Featured Article: Christmas Classics

Holidays are traditionally led by, well, tradition, and Christmas is no exception. Whether it is eating the same food, listening to the same Christmas songs, or reading the same Christmas stories, we all have memories of specific rituals our families relied on for Christmas to become Christmas. I remember, as a child, my mother reading us ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas each Christmas Eve. I also remember the same three Christmas albums played repeatedly (Blue Christmas by Elvis, anyone?) and ham for Christmas lunch.

Did you continue your family’s Christmas traditions with your own family, or did you create new ones when you became an adult? Are you still reading Cranberry Christmas, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or The Polar Express with your family each Christmas season? I’m guessing a large number of you are. It’s good to keep some family traditions alive, but I also think it is good to create some new ones. In such a creative world, it is hard not to include some of the latest soon-to-be classics.

The last ten years have brought many unique and fun Christmas-themed books to share at Christmas. There are many talented authors and illustrators not only putting a unique spin on classic Christmas characters but also adding new Christmas characters as well. Thus, we invite you to take a look at this issue’s 12 newer Christmas titles to read this year. And, if you celebrate Hanukkah, we have included our 6 Hanukkah picks from the last ten years. Be sure to check out our Read & Shine website and Facebook page for more reading lists from past Christmases.

We at CLCD wish all of our readers and their family and friends a peaceful yet exciting Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year, filled with surprising new stories to read and memories to cherish.