Christmas Classics

As Christmas Day approaches, we all love to read books to get ourselves into the spirit of the holidays. These three books are well-loved classics and I always like to read them during this time of year.

 

 

Title: A Christmas Carol

Author: Charles Dickens
Illustrator: Quentin Blake
Publisher: Pavilion Children's Books
Published: 2008
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

This book is already a Christmas classic, but this beautiful edition with Quentin Blake's illustrations is a definite favourite of mine. A lot of people find Dickens hard to read but this story is shorter than most of his other novels. Additionally, the lively pictures make the tale easy to follow and help to introduce children to his novels. In this story, the cynical miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve and learns the true meaning of Christmas: embracing the spirit of it and giving to the less fortunate. There is a wide variety of memorable characters including Scrooge himself and the innocent Tiny Tim to whom he gradually becomes closer, eventually becoming like a second father.

 

 

Title: Eloise at Christmastime

Author: Kay Thompson
Illustrator: Hilary Knight
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 1999
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

This lively and vibrant book tells the story of Eloise, a lively young girl who lives in a hotel with her nanny and how she is getting into the spirit of the Christmas holidays. The story is told in rhyme with a recurring musical theme throughout and the pictures are full of energy, with the simplistic colour palette of red, black and white making them stand out. The cast itself is also memorable and endearing, with other characters such as the Nanny, Eloise's pets and the friends who live inside and outside the hotel celebrating with the protagonist. This has to be my favourite instalment in the classic Eloise series.

Title: The Night Before Christmas

Author: Clement C Moore
Illustrator: Arthur Rackham
Publisher: Chancellor Press
Published: 1985
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

Originally called “A Visit From Saint Nicholas”, this classic narrative poem tells the story of a father who witnesses Father Christmas visit his family home on Christmas Eve. The event is described in full detail, with vibrant descriptions of Father Christmas himself and what he does upon arriving at the house. The rhyming makes the poem fun to read and its fast pace perfectly matches the lively mood of Christmas. I especially recommend the edition with illustrations by Arthur Rackham or the pop-up retelling by Robert Sabuda.

Title: The Night Before Christmas

Author: Clement C Moore
Illustrator: Robert Sabuda
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2002
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

Poetry Books

As it is National Poetry Day I thought I would include a few reviews of books that I like. I love reading poetry and read a poem every night before I go to bed.

Title: A Great Big Cuddle
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Chris Riddell
Publisher: Walker
Date of Publication: September 2015
Format: Hardback
Source: My own copy

This book involves poems written by former children’s laureate Michael Rosen and illustrated by current children’s laureate Chris Riddell. It is designed for especially young children and so features poems that are easy to read and fun to participate with such as “The Button Bop” and “Hello Goodbye”. The poems feature a lot of repetition that very young children will appreciate and there are funny poems as well as more deep and meaningful ones that will appeal to all ages. These poems encourage the child to join in when they are read aloud and will inspire a life-long love of poetry.

All of the poems are simplistic yet entertaining at the same time, and the light-hearted illustrations that Riddell provides match them very well. The characters that appear on each page, such as the multi-coloured monkeys in “Hello Goodbye”, will appeal to children and their parents as well. The design and layout of the book is excellent and the colours and fonts help the poems and pictures to stand out. Overall, this is a must-have for young children and their parents, as well as anyone who likes to have a fun poem to read aloud and join in with.

Title: Read Me... series
Author: Gaby Morgan, Louise Bolongara, Nick Toczek and Paul Cookson
Illustrator: Georgie Ripper
Publisher: Macmillan
Date of publication: Various
Format: Paperback
Source: My own copies

The “Read Me…” series is designed with schools in mind and each collection features 366 poems, one for every day of the year. The first two books are “Read Me 1” and “Read Me 2”, but now other books have been released for the series that explore different types of poems. For example, “Read Me First” includes poems designed for younger children, “Read Me And Laugh” includes funny poems and “Read Me Out Loud!” includes poems that can be read out by one or more persons.

All of the poetry collections feature a variety of poems from old to new in many different forms. The collections include works by well known and less well known poets as well as many by anonymous authors. The poems included are engaging and will appeal to different people whether they are old and young. I feel that it’s also a treat to have a different poem to read every day. It gives the reader a chance to discover different poets and styles and will inspire them to search out more of the same elsewhere. Additionally, there are illustrations by Georgie Ripper included in “Read Me First” that children will love for their appealing nature. For these reasons, these books are a must-have for schools, families and people who just like to have a good poem to read everyday.