Holiday Reading: Secular Titles

Okay, friends, here is part two of the holiday posts.  As a school teacher, I've come across some great books for all kinds of holidays, so here are a couple of my favorites:

• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  Follow the hysterical journey as the Herdmans bully their way into a small town's Christmas pageant.  I love this book so much I still read it every year, even as an adult.
• It's Christmas by Jack Prelutsky.  A super fun book of poetry, and I can vividly remember buying this book from the Scholastic book club in the fifth grade.  Not only that, but I got to go and read it to a kindergarten class.  You will adore the poems-they are both silly and heartwarming.  I read the poems (out of the same book) to my classroom every year.
• Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco.  I could write a whole post on her, but this book is about a young child who accompanies Santa and their flight.
• Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco.  If your kid doesn't believe in Santa anymore, this is a wonderful story that weaves both Christmas and Hannukah traditions together in one book. A great story of God's ultimate plan.
• The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco.  Another beautifully written story for those too old for St. Nick.  This one, too, incorporates elements of Christmas and Hannukah.  A wonderful story about giving being better than receiving. 
• The Mitten by Jan Brett.  If you have younger children, they will love this tale of a small boy who loses a mitten and all the animals who come to dwell there.  The illustrations alone tell the story!
• The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg.  No explanation necessary.
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss.  Again, do we really need to delve into an explanation about why this is on the list?

Okay, that's it for now.  Happy reading!