A Literary Advent Count Down!

Our Advent Calendar is up, and one of the treats each day (in addition to an adventure or other fun activity) is to choose a book from our new Scholastic holiday collection to read (including a few with read-along CDs), or from our family's holiday library.

We have a few favorites, like the beautifully illustrated This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten (illustrated by Delana Bettoli), and The Christmas Song Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire by Mel Torme and Robert Wells (illustrated by Doris Barrette). And my personal favorite; the wonderfully lyrical Runaway Dreidel! by Lesléa Newman. Our list features a stock of Easy Readers this year since Madeline is in Kindergarten and reading on her own! Now that's the best Christmas gift I can think of—I love that she adores reading!

I'll add our reviews as we go...

1. Spin the Dreidel by Alexandra Cooper
2. Tyrannoclaus by Janet Lawler
3. The Year Without a Santa Claus by Phyllis McGinley
4. Runaway Dreidel by Lesléa Newman
5. Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright
6. The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
7. The Littles Have a Merry Christmas (1st Readers) by John Peterson
8. Follow the Star by Rachel W.N. Brown
9. Snow by Cynthia Rylant
10. Snow Day! A Winter Tale (1st Readers) by Joan Holub
11. The Christmas Cub by Justine Korman Fontes
12. The Christmas Penguin (1st Readers) by Mary Packard
13. I Love Christmas! (1st Readers) by Hans Wilhelm
14. Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas by Cynthia Rylant
15. Can You See What I See? Christmas Read-and-Seek by Walter Wick
16. I Spy A Candy Cane by Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick
17. Clifford Helps Santa by Sonia Sander
18. Merry Christmas, Big Hungry Bear! by Don and Audrey Wood
19. Erik and the Christmas Horse by Hans Peterson
20. Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani
21. This Is the Stable by Cynthia Cotten (illustrated by Delana Bettoli)
22. Bear Stays Up For Christmas by Karma Wilson
23. The Christmas Song Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire by Mel Torme and Robert Wells (illustrated by Doris Barrette)
24. The Sweet Smell of Christmas by Patricia Scarry
25. This Is The Star by Joyce Dunbar

Want more great holiday titles? Check out our Book-A-Day for December from 2008.