As a child I always asked for books at Christmas time. For some reason they rarely materialized. One year I was given two beautiful hardback books with colored plates: Little Women and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. Both are proud members of my book collection to this day.

My own children have a whole basket of holiday reading, from the mundane to the transcendent. This week I’m offering three charming tales sure to be Christmas classic. (Next week: beautifully illustrated nativity tales.)

Little Tree
e.e. cummings
Deborah Kogan Ray, illustrator

“little tree, little silent Christmas tree you are so little, you are more like a flower…”

My husband is a fan of e.e. cummings, and I gave him this beautiful watercolor of a book one Christmas when we were dating. Now we read the gentle story of Little Treeto our own children on quite nights beside our Christmas tree. It’s out of print now, but you can still find a few gently used copies here. Today’s Flavor: Rhythmic and lovely.

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

Gloria Houston, author

Barbara Cooney, illustrator

An Appalachian mother and daugther are determiend to retireve the mountain top Christmas tree Papa had earmarked before he left for the war. The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree is a simple, lovely tale about making do and making merry where a wedding dress becomes angel garb, and a clever mother finds a way to make her daughter’s Christmas wish come true. Well researched to capture the reality of Appalachian life and beautifully illustrated by Barbara Cooney, this can quickly become a Christmas classic in your home. Today’s Flavor: Nostalgic and hopeful.

P.s. Ms. Houston also wrote the fantastic My Great-Aunt Arizona and Ms. Cooney illustrated the wonderful Miss Rumphius.

Red Ranger Came Calling
Berkeley Breathed

Ohmylord, there cannot possibly be a more hilarious and charming tale than Red Ranger Came Calling, the story of a sour little boy and a disinhearted old …Saunder Clos? Berkely Breathed famed creator of Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, travels back to his childhood haunts on Vashon Island to illustrate a cheeky tale that’s sure to delight. Santa is down in the dumps and “visitors not recieved with zesty jolliness at the moment.” But by-gum, the Red Ranger of Mars is going up to his house to find out what happened to his “Official Buck Tweed Two-Speed Crime-Stopper Star-Hoper Bicycle.” What he finds there…well, I don’t want to give it all away. Suffice it to say that this comically illustrated book is a sure fire hit in our high-drama household. Today’s Flavor: Firey and fun.

Click on the links in this post to order these items, or any items at Magpie Suggests, and your purchases will help fund this site. Thank you for your support!

I know it’s cutting it close, but on this day before Thanksgiving, I’d like to review some books for the diners who are sitting at the kids table.

The first is The Night Before Thanksgiving“>. Like the characters in this book, my children and their cousins giggle about the same things I snickered over with my cousins — goofing off at the kid’s table, putting olives on our fingers, and eating leftover turkey sandwiches. Nostalgic and fun.

The second is a more artful story The Very First Thanksgiving Day, which touches on the fact that we Western Europeans owe our very survival on this continent to the Native Americans who shared their skills and bounty with our ancestors so many years ago. Beautiful illustrations and a repetitive rhythm children love. Artful and insightful.

My eight year old daughter fell in love with this book, which she read to her two year old cousin last week. It’s not about our Fall holiday, but it does a lovely job of encouraging gratitude. Give Me Grace is short enough to memorize in a couple of readings, and the alluring illustrations feed the eye as well as the soul. Bright and meaningful.

Finally, I’d like to recommend this pretty, classic story. Ox-Cart Man is not directly about Thanksgiving, but it’s cyclical story of growing-and-harvesting captures the turning of the seasons, while it’s spare bounty quietly instills a since of gratitude amongst our overly-modern children. Classic and grateful.

Click on the links in this post to order these items, or any items at Magpie Suggests, and your purchases will help fund this site. Thank you for your support!

The Daring Book for Girls
Miriam Peskowitz

When I was a child, I found a book of games on my great grandmother’s shelf. The author wrote it for her goddaughter in 1924, and it is full of things she and her 13 neighboring cousins played. I only had two cousins nearby, but we spent many a rainy day flipping back and forth through the book, scheming about what we would play when the clouds finally cleared.

The Daring Book for Girls is just such a book, updated for the modern girl. Filled with stories, facts, games, and activities, nearly any girl can find something to catch her fancy. The mechanical gal among us might use it to build a scooter. Someone on their way to camp might take it in the car to read up on female explorers, and then turn the page to figure out how to paddle the camp canoe. And just about any girl would want to know how to levitate a pal at a slumber party!

