the 1970s Little House on the Prairie television series? Well it was first a heart-warming family-centred book series, about little Laura Ingalls growing up on a farm in rural Wisconsin in the 1870s. This is a compilation of Christmas short stories from the "Little House" series.
4. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, by Barbara Robinson. The Herdman kids are a misbehaving hellion of six delinquent, cussing, smoking, swearing brothers and sisters. When they turn up at Sunday School - only to for the free snacks - and find themselves given the starring roles at the Christmas Pageant, they take it upon themselves to interpret the Christmas story in the Herdman way. Funny, and surprisingly touching.
5. Nancy and Plum, by Betty MacDonald. An old fashioned Christmas tale about two orphaned sisters who are dumped by their uncle into a horrible boarding school run by the cruel Mrs Monday. Plum initiates their escape, aided by their kind school teacher and local librarian - and the evil-doers get their comeuppance. A wonderful story still fresh after half a century (1952).
6. Horrible Christmas (from the Horrible Histories series), by Terry Dreary. Christmas isn't all sugar and spice. In fact there are plenty of gruesome and yucky bits behind it! Fun and bizarre facts, quizzes, pictures and jokes about Christmas, making it fabulous holiday reading for fans of non-fiction.
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