- “A Visit from Saint Nicolas”, Clement Clark Moore
This poem, better known as “The Night Before Christmas”, was first published in 1823 and helped to establish the popular figure of Father Christmas as a jolly old man in his fur-trimmed suit who will bring presents to children once they are asleep. This would be an ideal bed-time story on Christmas Eve, encouraging your children to stay “nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar-plums dance in their heads.”
- “The Gruffalo” and the “Gruffalo’s Child”, Julia Donaldson
With wonderful rhymes and emotive illustrations by Axel Scheffler, these books by the Children’s Laureate are not directly related to Christmas the plucky and clever little mouse is bound to be popular whatever the season. The Gruffalo’s Child does also include lots of lovely snowy scenes as well. The Gruffalo is also available as a ‘touch and feel’ book, ideal for including younger siblings who may prefer a hands-on approach to bedtime stories.
- “Dear Santa”, Rod Campbell
In a similar vein to Rod Campbell’s ever-popular “Dear Zoo”, a child’s letter to Father Christmas leads him to consider several gifts before deciding on the right one. Each page has a flap to lift, revealing the present before Santa rules it out. On the final page he finds the perfect gift!
- “The Jolly Christmas Postman”, Janet and Allan Ahlberg
You may remember this book from your own childhood as this story celebrates its twentieth birthday this year (where did the time go?!). Follow the Jolly Postman as he does his pre-Christmas round, delivering gifts to the population of fairy tale characters. Children can help open the envelopes received by Little Red Riding Hood, Humpty Dumpty and their friends to reveal what has been sent to them. Lots of fun surprises and things to share in this one.
- “That’s not my…” series, Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells
The popular touch and feel picture books include a number of titles with a Christmas flavour such as “That’s not my Santa”, “Snowman” and “Reindeer”. Each page has a large colourful illustration with a tactile area to help children connect senses with language development “That’s not my Santa, his hat is too soft” and so-on. You can also engage older children by asking them to find the mouse hiding in every picture.
