Dream Snow is a Christmas book for young children that features Eric Carle's trademark bold and colorful illustrations, as well as some partially transparent pages that allow children to guess which of a farmer's animals is hidden behind each blanket of "dream snow."

At the end, the farmer dresses up as Santa Claus to go decorate his tree. The inside of the back cover includes a button to push which makes a cheery chiming sound. While there isn't much of a narrative here, it's still a fun book for kids that has some wonderfully magical Christmas images -- especially the white snow against the dark blue night.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Eric Carle
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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The Christmas Wish is an adorable book. While the vast marjority of the narrative has to do with a little girl named Anja (pronounced "ON-ya") making an epic journey across vast snowscapes to the North Pole, there is still plenty of Christmas cheer here, including Anja finally meeting up with Santa Claus at the end and helping to drive his sleigh.

This book is illustrated with photographs, which include some very realistic-looking images of Anja riding a horse, skiiing behind a reindeer, and curling up for a nap with a polar bear. This is a lovely little Christmas fantasy that portrays kindness and bravery, wrapped up in a bow of cuteness and beautiful Scandinavian landscapes.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Lori Evert
Ilustrator: Per Breiehagen
Pages: 48
Content Advisory: None

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Jan Brett is known for the beautiful and detailed artwork in her books, many of which are set in cold, snowy places. In The Wild Christmas Reindeer, the illustrations involve an entire pile of reindeer who manage to get their antlers all tangled up together! Teeka, one of Santa's helpers, is tasked with getting the reindeer straightened out before it's time to fly the sleigh -- can she do it?

While this story veers a bit from "traditional" Santa lore by giving the reindeer different names, such as Tundra, Bramble, and Lichen (which I think are quite appropriate), it is still a cute story that involves dealing with a confusing situation. On the sidebars of the main illustrations, we see other helpers getting ready as each page counts the way up to Christmas Eve.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/illustrator: Jan Brett
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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How about a fun one for Day 10? How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? Since our son has been interested in dinosaurs for a while, he especially enjoys this series. Generally, each book in the "How Do Dinosaurs..." series uses rhyming text to ask how a dinosaur should behave about the topic at hand, using certain examples of rude/inconsiderate behavior -- in the case of Christmas, things such as opening presents early, picking off ornaments, etc. Then we are assured that this is not how dinosaurs act, and are told about the kind and helpful things they do (helping to trim the tree, etc.).

The illustrations depict enormous, colorful dinosaurs managing somehow to coexist with human parents and friends. Not only is it a fun way to remind children about how to be considerate, but it's also fun to imagine what life would actually be like if we shared it with big, friendly, real-life dinosaurs!

The name of each dinosaur is given somewhere on the page it is introduced, and all of the dinosaurs and names are shown together on the pages inside the front and back covers.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Mark Teague
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None

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I grew up reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, and while my own children aren't quite ready for that, I found Christmas in the Big Woods to be a wonderful, simple introduction to those stories, as well as a celebration of Christmas in a less materialistic time and place. 

With warm illustrations and descriptive text, we are introduced to the Ingalls family: Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, and Carrie, and their log cabin in the woods of Wisconsin. They are preparing to celebrate Christmas with Laura's aunt, uncle, and cousins, who are coming for a visit. 

This book briefly shows some of the activities I remember from reading these books years ago: "pancake men" on the griddle, molasses candy poured onto pans of snow, Laura's doll named Charlotte, and new red mittens in her Christmas stocking. Details like this are easy for children's minds to latch on to, and I'm sure that when we do eventually read Little House in the Big Woods it will already seem a little bit familiar thanks to this story. In the meantime, it's a nice bit of nostalgia for those of us who grew up on these stories.

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrator: Renee Graef
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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