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what a real, live girl has to say:

“This is the kind of book that you read while you are trying to do something new. I like the cool science experiments like the lemon-powered clock. My sister and I liked the jump rope songs and we learned new hand-clapping games. I also learned how to tie a bandana, how to run a lemonade stand, and how to make a sit-upon when we go camping.” (Eden, age nine)

Unlike reprinted ‘remember when’ books, author Miriam Peskowitz keeps things current by including items no vintage writer would have even considered for girls: science facts, sports how to’s, financial information, and things involving tools and pocketknives are peppered throughout the guide. The author also includes stories about women of color—like the espionage adventures of singer Josephine Baker, or the surprise discovery of Sara Culberson, a modern-day tribal princess of Sierra Leone. Other multi-cultural nods include the stories of ancient queens from around the world, how to tie a sari, and illustrations which include children of various skin colors. And The Daring Book for Girls sounds even better in Spanish: El Libro Aventurado para las Chicas!

One more added bonus…you can pick up a beautiful hard-bound copy for under twenty bucks!

This is just the kind of book a favored aunt would give her spunky niece. And aren’t you lucky—it’s here just in time to give a girl you love the gift of adventure this holiday season! (Click here to buy in English or in Spanish.)

This review is sponsored by MotherTalk. The reviewer did not recieve compensation for this review.

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports
James Patterson

It’s the near distant future and the fate of humanity is in the hands of ….a bunch of kids with wings???? In this fast-paced ‘tween thriller human/bird hybrids escape from a group of mad scientists in order to save themselves – and half the world’s population – from extinction.

Best selling author James Peterson, best known for his upcoming book-turned-tv-series The Women’s Murder Club, into the youth market with the first in this series, Maximum Ride – School’s Out, Forever. Now with a website driven pre-teen following Peterson is rounding out the series while simultaneously prepping the whole thing for Hollywood.

Maximum Ride has been pitched as “what to read after Harry Potter,” but it doesn’t have the fantasy charm of Harry, nor is Patterson as skilled at writing to, but not down to young readers. This fast, fun book would be more accurately pitched as “Buffy meets the Transformers,” with a teenage heroine “Max” Ride taking the lead over a gang of six specially gifted child heroes. Kids 8-13 who like sci-fi and high tech thrillers will enjoy this book which includes everything that age group loves – teenage rebellion, a bit of kissing, and grown-ups who take the backseat to their brilliant, misunderstood children. Techy kids will especially enjoy the accompanying website which features a blog from Fang, one of the book’s main characters, along with pretty spiffy CG movie clips and lots of advance info on the series finale and the upcoming movies. (It’s brilliant marketing, to say the least. Maybe a mad scientist is working for the publisher…?)

Got a kid who would like this read? Maybe a reading-reluctant pre-teen boy you’re trying to entice into some summer reading? Tuck your email into the comments and one lucky reader will get to join Max and her gang on thrill seeking ride.

This review is sponsored by MotherTalk, but the reviewer has forgone any compensation for the review.

One of the best kid-author websites is Roald Dahl’s. Grown ups and kids alike would enjoy listening to inspiring artist’s interviews from this intriguing man who wrote on a lapdesk in what was essentially a backyard playhouse. Kids can play games, make wonky contraptions and send Roald Dahl postcards. Talk about your childhood wishes…it’s colorful, animated, and giggle producing.

The Sisters Grimm Series
Michael Buckley and Peter Fergeson

The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm, Book 2)
The Problem Child (The Sisters Grimm, Book 3)
Once Upon a Crime (The Sisters Grimm, Book 4)
Magic and Other Misdemeanors (The Sisters Grimm, Book 5)

This riveting series for the novel-reading set could easily be pitched as “Nancy Drew meets The Hobbit.” In these clever and exciting tales, two elementary-aged sisters travel through the world of the Ever Afters, meeting every fairy tale character imaginable while looking to rescue their kidnapped parents. In a twist on traditional tales, the villian of this series is the leader of the Red-Hand Gang — Red Riding Hood. My nine-year-old Eden has read the whole series at least four times through and keeps it on her bedside table at all times. Plus, it has a fun and vaguely spooky website where kids can get the scoop on the next installation and even drop an email to the author.

This beautiful picture book makes a slight twist on creation myths (truth bearing tales) in which God created the heavens and the earth. In this tale Mr. and Mrs. God set about experimenting in the creation kitchen and end up with creatures they’d never even imagine. Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen is especially nice for families who are trying to form a generous, creative spirituality in their homes. Cleverly told and intriguingly illustrated this is a great book for giving your children a vivid example of how we try to explain the mysteries of our orgins.