December:
143. Jane Goodall (Little People, BIG Dreams series) by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara and Beatrice Cerocchi - A picture book for small children, I read this book about Jane Goodall's life specifically to give me an easy/quick overview of her life before I (eventually) move on to reading one of her books. I was surprised how well it was done. There's very little text, obviously, but it was a nice account of Goodall's life, and what motivated her to study chimpanzees and become an activist. The illustrations are great and there's some extra information after the story. Very nicely done.
144. Don't Let Them Bury My Story: The Oldest Living Survivor of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Her Own Words by Viola Ford Fletcher - The author of this book just died recently and my friend Carla posted a photo of the cover of this book, which of course I jumped on as I want to know everything about the Tulsa Race Massacre, an event that was so thoroughly suppressed that I heard literally nothing about it while growing up in Oklahoma. Viola Ford Fletcher was 7 years old, living in the prosperous Greenwood district in a nice house with her parents and siblings when the city was firebombed from planes, houses were burned, and residents shot. Her family escaped but was thrust into poverty and sharecropping. Her education stopped in the 4th grade. She had PTSD her entire life and actually slept in a chair with the light on while nobody was punished and the incident wasn't even acknowledged for over 70 years. While this book needed some more editing, her story was vividly told, horrific, and a moving example of how structural racism keeps people stuck in poverty.
145. The School for Cats by Esther Averill - (Accidentally photographed in both stacks, oops). Jenny Linsky is being sent to summer school. There's no teaching of math and English or the usual human subjects. Instead, the cats are taught about good behavior and manners. But, Jenny doesn't know anything about it and she's frightened. She arrives by train in a basket and hides. At night, she's put in a bed with log posts for scratching. Pickles the Fire Cat has brought his little fire engine and he uses it to scare Jenny up the chimney. From there, she ends up running away. But, eventually she returns when she overhears the excited chatter of two other cats who have arrived for summer school . . . and Pickles apologizes. Jenny enjoys the rest of her summer. The only thing I disliked about The School for Cats is that it comes after the others I've read but Jenny appears not to know Pickles, whom she met in an earlier book. Otherwise, another sweet story.
146. Ollie's Ski Trip by Elsa Beskow - Ollie waits and waits for snow to fall and when it finally does, he's able to go skiing with sandwiches in his pocket and a reminder to be home in time for supper. In the forest, Ollie meets Jack Frost, who is keeping things beautiful by breathing frost on them and chasing away the woman who cleans up in the spring. Jack Frost takes Ollie to see King Winter and there he meets the children who make things for Christmas, plays with them during their break, and is escorted home where he receives a pair of ice skates as a gift from the king. I read this one almost every December. It's tiny and charming. I love it.
147. The Story of the Snow Children by Sibylle von Olfers - Now we're cooking on the Christmas reads. I have to wonder if this is the origin of the ceramic Snow Babies. When a little girl sees snow babies, which she thinks are very large snowflakes, she goes outside and is invited to an ice castle, where she parties with a princess till she's exhausted. She is then taken home in a sleigh driven by polar bears. When I first read The Story of the Snow Children, I was dismayed that the mother was gone when the little girl left and could visualize a party of frantic people searching for her. But, in 1905, things may have been a bit different. And, now I just read it for the magic.
148. A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas - One of two books that I absolutely must read without fail every year, A Child's Christmas in Wales is poetic and silly and hilarious and charming and has a boys will be boys (but not in the worst of ways) feel to it. I love when the children throw snowballs into the smoke to try to help put out a fire, love hearing about the gifts that were appreciated and those that weren't, love the descriptions of snow and old uncles and aunts. It's lovely. Christmas is not right without it. Reminder: You can find a video of Dylan Thomas reading A Child's Christmas in Wales online.
149. A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates and Sebastià Serra Bonilla - I have the board book version of this book that I reviewed as a new release, way back when. I loved it and it made me chuckle but since I gave most of my children's review books away (to teachers and young mothers), my husband thought this one was fair game and gave it to a friend. It took quite a while for me to locate another copy but I still love it and have added it to the annual rotation. It's just what it sounds like, a pirate version of The Night Before Christmas with a Santa-like character who comes up from the deep of the ocean in a sleigh driven by sea horses and passes out gifts, the narrator pleased to receive a treasure map.
150. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg - I skipped this one in the 80s, ignored it even though it passed through the store in my bookseller days in the 90s, and have never seen the movie. But, I finally bought a copy, a year or two ago, and I'm happy to own it. I like the ending, in particular, about the bell that people lose the ability to hear when they stop believing. And, the illustrations.Van Allsburg certainly deserved his Caldecott medal.
151. The 12 Days of Christmas: A Pop-Up Celebration by Robert Sabuda - This book has an interesting story. I had one copy of this pop-up that was open and used to death, back in my bookstore days. Oddly, I also bought a second copy that was plastic wrapped and left it in a box. I only recently found and unwrapped it. Everything works fine and the pop-ups are beautiful, mostly white paper with some hints of gold (five golden rings). My only complaint is that the author used "gold rings" instead of "golden". I refuse to go there. It's golden, full stop.
152. The Little Reindeer by Nicola Killen - A book I bought a couple of years ago after seeing it recommended by a friend who has great taste in children's books, particularly in spotting beautiful illustrations, The Little Reindeer is a simple story of a girl who hears bells, goes outside to search for them, finds a collar, helps put it back on the reindeer who lost it, and gets a ride home. That's it. But, the illustrations and the little touches of foil and windows to peek through make the book so lovely that the simplicity of the story just feeds into the joy of reading it for the sake of the visuals.
153. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Suess - There's not much that hasn't already been said about the Grinch. However, I have to say that I still love this classic and as I was reading it, I thought that it's not only clever and heartwarming but one of the best books I've read in my pile, by far. I will always love how the Whos Down in Whoville sing even after their houses have been stripped of gifts, decorations, and feast, and the way their joy changed the Grinch. Perfect.
154. The Christmas Owl by G. Sterer, E. Kalish, and R. Kaulitzki - This is the true story of a tiny owl whose tree was chosen for display, cut down, and transported to New York City's Rockefeller Center with the owl trapped inside. Rehabilitated, the owl is set loose and then you get a little lesson in wildlife rehabilitation. I like this story as much for the memory of when it happened as the spectacular, colorful, evocative illustrations.
155. The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore and Antonio J. Caparo - Somewhere, I probably still have the childhood copy of The Night Before Christmas that was given to my sister and me, but if so I haven't been able to locate it for decades. This copy comes fairly close, although nothing is quite as beautiful as our original copy (I searched for one that I considered reasonably beautiful for years). I found this copy is most interesting for watching what the pets and the mouse do in each illustration, plus the fact that Santa looks just a little bit cheeky. Originally written in 1823 and beloved for good reason.
156. A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote and Beth Peck - One of the two stories I absolutely must read annually (the other, above, A Child's Christmas in Wales), A Christmas Memory is a bittersweet true tale of Truman Capote's last Christmas with his best friend, an elderly cousin, when he lived in a rambling Southern home. Together, young Truman (whom she calls "Buddy") and his friend gather ingredients, make fruitcake, find a Christmas tree to cut down and drag home, make ornaments, and then create kites for each other and enjoy flying them. This book tugs at my heartstrings like few others. I own a second copy that contains two other stories but this one's my favorite because it's illustrated like a children's book, although it's really a short story.
157. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree by Robert Barry - I used to have my childhood copy of Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, but it is another book that's been missing for ages. I finally decided to buy a new copy, last year, and I couldn't be happier to own it. Mr. Willowby's Christmas tree is too tall, so a little is lopped off the top. Each time the top finds a new owner, it's a little too tall for their space so it keeps getting smaller and smaller with each new tree owner thrilled to have a tree at all. Finally, it comes full circle with a mouse family saying, "Oh, isn't it grand to have a tree exactly like Mr. Willowby?" The illustration zooms out to show Mr. Willowby beside his tree and a lit-up mouse hole with its tiny treetop bit behind him. Perfect.
158. The Truth Pixie by Matt Haig and Chris Mould - I read this back when it was new and I don't recall what I thought about it, at the time, but I clearly liked it enough to hang onto. The Truth Pixie has been cursed. She can only tell the truth and most of the time, her truth-telling is hurtful. But, when she gets thrown far away by a troll, she encounters someone who is sad. Her life isn't going to go well for a while; the Truth Pixie knows this. But, it will improve and she shares that truth, as well. An upbeat little story.
159. The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - SPOILER ALERT -- I gave away a few plot points so please skip to where I say it's safe to read part of the review if you plan to read the book soon.
