By Clement C. Moore , Harper Collins

Clement C. Moore (1779–1863), an American scholar and poet, first wrote The Night Before Christmas in 1822 to entertain his children. A friend submitted it to a local newspaper, The Troy Sentinel, where it was published on December 23, 1823. Moore's delightful description of St. Nicholas and his eight flying reindeer has since become the definitive portrait of Santa Claus.

By Dr. Seuss, Random House

In this holiday classic, the Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, hates Who-ville's holiday celebrations, and plans to steal all the presents to prevent Christmas from coming. To his amazement, Christmas comes anyway, and the Grinch discovers the true meaning of the holiday.

By Chuck Fischer, Bulfinch

This magnificent pop-up book will bring an unforgettable holiday festive treat right to your front door. Very highly recommended. See the city in all of its holiday glory in this magnificent pop-up book.

By Truman Capote, Knopf

A Christmas Memory is the classic memoir of Truman Capote's childhood in rural Alabama. Until he was ten years old, Capote lived with distant relatives. This book is an autobiographical story of those years and his frank and fond memories of one of his cousins, Miss Sook Faulk. The text is illustrated with full color illustrations that add greatly to the story without distracting from Capote's poignant prose.

By Mary D. Lankford, Harper Trophy

Take a look at the rich diversity of Christmas traditions found in 12 distinctly different cultures. A small amount of pertinent background information serves as an introduction to each entry, but the majority of the text discusses the special ways each culture celebrates the holiday. The book's attractive layout effectively uses repetition of color and theme, with each double-page spread of text and art surrounded by a decorative border. In addition to an extensive bibliography, the book features a small selection of craft activities, a helpful pronunciation guide, and an interesting selection of Christmas superstitions.

By Gloria Houston, Puffin

This unforgettable tale, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Barbara Cooney, has become a seasonal classic-a touching and joyful story about courage and the power of family.

By Cynthia Rylant, Scholastic

Full-page watercolor paintings decorate this warm, sentimental story loosely based on actual events. Rylant traces the origins of an Appalachian "Christmas Train" that travels through the mountains each year on December 23 to a rich man who wished to repay a debt of kindness he had received many years before. He faithfully returns and tosses silver packages from the caboose to the coal-town children who wait by the tracks. One such child is Frankie, who longs for a doctor's kit every year; instead he gets much-needed socks or mittens along with small toys. As an adult, he moves back to the town to live and work, having fulfilled his dream of becoming a doctor. With her clear, balanced, and well-paced storyteller's voice, the author builds the anticipation and excitement that the children, and especially Frankie, feel at the train's annual arrival. Although the heroic profile of this child-turned-man makes him more of a symbol than a real person, his story is capably told. The illustrations provide panoramic views of the Appalachian countryside, with deep nighttime blues and wintry colors, strengthening the sense of place. A well-rendered reflection on the importance of giving and sharing.

By Maida Silverman, Aladdin

Long ago in Jerusalem, the greedy king Antiochus IV ordered his soldiers to steal treasures from the Holy Temple. When the Jews tried to defend their temple, the furious king punished them harshly, and the Jews were forced to observe their faith in secret. But a brave man named Judah led his people, the Maccabees, against the king's armies. Victorious, the Jews restored the Holy Temple. They dedicated it once again to God in a joyous celebration -- the very first Hanukkah. Here is a moving retelling of a timeless story. Young readers will also find the legend of the menorah, instructions for making a dreidle, and the music for a traditional holiday song.

By Eric A. Kimmel, Holiday House

What are the poor villagers to do? The holiday-hating, hill-dwelling hobgoblins are bound and determined to ruin yet another Hanukkah for them. Every year the beasties snuff out the menorah candles, destroy the dreidels, and pitch the potato latkes on the floor. But these wicked wet blankets never counted on someone as clever as Hershel of Ostropol showing up. Using his wits and a few props--pickles, eggs, and a dreidel (a square-shaped top with Hebrew letters on each side)--Hershel manages to outwit all the creepy critters and break the spell. This fabulously creative adaptation of the ancient Hanukkah story in which the Syrians forbade the Jews to worship as they wanted, keeps the spirit of the original while adding a spine-tingling twist. Warmth and humor prevail, even in the midst of hopeless-looking circumstances. Award-winning illustrator Trina Schart Hyman creates lively and witty pictures that pair perfectly with Eric Kimmel's words to create this Caldecott Honor Book.

By Linda Glaser, Albert Whitman and Company

Rachel and her mother are busy preparing for their Hanukkah celebration. When eight more people are suddenly added to the guest list and there are no more potatoes in the cellar, Rachel goes next door to borrow some from Mrs. Greenberg. Every year the elderly woman is invited to join the girl's family, but she always refuses. This year, she is delighted to lend the potatoes, and then some eggs, and finally chairs, until Rachel has an idea. If Mrs. Greenberg won't come to them for Hanukkah, they'll just have to borrow her house and take the celebration to her. The lively watercolor illustrations add to the joy as smiling family members, with slightly elongated, constantly waving arms and long legs, fill the pages with motion and energy. Rachel's wide-eyed, pig-tailed innocence belies her understanding that Mrs. Greenberg is a lonely neighbor who still needs someone with whom to share the holiday. A lovely message, wrapped in a lighthearted story.

