Media Matters

 Picture book by Randall Goodgame. Could work as a Christmas or Easter book! Tells a parable from the NT, focuses on the surprising nature of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection, and encourages the reader to be ready for the second coming by loving God and loving others.

 Picture book by Steph Williams. This was a pretty fun retelling and explanation of the Christmas story. I could see kids enjoying saying an incredulous “Whaaat??” as it is repeated on many of the pages.

 Picture book by Susan Wojciechowski. A story about grief and healing and kindness and of course Jesus. Definitely wordy and for older kids and adults.

 Book by Matt Haig. This was a wonderfully entertaining audiobook, narrated by Stephen Fry. It is charming and sarcastic, occasionally over-the-top, and full of heart, with an overall theme of doing what is right. Note: there is a scene where a troll’s head explodes, played somewhat for laughs, which could be disturbing. The tone reminded me a lot of a Roald Dahl novel if that gives you an idea of what to expect. There is also some potty humor involving reindeer scat.

 Board book by Sandra Boynton. This is a silly nonsense version of the song Deck the Halls that is quite fun to sing.

 Picture book by Grace Maccarone This is a wonderful nativity book for ages 2-5. Simple rhyming text that tells the story in a meaningful way, paired with sweet illustrations.

 Picture book by Iza Trapani. I’m usually not a big fan of songs turned into books. But this author has created additional verses in which we travel the world, seeing the Christmas traditions of various cultures. It’s interesting and educational and the rhythm of the new lyrics works.

 Picture book by Mike Reiss. This was a funny tale about a city where every day is Christmas except for one “UnChristmas” day a year when everything is new and exciting (like going to school, receiving mail, watching non-Christmas movies, eating non-holiday foods, etc). A good conversation starter about how we need variety in order to appreciate things.

 Animated Christmas movie. This is a charming Santa origin story that teaches the moral: One small act of selflessness sparks another. Note: It has slightly older humor and a couple of slightly scary moments.

 Picture book by Gale Sears. A true story based on the author’s father as a boy. A story of family love and gift giving at its most thoughtful. This is a wordier picture book, better for older children.

 Christmas Picture book by Charles Tazewell. This was a favorite story for me as a child. Although of course the depiction of heaven is completely inaccurate, the story and sentiment and message about Jesus and love and gift-giving are wonderful!

 Novel by Charles Dickens. The classic tale of a life lived for self vs. a life lived for others. There are multiple movie versions, several different theatrical versions, and of course the book itself to consider.

 Picture book by Don and Audrey Wood Cute and quick for the younger crowd, and a great sequel to the original, the mouse at first wants to prevent the bear from stealing his presents. But when he realizes the bear doesn’t have any gifts to open, mouse brings Christmas to the bear.

 Picture book by Stephen Wunderli A wonderful true story of soldiers turning No Man’s Land into common ground. This book will be more appreciated by older children and adults who have some sense of what war is like, and can therefore appreciate how miraculous this Christmas truce was.

 Picture book by Sam Beeson What starts out as twelve days of hateful gifts to an enemy, is turned into a beautiful nativity by the gift of forgiveness.

 Picture book by Richard Schneider  My kids and I love this story of a little pine tree who uses its branches to bless the creatures around it. Unapologetically brings the tradition of Christmas trees back to Jesus.

Religious picture book by Angela Elwell Hunt. One of our favorites! And it can be used both at Christmas AND Easter!

 A Christmas picture book by Raymond Alden A sweet Christmas tale, with echoes of the story of the widow’s mite.

 Picture book by Dr. Seuss. A Christmas classic about how the cynical Grinch learns that Christmas isn’t about material things. There are also several movie versions. My favorite is the 2018 cartoon. It has great themes of love, kindness, and forgiveness.

This is a children’s chapter book by Barbara Robinson. It’s not often a book can be both riotously entertaining and spiritually insightful, but this story succeeds wildly. This is a great family read aloud at Christmas time.