Holiday Picks: Pete the Cat Saves Christmas

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

Written by Eric Litwin.  Illustrated by James Dean.  New York: Harper, 2012.

It's the day before Christmas, and Santa is sick!  Stuck in bed with a cold, will Christmas be cancelled?  Never!  Santa calls Pete the Cat to save the day.  Pete hops into his minibus for a "road trip" and delivers all the toys to boys and girls because you "give it your all, give it your all.  At Christmas we give, so give it your all."

This is another really cute book in the Pete the Cat series.  It's also a unique take on the "Night Before Christmas" story.  What makes it even better is the groovy song you can download from HarperCollins.  It makes reading the book aloud even better!  What is your favorite Pete the Cat book?

Holiday Picks: Funny Books for Grownups

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

I don't usually suggest adult books on this blog, but I'm making an exception this time.  I came across some Christmas books we have in our humor collection at the library, and I thought they would be fun to share with you.  You could use a laugh, right?

Rock Your Ugly Christmas Sweater
by Anne Marie Blackman and Brian Clark Howard
Philadelphia: Running Press, 2012

This hilarious book pays homage to the Christmas sweater.  Colorful, sometimes tacky and gaudy, you know you've seen some special ones.  Nowadays, many offices hold Ugly Christmas Sweater contests as part of their holiday celebrations.  This book is full of photographs complete with captions that will make you spit eggnog out of your mouth if you try to read this book while drinking.  I'm just saying, it could happen.  Funny stuff, this book.

Scared of Santa: Scenes of Terror in Toyland
by Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins
New York: William Morrow, 2012

Up there with clowns on the terror factor for kids is...Santa!  Who knew?  This book is full of pictures of children in their full-blown "get me off the lap of this scary man" tantrum, while their parents click away with their cameras, capturing the "joy" for years to come.  The pictures say it all, but the captions make them funnier.  I love the variety of pictures through different generations.  The poor kids.  I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help myself.

Wreck the Halls: Cake Wrecks Gets "Festive"
by Jen Yates
Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011

If you haven't heard about Cake Wrecks, you don't know what you are missing.  A popular website devoted to professional cakes that have gone wrong, wrong, wrong, it is funniness on a cake.  This book is a compilation of some of the author's favorite holiday cakes, starting with Thanksgiving and going through New Year's Day.  I love her captions.  They are spot-on, and I dare you to try not laughing when looking at some of these cake monstrosities.

What are some of your funniest holiday memories?

Holiday Picks: A Charlie Brown Christmas

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

Dir. Bill Melendez.  Paramount, 2000.  DVD.

Originally broadcast on television in 1965, this heartwarming and funny cartoon written and created by Charles M. Schulz is the ultimate Christmas classic for me.  Featuring the gang from the Peanuts comic strip and a jazzy soundtrack composed and performed by Vince Guaraldi, it isn't Christmas until I've watched this cartoon.  Charlie Brown is having a predicament.  It's Christmas, and he's supposed to be happy, but he just isn't.  He feels the holiday is too commercial, and he doesn't know what the true meaning of it is.  Lucy decides if he directs the holiday play, that it will put him in the spirit of the season.  With the help of Linus, Charlie Brown and the gang remember what Christmas is all about.

I love, love, love this cartoon!  My favorite scene is Linus reciting the Christmas story from the Bible on stage.  I also love the little Christmas tree that Charlie Brown finds, and how the entire Peanuts gang helps decorate it for him.  And Snoopy.  Gotta love Snoopy and his antics.  This cartoon is a gem, and a must-see with your family.  Who is your favorite Peanuts character?

Holiday Picks: Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

By Robert Barry.  New York: A Doubleday Book for Young Readers, 2000.

Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree arrived by special delivery - it was fresh, it was full, and it was the biggest tree he'd ever seen.  Once it is put in the parlor, he realizes that it is too big - the top is bent!  So, the top is snipped off.  The top is presented to Miss Adelaide, the upstairs maid.  When she puts it on her table, it's too big, the top is bent, so she snips it off and puts it in the trash.  Timm, the gardener discovers it, and not wanting the little tree to be thrown out, takes it home.  But, his wife doesn't need to whole tree, so she cuts off the top and throws it out the window.  And so on, the top is snipped off until it's just right for a little family of mice.  "Oh, wasn't it grant to have a tree - exactly like Mr. Willowby?"

This adorable book is perfect to share with preschoolers.  They will love the repetition of the story line and seeing how the tree gets smaller and smaller, and how each family celebrates with their tree.  The illustrations are cute, and you can see the excitement when each character comes across the little tree.  What are some of your tree trimming traditions?

Holiday Picks: A Christmas Carol

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

Written by Charles Dickens.  Illustrated by Brett Helquist.  New York: Harper, 2009.

This classic holiday novel by Charles Dickens' is adapted to share with school-age children.  The story of Ebenezer Scrooge is shortened and beautifully illustrated, which makes it perfect for sharing with your family this holiday season.  Scrooge is all "Bah, Humbug!" about Christmas.  He is grouchy and grumbles about Christmas, and is very stingy with his money.  On Christmas Eve night, he is visited by the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future.  Seeing his life as it was and how it could be if he doesn't change his behavior, Scrooge receives a true insight into how his nature affects everyone around him.  Waking up Christmas morning, he is renewed with a joyful spirit and vows to make amends.  He becomes a better friend and master, and a better person because of it.

This beloved story is adapted quite well for a younger audience, giving them enough of the original story to make a great read aloud, without being too long to lose the attention of younger children.  The illustrations are vibrant, and full of beautiful details.  Kids will enjoy hearing this story.  Is this something you read each Christmas?

Holiday Picks: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

Dir. Chuck Jones.  Warner Home Video, 2006.  DVD.

This is another one of my favorite holiday cartoons!  Originally broadcast on television in 1966 and based on the picture book, this is something I have to watch every December.  The Grinch is true to his name - grumpy, grouchy, and not a fan of Christmas.  He lives atop a mountain overlooking the town of Whoville, and every year has to endure their Christmas celebrations.  He decides to stop Christmas from coming and ruin the Who's Christmas by stealing their presents, decorations, candy and food for their Christmas dinner.  But, he discovers that Christmas is not all about presents and food.  It means a little bit more.  Be sure to share this classic with your family this Christmas season.  Do you have a favorite movie you "must" watch each Christmas?

Holiday Picks: Sad Santa

With snow in the forecast, temperatures dropping, and people digging out their mittens and hats, it's officially December!  Enjoy a holiday pick each day before Christmas.

By Tad Carpenter.  New York: Sterling Children's Books, 2012.

It's December 26, and Santa has a case of the "ho-ho-hums."  He's sad because Christmas is over, and there are no more toys to make, or presents to wrap.  Everything is less cheery - the candy canes aren't as minty and the decorations aren't as twinkly.  The elves try to cheer up Santa, but nothing works, so they call in the boss - Mrs. Claus.  She decides a vacation is just the cure for the post-Christmas blues, but Santa still can't cheer up, until he receives a letter from a boy requesting things that would make his family happy next Christmas.  He remembers the real meaning of the holiday season is giving and caring, so vows to live each day like it is Christmas.

This is a worthwhile book to share with your children, especially if they are feeling some sadness that the holiday is over.  It's good to reiterate the real meaning of this holiday.  I love the illustrations!  They are done in red, aqua, brown and white, which stand out nicely against the grocery store brown paper that make up the pages.  Do you still celebrate Christmas after the holiday is over with?