The holiday season is in full swing, and I started to think about holiday chapter books. HarperCollins has re-illustrated and re-issued the Christmas Stories from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I remember reading the full series when I was nine years old and being struck by the simplicity and joy in the Christmas celebrations by Laura and her family. How a stocking with an orange and some nuts and a candy cane was celebrated with great enthusiasm and sincere appreciation.
Christmas Stories: Little House Chapter Book #5 by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Illustrated by Ji-Hyuk Kim (Re-illustrated edition, HarperCollins, August 2017)
Another favorite that I actually discovered years after it came out was Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. How can you not fall in love with the Herdman's? I think I appreciated this story more as a young teacher than I would have as a child.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson, Illustrated by Judith Gwyn Brown (HarperCollins, 1988 - other editions by other publishers beginning in 1972)
Both of these books are perfect independent chapter book reads for 2nd and 3rd graders, but can be enjoyed as read alouds for younger children or revisited by older readers who want a moment of nostaglia.
If anyone has a favorite holiday chapter book that features holiday traditions other than Christmas, can you include the title in the comments?
All journeys have a starting place.
This is a weekly place to find books and tools
that you may use with readers at the start of their reading journey.
Join in the conversation at #road2reading.
Each week, Michele Knott and I post about new early readers and transitional chapter books.