Festive reads for kids

A couple of weeks ago I smugly told you about our annual Book Advent. I thought we had our book list sorted, everything was wrapped and ready for December 1st.

Then I received some lovely festive books in the post to review. They are all serious contenders for our festive book list and now I’m not sure what to do. So, let me tell you a little more about them.

The first one is Socks for Santa by Adam & Charlotte Guillain, illustrated by Lee Wildish. This is the fifth instalment of the adventures of George, you may remember be shared a previous review of George in Spaghetti with the Yeti. Socks for Santa is a festive book so the adventures take place at the North Pole as George wants to make sure Santa gets presents for a change! But who will he meet on his shivery quest and how on earth will his woolly socks save the day?! This is a fun story told in rhyme and it was enjoyed by my 3 and 5 year old.

The second book we received was The Winnie-the-Pooh Winter Collection of Stories and Poems. This is a new collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories and poems by A.A. Milne with previously unpublished seasonal illustrations by E.H. Shepard. It includes 2 stories from Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner as well as several carefully selected poems from When We Were Young and Now We Are Six.

I haven’t read these since my own childhood so I was really keen to share them with my children. Luckily they’re both been enjoying the stories and poems which are the perfect length for them to enjoy. There is nothing particularly Christmassy about any of the stories or poems but most are linked by references to wintery weather which make them a great choice for this time of year.

The third book was Quentin Blake’s illustrated edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Again I haven’t read this since I was younger but I was excited to read it with my children. They both recognised the style of the illustrations as we’ve been reading plenty of Roald Dahl books lately.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the classic story of Christmas giving, brought to life by Quentin Blake. Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean miser, is visited by three ghosts one Christmas Eve. The ghosts show Scrooge the true value of Christmas: charity, good humour and love for his fellow man.

This is the original version unabridged which I’ve been reading with my 5 year old. The chapters are quite long so we’ve been taking this book slowly but we’re both enjoying reading it together. I thought he might find the language difficult but I think it’s challenging in a good way and great to try something new.

It looks like we will be adding these to our Book Advent, I’m sure no-one will notice if we extend it by a few days!

 

Socks for Santa by Adam & Charlotte Guillain is published by Egmont Publishing, priced £6.99

The Winnie-the-Pooh Winter Collection of Stories and Poems is published by Egmont Publishing, priced £12.99

Quentin Blake’s illustrated edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is published by Pavilion Children’s, priced £12.99