My kids and I look forward to pulling out the big box of Christmas books every Thanksgiving. Over the years, I have accumulated a much loved collection of stories. I have a few really fun ones about Santa and sledding and snowmen, but the ones we really treasure are the ones that bring the Spirit of Christmas into our home – the ones that make the children go reverent and make my voice crack as I try to finish. There are so many beautiful stories about Christmas, but these 7 top our list:
- The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. The Armistice has been declared, but still there is no sign of Ruthie’s father in their little Appalachian town. So, in accordance with the traditions of Pine Grove, it falls to Ruthie and her mother to bring home the perfect Christmas tree to donate to the town. Ruthie had accompanied her father to the rocky cliff where he marked a tree in the spring, so she and her mother set out to find it again, and haul it home.
- Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect. Long, long ago, in a land far away, lived a perfect little tree named Small Pine. Small Pine hoped to maintain its perfect form and be selected by the Queen as her Christmas tree. But as the warm-hearted little tree gave shelter to birds, rabbits, and deer in the forest, its branches became damaged. Fortunately, the Queen had a different idea of perfection…
- I Believe in Santa Claus. Finally, a book that shows how the time honored symbol of Santa is meant to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas, Christ.
- The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey. Jonathan Toomey is the best woodcarver in the valley, but he is always alone and never smiles. No one knows about the mementos of his lost wife and child that he keeps in an unopened drawer. But one early winter’s day, a widow and her young son approach him with a gentle request that leads to a joyful miracle.
- Silent Night, Holy Night. December 1914 was grim for the thousands of soldiers who had dug into the frozen trenches on either side of Flanders Field. What lay between them in the early months of the First Great War was a field of sorrow – No Man’s Land – littered with barbed wire and decaying corpses. This sober background is the setting for this very powerful and poignant true story previously known as “The Christmas Truce”.
- Christmas from Heaven: The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber
. Christmas from Heaven is the story of the humble beginnings of what became a beacon of hope to a war-torn land, the story of Gail Halvorsen, a young pilot in the US Army Air Corps who was assigned as a cargo pilot to the Berlin Airlift, in which US forces flew much-needed supplies into a Soviet-blockaded Berlin. As he performed his duties, Lt. Halvorsen began to notice the German children gathered by the fences of Tempelhof Air Base. Knowing that they had very little, he one day offered them some chewing gum. From that small act, an idea sprang: He would bomb Berlin with candy. Fashioning small parachutes, he and his crew sent them floating down as they approached the Berlin airport, wiggling the wings of their C-54 as a signal to the children that their anticipated cargo would soon arrive. Lt. Halvorsen became known by hundreds, if not thousands, of children in Berlin as Uncle Wiggly Wings or The Candy Bomber.
- The Legend of the Candy Cane. One dark November night a stranger rides into a small prairie town. Who is he? Why has he come? The townspeople wish he were a doctor, a dressmaker, or a trader. But the children have the greatest wish of all, a deep, quiet, secret wish.Then a young girl named Lucy befriends the newcomer. When he reveals his identity and shares with her the legend of the candy cane, she discovers fulfillment of her wishes and the answer to her town’s dreams.
What are you favorite stories? Share with us. I would love to know!