By Pearl S. Buck, Harper Collins

Originally published in 1955, this story has been illustrated and brought to life for a new generation. A man remembers a great discovery he made when he was 15 and living on his father's farm. A few days before Christmas he overhears his dad saying how much he hates having to wake his son at dawn for morning chores. As a special gift for his father, the boy gets up at a quarter to three on Christmas morning and does the milking by himself. Buehner illustrates these scenes, many taking place at night and illuminated by lanterns or by moonlight, with a sturdy, folksy, old-fashioned solidity. The hard life on a farm, the struggle to keep the family and animals warm and fed, is reflected on the parents' faces. Moving and tender, this is a fine choice for reading aloud or family sharing.

By Charles Dickens, Candlewick

The story of Ebenezer Scrooge opens on a Christmas Eve as cold as Scrooge's own heart. That night, he receives three ghostly visitors: the terrifying spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Each takes him on a heart-stopping journey, yielding glimpses of Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit, the horrifying spectres of Want and Ignorance, even Scrooge's painfully hopeful younger self. Will Scrooge's heart be opened? Can he reverse the miserable future he is forced to see? Now in an unabridged edition gloriously illustrated by the award-winning P.J. Lynch, this story's message of love and goodwill, mercy and self-redemption resonates as keenly as ever.

By O. Henry, Simon & Schuster

One dollar and eight-seven cents is all the money Della has in the world to buy her beloved husband a Christmas present. She has nothing to sell except her only treasure -- her long, beautiful brown hair. Set in New York at the turn of the twentieth century, this classic piece of American literature tells the story of a young couple and the sacrifices each must make to buy the other a gift. Beautiful, delicate watercolors by award-winning illustrator Lisbeth Zwerger add new poignancy and charm to this simple tale about the rewards of unselfish love.

By Jean Shepherd, Broadway Books

The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. It’s affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

By J.R.R. Tolkien, Houghton Mifflin

Don't miss this little gem amidst all the fanfare of Tolkien's novels and Hollywood film. Each year, starting in the early 1920s Tolkien responded to his children's letters to Father Christmas with notes and drawings. He introduces the chores of packing the many packages, the mishaps of weather and the mischief of his faithful helper, North Polar Bear, to his sons and daughter--whose names are added or omitted from the letters as the family grows.

By Tomie dePaola, Putnam

The beloved children's author/illustrator shares Christmas reminiscences, beginning in 1937, when he was three, and continuing through his adult years. Youngsters familiar with dePaola's autobiographical books, such as 26 Fairmount Avenue will recognize some of the family members and settings in the childhood anecdotes. However, the most compelling narratives are the memories of the author's adult years as a monk in a Vermont priory, a Brooklyn art student, a young man in San Francisco, and a visitor in Santa Fe.

By Ann M. Martin, Scholastic

Even though Tess is eight, she still believes in Santa, and she's particularly anxious to see him this year because she has a special request. Her friend Sarah's father is ill with cancer, and Tess thinks Santa will work his magic to save him. Set in 1958, this story harkens back to a simpler time and captures the magic of belief. It is at its best when Tess (who sounds older than eight) describes her small-town life, punctuated by the activity of the holidays.

By Laura Ingalls Wilder, Harper Trophy

Gentle adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's celebrated Little House stories have been gathered together here in two new titles in our Little House Chapter Book series. In Christmas Stories, join Laura and her family for some pioneer Christmas celebrations. Christmas on the frontier means visits from friends, good things to eat, and presents! For Laura, every Christmas in the little house is better than the one before. Laura and her friends share wonderful adventures in Little House Friends. From racing ponies with cousin Lena to bobsled rides with Cap Garland and the gang, Laura loves spending time with her friends. Even mean old Nellie Oleson can't spoil Laura's fun!With simple text, entertaining stories, and Renee Graef's beautiful black-and-white artwork, Little House Chapter Books are the perfect way to introduce beginning chapter-book readers to the world of Little House.

By Isaac Bshevis Singer, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This stirring collection "can enrich readers of all faiths, all ages, with its descriptions of the miraculous power of light over evil. The stories also reveal Singer's genius.

By Eric A. Kimmel, Holiday House

The best retellings of the Fools of Chelm stories, such as Isaac Bashevis Singer's When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw (1968), reveal a wry absurdity in the literal truth. Rooted in daily shtetl life, they cut down our most earnest endeavors and show us as survivors making the best of the worst. Kimmel gets the shtetl setting, the humanity, and the farce; but his collection is uneven. Some tales, such as "Wisdom for Sale," go on much too long, with elaborately contrived fantasy and heavy explanations of the wise-fool paradox. And Kimmel's sources are vague: only two of the stories are traditional Chelm tales; some are adapted from "other traditions," and some are Kimmel's own work. There are, however, some memorable tales. One of the best is "The Magic Spoon," in which the villagers talk themselves into making latkes together.

By Sandy Lanton, Kar-Ben Publishing

Long ago in a faraway village, an old woman invites her friends to a Hanukkah dinner. Each guest plans to bring something to share-sour cream, applesauce, fish, and jelly doughnuts-but a series of mishaps results in each of them contributing latkes instead. The friends have a good time anyway, celebrating the holiday with a dreidel, songs, dancing-and lots of latkes. Cartoon illustrations in soft colors are appropriate for the lighthearted story.