Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Holiday Books

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Holiday Books:

10. "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (aka "The Night Before Christmas") by Clement Clarke Moore - Not actually a book (it's a poem), but a classic nevertheless.

9. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum - This book is an interesting take on the legend of Santa Claus.

8. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - In tough economic times, we could all learn a thing or two about celebrating frugally... and about what's truly important.

7. The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams - I chose this one because the eponymous rabbit was a Christmas gift, but also because it's such a cute story.

6. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg - A beautiful story about the power of belief.

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - Family and friendship are celebrated by the March sisters in this classic.

4. The Olden Days Coat by Margaret Laurence - My parents gave me a beautiful hardcover edition of this book when I was a child.  It's a story about magic and family that takes place at Christmas.

3. A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd - The short stories that ended up in the movie of the same name (one of my favourite Christmas movies of all time!) are collected in one volume.

2. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary - I love all the Ramona books, but this one takes place during the autumn after Mr. Quimby has lost his job and details the family's celebrations of Halloween and Christmas.

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss - I was never a big fan of this one until high school.  Then I got to experience our high school's tradition of one of the teachers (who, being British, had the perfect English accent) read this book to the whole school.  There's really nothing more amazing than realizing you're sitting amongst about a thousand teenagers who are all sitting, completely rapt, listening to a teacher read a picture book.

5 comments:

  1. I like your eclectic list. I love the Velveteen Rabbit, though I've never thought of it being a Christmas story before now that I think of it, it works!

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  2. I didn't know that "A Christmas Story" (also one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time)came from short stories. Now, I've got to get them! And yes, we have a few in common.

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  3. Ooooh you have some good ones here! When I was younger I loved Little House in the Big Woods. And yay for Ramona!

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  4. Just added Olden Days Coat to my wishlist at Amazon. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    Here is my list of Top Ten Books to Read During the Holidays.

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  5. I had Little Women on my list. I won't get around to it this holiday season but it is the perfect read! I used to LOVE The Velveteen Rabbit! What a wonderful list!

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