Looking for children's holiday tales to brighten the season? This year there's something for every holiday mood and all books promise to lessen the season's worst mood-stress!
Uncles and Antlers (Atheneum, $15.95, ages 4-7) by Lisa Wheeler
The lucky reindeer heroine has a whole cast of wacky uncles who arrive in this rhyming counting book. Each is defined and appreciated and together they have a purpose - they pull Santa's sleigh!
How Many Miles to Bethlehem? (Scholastic, $16.95, ages 4-8) by Kevin Crossley-Holland
The story's major players (Mary, the innkeeper, the Ox, the Shepherds, Herod, and others) tell their stories. The rich expression of words is matched by the deep illustrative colors of Peter Malone.
An Orange for Frankie (Philomel, $16.99, ages 6 and up) by Patricia Polacco
Frankie is a giving ten-year-old who savors traditions, especially the Christmas orange he receives each year from his father. When his orange is lost, he's devastated, until his eight siblings give him a special orange made up of eight wedges held together with a ribbon like the love that unites his family.
Henry and Mudge and a Very Merry Christmas (Simon and Schuster, $14.95, ages 4-7) by Cynthia Rylant
The famous dog and boy of I-Can-Read fame enjoy every bit of the holiday-baking, family, caroling and of course, each other.
Merry Christmas, Stinky Face (Scholastic, $14.95, ages 3-6) by Lisa McCourt
The questioning child and his patient mom are back for a holiday appearance. The silly imaginings of this worrying boy bring warmth of relationship and holiday reassurance to young children.
Petunia's Christmas (Knopf, $15.95, ages 4-8) by Roger Duvoisin
The plucky goose heroine still enchants children in this re-released classic. Petunia is determined to free Charles, the gander she loves, from the farmers who want to sell him for a Christmas feast. Inventive, loving Petunia works to free him for a very loving end and a merry Christmas marriage.
A Confused Hanukkah (Dutton, $16.99, ages 5-9) by Jon Koons
All stories from Chelm, the village of fools, promise laughter. In this, the rabbi is and no one can remember how to observe the winter holiday. Yossel, sent to seek information, visits a Christian town and before you can say "menorah", he's got the whole town mixing holidays. Luckily the rabbi returns, tells the traditional Hanukkah story and gets Chelm back on track!
How Murray Saved Christmas (Puffin, $5.99, ages 5-9) by Mike Reiss
New in paperback is the story of Edison Elf who knocks Santa out with his "Jack-in-the boxer" invention and the North Pole panics and seeks a substitute. Enter Murray, the deli owner who delivers, with nearly disastrous (and comical) results. Reiss rhyme doesn't fail and illustrations by David Catrow add to the hilarity.
Three Christmas Day: A Celebration at Christmastime (Holiday House, $16.95, ages 5-8) by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
The author adds to her collection of photo-journalistic non-fiction holidays by zooming in on ten-year-old Veronica and her New York Puerto Rican community. Customs, stories, and adaptations made by families in the U.S. are all brilliantly pictured by photographer Lawrence Migdale.
Merry Christmas Let's All Sing (Little Brown, $12.99)
Three board books and a CD help young families sing holiday familiars: "Jingle Bells, "Deck the Halls" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
O Holy Night: Christmas with the Boys Choir of Harlem (HarperCollins, $18.99, all ages) illustrations by Faith Ringgold
Ringgold's remarkable primitives illustrate five carols while a CD offers amazingly diverse versions of the familiar songs.