Miri's family and neighbors in Paris all escaped Berlin after Kristallnacht (which, I have recently read, is no longer being called by that name, meaning "The Night of Broken Glass"). Relocated to a district filled with other German Jews, her home is smaller but the family has been safe. Then, the Nazis load everyone onto buses and take them to a place called the Velodrome. On the bus ride to this biking stadium, her neighbor takes Miri's sweater with its golden star and hands her Nora, a toddler that Miri adores and thinks of as a surrogate sister, telling Miri to escape to Zurich.
Instead, Miri ends up being saved by a nun and transported to a small village on the border of Vichy France, where she must pretend to be a Catholic student to survive the war. But, Miri will not miss her chance if it comes up. After Nora is taken from her, can she locate her and get them to the Vichy side?
OK, it's safe now. You can read this last bit. A ghost, a fairytale castle, and daring night escapes round out this story to make it quite good and I definitely want to read more about Chenonceau. I've been familiar with the castle for ages but didn't know about its history during Nazi occupation. There is a resource list in the back of the book. Yay!
160. A Lot Like Christmas by Connie Willis - I've read some of these stories as the first Christmas book by Willis (title unknown) was absorbed into this one and I read that first book years ago. While I like Connie Willis and enjoy some of her Christmas stories, I had three specific favorites. Two were about aliens: visiting aliens with characters trying to figure out how to communicate with them; and, an invisible alien invasion that two characters were trying to stop. My other favorite was about snow falling all over the world and whether or not it was a scientific phenomenon related to climate change. What I'm saying here is, I'm happiest reading her sci-fi. I may keep this book specifically to reread the favorites. Some, I found a little overwhelming (so much going on — she can juggle a lot of characters and streams of thought) but I'm a Connie Willis fan, in general, so I'm glad I read it.
161. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs - When you're tired, you read board books. OK, yeah, usually I'm not quite that bad but I was super tired one night, and I just happened to have The Snowman on my Christmas stack, which was thinning dramatically by the 17th. The wordless story of a boy who builds a snowman, shows it around his house, and then goes on a magical, flying tour of the city with him is charming. I'm not a big fan of wordless books but this one's lovely and leaves you wondering if it was all real or a dream.
162. Journey into Christmas and Other Stories by Bess Streeter Aldrich - Wow, what an amazing library sale find. I've had this book floating around unread for a while – could not possibly guess how long. During our big summer book purge, I set it aside with the rest of the Christmas books and decided to make reading it a priority. And, now I want to read everything Bess Streeter Aldrich ever wrote. Originally published in the 1920s (my copy, 1963), the characters often reach back to the days of the Pioneers, reminiscing about their first sod houses on the Prairie or how one character or another accompanied Sherman on his March to the Sea. But, in general they're stories of family, life and death, the spirit of Christmas, how things change from one generation to the next, and the frustrations and joys of the season.
At the end of the book, the author talks about her own memories and how a grandmother from Scotland's life is described in one of her books, A Lantern in her Hand. I will definitely be looking for a copy of that book and Journey into Christmas will go on my rotation of Christmas books. A sweet, nostalgic set of stories of Christmases past, during hardship and good times. There's also quite a bit of mention of the Great Depression and various characters losing everything or thriving in spite of hardship, as well as various characters reminiscing about how lucky they were to keep most of their children alive, pre-vaccination.
163. Poetry for Kids: Walt Whitman, ed. by Karen Karbiener, illus. by Kate Evans - When I recently asked for suggestions for accessible poetry, Walt Whitman came up several times. I should be more familiar with Whitman. I found myself saying, "Oh, he wrote that?" a lot while reading this children's book of his poetry. I have a more complete volume but when I'm new (or newish) to a well-known poet, I often like to read a children's book first to dip my toes in the water, so to speak. While the descriptive parts vary in this series, overall I have loved them all and this is a particularly good entry in the series, as the additional info at the end of the book lists absolutely every poem and tells you what was going on in Whitman's life, what he was thinking, etc. There are also vocabulary words beneath each poem or excerpt and a nice introduction.
164. When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke - I've had this book for eons and came across it during our big summer book purge, setting it aside to read and determine whether or not it's worth keeping. Niklas Goodfellow is a Santa who flies around the sky until his only remaining reindeer is spooked by lightning. His harness breaks and the reindeer disappears while Santa's caravan falls to Earth. There, Niklas and his elves must repair the broken caravan wheels while preparing for Christmas and trying not to get turned into a chocolate Santa by the bad guy and eaten. When Santa Fell to Earth was unique, I'll give it that much, but it was a little too far out there for my taste and I won't be keeping it. However, I did like the relationship between the two children who befriend Niklas.
