I Don't Have A Picture Book Problem (Gather the Good)

Last year, or maybe the year before, I was hauling all of my Christmas picture books out of storage, and I thought to myself, "Self, you might have a problem." It's not that the books weighed too much or the box was falling apart; this is more of an addiction type problem. I kinda sorta have a lot of Christmas picture books. So, I combed through them all and found like three I could safely discard without regretting it. I don't even remember them, so clearly, I made okay choices here. And then I decided that I, in fact, do not have problem. A penchant for Christmas picture books is a pretty low-key addiction. And if someone is going to judge me based on how many I have, well, that person should maybe get a life. Or a library card and go check out some Christmas picture books. You literally cannot have a bad time reading a beautifully illustrated book with a wintry or holiday theme.

This year we decided to count them. My

seven year old son laid them all out across the living room floor. We started with the non-religious ones first since we have more of those. I used to feel kinda bad about that. As a Christian, we really do keep Jesus the focus of our Christmas season, even though we still "believe" in Santa and all that sparkly North Pole magic. Again, I pointed out to myself that many of those non-religious books have nothing to do with Santa at all. Trees, snowstorms, mice, bears, chimney sweeps, Frosty, lighthouses, old-fashioned celebrations, and so on and so forth. It's not like a book automatically has Santa in it, just because it doesn't have Jesus. So there. (You can tell that I argue with my subconscious a lot. It can be a real nag sometimes). 

Anyway, the counting. He set them all out and we remarked at how many there are. My husband came home in the middle of this and looked at me like perhaps I have a problem, but he didn't say anything out loud. We decided to keep going and set out all the religious ones too. At this point, I figured I should catalog the collection so I stop buying duplicates (oops). 

Then someone knocked on our front door and the dog lost his mind and skidded through all the books. The musical ones started playing, my son started screeching about how the dog messed them up, and my daughter ran to the window with the dog (tripping over a basket of Legos and adding to the melee). That's really neither here nor there about the collection, but it paints a good picture of daily life in our home. 

So, after we straightened the books a little and the dog regained his senses, I sat down on the floor and started to type. And it turns out we have 101 Christmas picture books.....not including my The Night Before Christmas collection my parents started when I was a baby. I get at least one every year on my birthday and have all my life. It's safe to say there's 50-75 (even though my 35th birthday is just next week!) in that collection. I'll count and catalog when I get them out later. 

As if that's not enough, I just checked out a bunch more from the library! I seem to have an insatiable thirst for these books. I love a good picture book, just in general. From Miss Rumphius to Charlie the Ranch Dog to Corduroy to Finding Winnie, I absolutely adore children's books. Maybe it's the boiled down storytelling that somehow doesn't skimp on illustrative language, or the pictures themselves, or perhaps it's the cozy feeling I get from reading a book that is a friend for children. Truthfully, we own several hundred picture books all told, and I'm not here to apologize for it. Books are truly magical things and I want them at the ready all over our house. 

And Christmas ones seem to contain an extra helping of that magic. There's enchantment in these stories about miracles and magic. There's warmth in stories of friendship, generosity, and love. I think that sometimes, for grown-ups, there's something so slippery and elusive about the Spirit of Christmas. We can hold it in the palm of our hands for a moment, and then, it's gone. Like a firefly or a snowflake. We lose it in that hustle and bustle. We try so hard to manufacture the magic, that sometimes, the spirit of Christmas gets choked out. But books help us hold that more concretely. Book don't ever change on us unexpectedly. They don't demand much of us. They don't get hacked up for commercial breaks. And books that only appear once a year remain particularly special, sweet, and memorable. 

Maybe that's what I love most about books, picture books, and Christmas picture books. There's memories to find in the pages. Sharing them with my children is an obvious memory maker. We snuggle up in Christmas forts (i.e. throwing a Christmas table cloth over some chairs), we huddle around candlelight, we plunk down on the couch, and we read, read, read. If you don't have little ones, read anyway. Read to your big kids. Read to yourself. Notice what memories come back, notice the feeling that you get, notice the wonder that's hidden in the printed pages. It's there, I promise you. Just find the right book! 

Here are some of our favorites from our personal collection. 

Non-Religious

1. Papa's Christmas Gift: Around the World on the Night Before Christmas (Cheryl Harness)
2. The Visit: The Delightful History and Origin of the Night Before Christmas (Mark Kimball Moulton)
3. The Barnyard Night Before Christmas (Beth Terrill)
4. A Book of Christmas (Tasha Tudor)
5. The Christmas We Moved to the Barn (Alexandra Day)
6. Lighthouse Christmas (Toni Buzzeo)
7. Christmas Farm (Mary Lynn Ray)
8. Christmas Magic (Michael Garland)
9. Who Will Guide My Sleight Tonight? (Jerry Pollotta)
10. Ben's Christmas Carol (Toby Forward) 

You'll notice a sort of Night Before Christmas theme in that list, but I'll do a separate post with some of my favorites. They're not all created equal. Some of them are abridged. *Gasp* The horror! 

Okay, back to recommendations. 

Religious

1. Mortimer's Christmas Manger (Karma Wilson)
2. Santa's Favorite Story (Hisako Aoki)
3. The Christmas Fox (Anik McGrory)
4. Room for a Little One (Martin Waddell)
5. As We Saw It (Tessa Colina) *this one was my mother's so check www.bookfinder.com if you want to track down a copy
6. The Nativity: Mary Remembers (Laurie Knowlton)
7. The Legend of the Candy Cane (Lori Walberg)
8. Come and See (Monica Mayper)
9. A Night the Stars Danced for Joy (Bob Hartman)
10. Christmas in the Barn (Margaret Wise Brown)

I'm tempted to give you a third list of books we love from the library (that I really want for my collection), but the kids and I have started a rating system for library books. We each have a total of two stars we can give each book we read for a grand total of six stars. This way, I can look back over our lists and see which books we really loved, which were okay, which to not bother checking out again. So, after we read our library selections and score them, I'll share that list. I'll even include how many stars each book earned! 

Well, okay then. You now either think I'm a Christmas nut who should stay away from library book sales, or you're inspired to go read some picture books yourself. In any case, I'm off to enjoy some delicious vanilla mint green tea and read before bed. Happy reading!!