I
must have been
extra special good
this year! I have
so many books to put on
my holiday list for you that
I just can’t decide which
ones to share. It is like a
wish book of holiday gifts
for the imagination! It is a
buffet of Hanukah books!
It is a collection of Christ-
mas creations! It is the
beginning of a wonderful
wish list! So, as with most
of my decisions, I decid-
ed… why not share them
all!
For the young ones
you might consider the
following books:
In All Aboard the
Christmas Train (Abrams
Appleseed, New York, 2018, $9.99)
Nicole Mara and Andrew Kolb have
created a delightfully interactive book
that opens up into a 5-car train. Each
of the cars opens to reveal a different
Christmas scene inside with many de-
tails and suggestions of things to look
for. The reverse side of the train is the
winter wonderland through which the
train travels with lots of things to see
and find.
Another interactive book is A
Christmas
Advent
Story
(Bloomsbury, New York, 2018,
$14.99) written by Ivy Snow and
illustrated by Hannah Tolson.
Scenes of home, the outdoors,
and the city provide many plac-
es to hide gifts. On each page
there are numbered doors to be
opened to reveal another Christ-
mas surprise, and each one is
labeled. What a
great way to help
make that shopping
gift list, and it all
leads up to the big-
gest reveal of all…
Christmas Day!
What can be
12 WNY Family December 2018
and hot chocolate, and sun-
glasses and a map, air fresh-
ener, and fuzzy dice? What
exactly are they decorating?
If you haven’t figured it out
by now, you will just have
to ask Santa for the delight-
ful board book Decked Out
For Christmas (Abrams
Appleseed, New York, 2018,
$9.99) written and illustrat-
ed by Ethan Long.
PICK OF THE LITERATURE
— by Dr. Donna Phillips
more delightful than mice dressed up
like holiday elves… except maybe
these mice decorating for Christmas?
They start off with the usual things like
lights, a star, garland, ornaments and
candy canes, but then come snacks,
Granddad has been
asked to decorate the tree
but some of the decorations
have gone missing in The
Lost Christmas (Viking,
New York, 2018, $18.99)
written and illustrated by
b.b. conin (Brian Conin).
Just in time, his two grand-
children arrive to begin the
search. Through gentle artwork remi-
niscent of the 50’s and a simple story
line, we are directed to seek and find
the missing ornaments and gifts. Be
sure to look closely and read even the
very last page in the book. Surprises
are everywhere!
Merry Christmas Santa Claus
(Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 2018,
$6.99), written by J.L. Coppage and
illustrated by Melanie Matthews, take
a different look at Christmas Eve. As
Santa leaves on his journey, Mrs. Claus
begins to get ready for his return.
This board book, with tabs for
each page for easy turning, takes
us through her preparations with
the help of elves, animals, and
friends. The rhyming text and
colorful pictures makes this a
perfect book for young children.
Leave it to
Rosemary
Wells
and her Sophie to
entertain us and
maybe even take us
back to our child-
hood in Sophie’s
Christmas
Sur-
prise (Viking, New
York, 2018, $6.99).