Our Favorite Mainstream Holiday Books

Here at Christian Children's Book Review, we've posted about many Christian Thanksgiving and Christmas books for kids, but today we wanted to share a few of our mainstream or secular holiday favorites.

Christine tells me her favorite mainstream Thanksgiving book is The Thanksgiving Bowl, by Virginia Kroll. She describes the book this way:

"Grandma Grace had a Thanksgiving tradition. When you arrived at her house, you used the pad of paper and pencil on the hallway table to write down what you were thankful for and placed your paper in the 'Thanksgiving Bowl.' After all the food had been eaten, while everyone still sat at the table, Grandma read each note in turn and all in attendance at the meal tried to guess who might have written each note."

Sounds like this book could be the start of a new Thanksgiving tradition in your house, too.

Robin says her favorite mainstream Christmas book is out of print, but still available through many online sources. She writes:

"Norman Rockwell’s Christmas Book has something for all ages, and there’s much more than the beautiful, nostalgic paintings. My children love the poetry and traditional hymns. I love the short fiction section and the Bible stories of the first Christmas. There is even a Christmas Dinner menu from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 cookbook, featuring Roast Goose with Potato Stuffing."

Happily, this book will be re-released this year.

Personally, I can't imagine Christmas without reading classics like A Christmas Carol, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Night Before Christmas.

My favorite edition of the latter has illustrations by Mary Engelbreit, whose work is vivid, colorful, detailed, and always lots of fun. Her edition of The Night Before Christmas is outstanding.

My daughter also really loves Engelbreit's Merry Little Christmas, which is an A to Z guide to Christmas through the eyes of a mouse family. Although it mentions Santa and elves, there is one mention of the true meaning of Christmas: "A is for angel/Atop a tall tree/Aglow with the light of/What Christmas should be."

In our families, we keep the focus of Thanksgiving and Christmas on God, but sometimes its fun and useful to delve into classics (or the future's classics) for a glimpse at what we can be thankful for, how Christmas was celebrated in the past, and how we should treat others. Consider adding a few mainstream classics to your family bookshelf this holiday season!