Christmas books for Over 6s

Now for Advent Books to read to the over 6s. I love sharing these because there are so many opportunities to talk about the 'real meaning of Christmas', to consolidate work that classes have done in history units in class, to hark back to discussions in Circle Time and to draw on travel experiences.

1.  Cat in the Manger by Michael Foreman;  The Witness by Robert Westall;  Room For a Little One by Martin Waddell or any other nativity story where the point of view is changed. These three look at the story from the animals point of view. There are many others as well. The donkey's view also often appears in picture books. It is always interesting to be a bystander and report on an event and I enjoy asking students to do this themselves so these stories give them a starting point to form their own view. I read about a picture book this week that gives Joseph's view. How modern!

2.  Refuge by Anne Booth or Flight by Nadia Wheatley. While these two stories appear to tell the story of the journey to Bethlehem they also allow the reader to broaden the concept of Mary and Joseph's journey to encompass the plights of refugees in their journey in search of a safe place.

3. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie DePaola. I have included this as a folktale that explains why poinsettias are part of the Christmas tradition. If you can't find this, look for Cobweb Christmas  by Shirley Climo or  The Spider's Gift by Eric Kimmel  which are folktales explaining why we have tinsel on trees.

4. The Christmas Caravan by Jennifer Beck is a lovely story about Simon who wants to enter a competition. This gives you many opportunities to discuss competitions, decorating homes at Christmas and what is required to really appreciate Christmas. It also looks at Southern hemisphere Christmas traditions. Perhaps pair it with The Boxing Day Test by Sharon Willis.

5. Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and Susan Jeffers. While strictly speaking it is not a Christmas story it has snow and Susan Jeffers has used touches of red and green with the black and white of night and snow to evoke a very special setting in New England in Winter, when it is Christmas. The vellum cover on the book adds to the mystery and gives it the feeling of a present.

6. Silent Night  by Lara Hawthorne is a new book that brings this beautiful carol by Joseph Mohr to life by featuring the world's diversity as it moves through the lyrics. There are other versions though which highlight the origins of the carol. See Silent Night Holy Night which has beautiful Robert Ingpen illustrations and Silent Night which has Susan Jeffers' illustrations.

7. The Story Holly and Ivy by Rumer Godden. This story can just be read from the novel version, but I love the picture book edition illustrated by Barbara Cooney. I serialise it with my year 1 classes and right from the first sentence, 'This is a story about wishing.' they are hooked.

8. The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey by Susan Wojciechowski and P.J Lynch is another picture book which draws readers in, allows them to empathise with the characters and be surprised by the ending. The students love the foreshadowing and the lightening of the illustrations as the story progresses and Jonathan's demeanour changes.

9. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston and Barbara Cooney. I usually read this book to Year 2 in the week of  Remembrance Day in November. This makes the discussion of World War 1 and Ruthie's father's absence very pertinent. This is the nativity play story for older students. They revisit their nativity plays, the standing on chairs and the carol singing.

10. In Flander's Fields by Brian Harrison-Lever  and Norman Jorgenson tells the story of Christmas in the trenches during World War 1 when the fighting stopped, a robin is rescued and the soldiers sing Silent Night in English and German.


11. Fair's Fair  by Leon Garfield. This short chapter book has been published in many formats and with various illustrations. If you can't find the picture book version illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain read it to students without pictures and make them visualise for themselves because hers are so evocative that the rest pale to not be worth sharing.  This story about Jackson, an orphan is set in Victorian times and is told with such suspense that it is a bit scary but the ending is just what student readers require. A good friend found me a new copy of this at the Lifeline Book Fair, so you too could be lucky.

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and Quentin Blake. I recommend this to parents of avid readers because when they share it their children make comparisons with Fair's Fair and other books they have read at school and they bring it back saying what great discussions the family had. I grew up with this story as my father had a record of someone reading it that we listened to every Christmas.

Others not to be missed:
Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo; The Polar Express by Chris van Allsburg; Manger by Lee Bennett Hopkins; and Cat on the Hill by Michael Foreman.

Merry Christmas and happy reading.

10th December Emily Dickinson (1810 - 1886) E.H.Shepherd (1879 - 1976) Mary Norton (1903 -1972) Rumer Godden (1907-1998) Cornelia Funke (1958)

Wow, what a long list, so I need to keep each to a minimum.

A Word

Emily Dickinson

A word is dead
When it is said,

Some say.

I say it just

Begins to live
That day.

Emily Dickinson is an American poet (and the only one I have visited the home of), who led a very quiet existence, but still managed to write very profound poetry, and is probably best known in the children's literature world for poems such as Because I Could Not Stop for Death which most students get to study somewhere in their schooling and which is included in so many anthologies.

Ernest Howard (E.H.) Shepherd was an English artist and illustrator and is best known for his illustrations of A.A.Milne's Winnie-the -Pooh books. Every child recognises those gentle black and white drawings of those so human-like animals, Pooh, Eeyore, Kanga and Tigger.

Mary Norton is the English author responsible for two series of books which have been made into very successful movies and television series and as such they have become part of nearly everyone's childhood. They are The Borrowers, a series of books about a race of small, 15cm beings who live secretly in humans houses and borrow what they need and Bedknob and Broomsticks, which came about by renaming and amalgamating two of Norton's books The Magic Bedknob or How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons and Bonfires and Broomsticks.

Rumer Godden is also an English author. She wrote novels, poetry and biographies as well as for children. At this time of year I always enjoy reading her book The Story of Holly and Ivy to young children because they are always mesmerised by the fact that Ivy, who is a similar age to them is an orphan and is alone at Christmas wandering the streets looking for a family to have Christmas with. It certainly makes children think about what Christmas is really about.

And lastly, a living author, Cornelia Funke. She is German, but now lives in USA. She is best known probably for her fantasy trilogy that began with Inkheart, and Dragon Rider, but as it is too difficult for the children I teach she is better known with my students for her Ghosthunters series and her picture books. Next Christmas it sounds like children will be watching the movie of her book, When santa fell to Earth. Reading her website, it is inspiring to read that she started her working life as a social worker and now that she is a famous author she is giving back to many childhood charities.