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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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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Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is another Christmas favorite here, which a lot of us probably know better due to the Christmas special that comes on TV every December.

While Boris Karloff's narration sticks in my mind every time I read this book (as do the memorable songs that accompany the TV special), the book is quite able to stand on its own. I enjoy the rhyming text in Seuss's trademark anapestic style with nonsense words thrown in when called for. And of course, the climax of the story is so beautifully written that even the grinchiest among us might find our hearts growing just a little bit. 

As a side note, I particularly like the snazziness of the shiny red and green on the cover of this particular edition. 

Scrounged From: Our local bookstore

Format: Hardcover
Author/illustrator: Dr. Seuss
Pages: 64
Content Advisory: None

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Our family has very much enjoyed the first Story Orchestra book: Four Seasons in One Day, which features music from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (see my review here).

So I was pretty excited when I saw that there would be another entry in this series: The Nutcracker! I was not disappointed. Like the first book, it features a sturdy cover with bright, textured illustrations, and a back cover that plays quality snippets of music when you press the musical note that corresponds to the correct portion of the cover. In the beginning this can be a bit difficult since you are pressing through all the pages, but it gets easier as it goes. Like the first book, I plan to keep this one up high so my young kids can learn how to treat it properly before they play with it unsupervised.

The story provides busy, colorful illustrations and a narrative that follows the Nutcracker ballet -- from Clara eagerly anticipating her Uncle Drosselmeyer's arrival, to her throwing her slipper at the mouse king to vanquish him (I was glad that part was included!) and being whisked away to the Land of Sweets. Of course, a book can't fully do the ballet justice, but by including small parts of the music, it is able to add to the summary of the text to make it a bit more magical. 

The last page includes a brief bio of Peter Tchaikovsky (whose illustrated form looks suspiciously like Uncle Drosselmeyer -- or vice versa), as well as some additional information about each of the ten segments of music that are featured. This is definitely a holiday treasure, and can help young children appreciate the ballet even before they're old enough to sit through the whole thing.

Scrounged From: Amazon

Format: Hardcover
Author/illustrator: Jessica Courtney-Tickle
Pages: 24
Content Advisory: None

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Walter Wick is the photographer of the I Spy series, first published in 1992. His colorful, busy, intricate photographs of created scenery and cleverly arranged objects have captivated many children (and adults too!) since then, and kept us busy looking for all the hidden objects. No matter how much we look, it seems there are always new details to discover upon a second or third viewing.

His newer series, Can You See What I See?, includes Night Before Christmas, in which the title of each picture is a snippet from Clement Moore's famous poem, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Along with rhyming riddles full of objects to find, we are treated to beautiful, magical photographs featuring (among other things) winter scenery, decorated Christmas cookies, stockings hung by the fire with care, and lastly, the shadow of Saint Nick himself as he stops to deliver presents. 

The anticipation of Christmas is alive and well in this book!

Scrounged From: Our local library

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Walter Wick
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: None

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