Reading through the Holidays: Preschool through High School
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Hot chocolate, a blanket, a cozy couch, and a few favorite holiday reads. Picture books welcome us to tables with families and stables under starlight where we can count and pretend. Other books invite us into history, to meet people and walk through events. As weather cools and the holidays approach, I look forward to moments of reading and learning together.
Thanksgiving reminds us it is time to pull Reeve Lindbergh's poetic Johnny Appleseed from our picture book shelf. It is definitely one of our fall holiday favorites.
Our family's favorite Christmas story is found in the gospel of Luke. It is central to our home. However, over the past twenty-seven years of reading to littles and bigs, we have also enjoyed other literary treasures. We've all come to anticipate the month of December, a time when we read, reread, and compare Christmas stories from around the world.
What are some of our favorite holiday reads?
We've compiled our list of holiday classics just for you!
Thanksgiving for Littles
- The Thanksgiving Story, Alice Dalgliesh
- The Little Red Hen, Paul Galdone
- The Very First Thanksgiving Day, Rhonda Gowler Greene
- Ox-Cart Man, Donald Hall
- Johnny Appleseed, Reeve Lindbergh
- Why Do Leaves Change Color?, Betsy Maestro
- How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, Marjorie Priceman
Thanksgiving for Middles
- A Lion to Guard Us, Clyde Robert Bulla
- Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, Clyde Robert Bulla
- The Courage of Sarah Noble, Alice Dalgiesh
- Landing of the Pilgrims, James Daugherty
- Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving, Eric Metaxas
Thanksgiving for Bigs
- The Mayflower Compact (primary source)
- Of Plimouth Plantation, William Bradford (primary source)
- The Courtship of Miles Standish, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poem)
Thanksgiving Family Read Togethers
- Pocohantas and the Strangers, Clyde Robert Bulla
- The Matchlock Gun, Walter Edmunds
Thanksgiving Poetry
- We Gather Together, Adrianus Valerius (hymn)
- My Triumph, John Greenleaf Whittier (poem)
Christmas for Littles
- The Mitten, Jan Brett
- Christmas for 10, Cathryn Falwell
- The Stable Where Jesus Was Born, Rhonda Gowler Greene
- The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale, Angela Elwell Hunt
- 12 Days of Christmas, Rachel Isadora
- The Crippled Lamb, Max Lucado
- Gingerbread for Liberty, Mara Rockliff
- The Polar Express, Chris Van Ausburg
- Room for Little One: A Christmas Tale, Martin Waddell
- Owl Moon, Jane Yolen
Christmas for Middles
- The Little Match Girl, Hans Christan Andersenn
- The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry
- Silent Night: The Story and Its Song, Margaret Hodges
- The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis
- The Call of the Wild, Jack London
Christmas for Bigs
- A Country Christmas, Louisa May Alcott
- Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Christmas Family Read Togethers
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Barbara Robinson
Christmas Poetry
- Christmas Trees, Robert Frost
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore
As the fall and winter holidays approach, gather littles and bigs. Enjoy the sights and sounds, but also the literary treasures of the times. Perhaps a new read will become your family's favorite.