165. The Gospel According to James Baldwin: What America's Great Prophet Can Teach Us About Life, Love, and Identity by Greg Garrett - Another book read for the Contemplative Reading Project (which, I believe, has been renamed but I keep forgetting the new name), The Gospel According to James Baldwin is a book I'd been wanting to read so I'm glad friend Buddy gave me an excuse to buy it. Divided into chapters on what Baldwin had to say about various topics like faith, race, and literature, I loved this deep dive into what Baldwin had to say, how frustrated he became over the lack of progress he saw in his lifetime (to justice, to the ability of white people to stop creating and supporting racial division, etc.) and the bottom line: We can do better. A good book to read slowly, highlight, and discuss. Great for fans of Baldwin and people who understand that "justice" isn't an honest word and love isn't being spread widely enough. I plan to reread it with a highlighter pen and hope to read more of Baldwin's work in 2026.
166. The Madness Vase: Poems by Andrea Gibson (ebook/Hoopla) - The Madness Vase is apparently one of Andrea Gibson's early volumes of poetry and it was quite different from the recent release that I read after Gibson's death. The poems are longer and heavier on imagery/metaphor. But, there are similar themes. What I particularly feel like I get out of reading Gibson is the concept of what it's like to not feel like you fit either gender and how painful it is to be bullied and denied your identity. My favorite poem, though, was a poem in which Gibson talks about a homeless person who is ravenous getting chewed out for having bad manners after guzzling down a bunch of creamers at a church dinner. It reminded me of a defining experience at my home church as a pre-teen or young teen in which people in need were thought to have taken too much from the emergency food pantry. I thought that poem was discussion-worthy, as were many others. However, so many poems were too graphic/confessional for me that I considered not finishing the book and have mixed feelings about it. But, I decided to finish. In general, there was a lot of meaning in this book and I'm glad I read it.
167. The Wall by Marlen Haushofer - This was an "Instagram made me do it" book and I think it was the cover image (a cow on a white and blue background) that caught my eye. The narrator has gone to a hunting lodge with friends. Her friends go off for a walk and their dog comes back but they don't. When the narrator goes to see what's happened along with the dog, Lynx, she discovers that an invisible wall has descended and she may be the only person left alive. On the other side, every living creature has turned to stone. Left with a dog and eventually a cow and cat, she goes into survival mode and learns how to care for the animals while trying to also keep herself alive with minimal supplies. As in The Martian, potatoes are one of her main methods of survival. The book, originally published in 1963, takes place in Austria and has no chapter breaks and almost no white space because she talks about talking to the animals but there are never any actual quotations. For a time, The Wall was the book I picked up if I wanted a book to make me sleepy. However, I enjoyed it for many reasons. I love the dystopian concept because it always makes me think, "What would I do?" (in this case, I suspect I'd have died pretty quickly, having no idea what to do with a cow) and while it can be a little tedious, it's also fascinating because it's unique and has a feminist bent plus survivalism, which I always love reading.
Wow, what a way to end a year! I often read a stack of children's Christmas/winter titles in December, but not always. Sometimes, I just read a handful of favorites. This year, I'd read a few that were set aside on a shelf and then Huzzybuns came out of the guest room closet with a stack of Christmas books in his hands and said, "Hey, do you need these?" Of course, I read them all. In the midst of reading all the children's books, I was also reading Connie Willis's Christmas book and then I read the Bess Streeter Ulrich, and finally I finished up the Christmas reading with When Santa Fell to Earth, on Christmas Day. At that point, I declared myself done with Christmas reads entirely. I had some other books that were not Christmas-related going throughout the month, but they were clearly in the minority.
At any rate, I enjoyed reading a big enough stack of books that it had to be divided into two stacks and two flatlay photos (and one ebook image). It was a fun month. The sheer quantity of children's books I read in 2025 makes my numerical total misleading but it is what it is. I had a good reading year and I'm happy about it, although it was otherwise a challenging and often difficult year. I don't know if I'll make a favorites post. Probably not, but if I feel like it I'll get that done before the end of January. My full list of reads for 2025 will be posted in the morning. You should be able to click on each image for a larger view.
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