Magical Holiday Books

Greetings everyone!

I hope that you are all doing well and enveloped in the magic of the season.  We continue to work on our handmade holiday gifts for family while attempting to squeeze in some personal time for watching our favorite films and, of course, planning out all the yummy treats that need to be made!

I promised to return with a fun post filled with some of my favorite magical books of the season.  Being the book lover that I am, I've had to condense this list just a bit!  First, of course, are my collection of books centered around my favorite film - The Nightmare Before Christmas.  I absolutely treasure the "making of" book, which contains all the song lyrics and SO many fun facts about the creation of the film.  I even have a little young readers storybook which is a first print!

There is also a picture book of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which - of memory serves - was the inspiration for the film.  Here's Zero - I just ADORE him.  While many of the characters in the book will be familiar to the film's fans - Sally and Oogie Boogie are nowhere to be found.

I just adore The Nutcracker.  For many years, it was our little family tradition to go and see it live each year.  I'm also a big fan of DK books in general, which are always so lavishly illustrated.  This fun book contains the entire classic story of The Nutcracker, along with fun facts about the author, the ballet and toys of the time.

Back in the 80s, although I only recently discovered the series about five years ago, Time-Life Books released an entire series of books dubbed "The Enchanted World" dealing with faeries, ghosts, and other magical delights.  They are no longer in print, but I was fortunate to scoop up a bunch of these books from used bookstores and ebay.

The artwork in the book is just so enchanting!  And there are songs and facts and traditions surrounding Christmas Eve, St. Lucia's Day, Brigit's Day, the Solstice, Twelfth Night and much more!

Of course, no Christmas book collection would be complete without one or two Tasha Tudor titles.  I am so smitten with my Tasha-illustrated edition of The Night Before Christmas.  There is also the heartwarming story about The Christmas Cat, written by Tasha's daughter, Efner, and so gorgeously illustrated by Tasha.  After much searching, I purchased a used 1966 edition of Take Joy - the Tasha Tudor Christmas book.  It's filled with Tasha's charming art, holiday thoughts, Christmas stories and poems, and carols.

Another favorite is Forever Christmas - a book about Tasha's personal holiday traditions, recipes and crafts.  As with all books about Tasha's life, it's beautifully photographed and definitely makes you yearn for simpler times.  

How about some Christmas tree gingerbread?  It's obviously furry baby-approved!

When I was a little girl, I fell in love with all the animated holiday specials that appeared on television - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Year without a Santa Claus - the list goes on.  A few years ago I received this really cool book about the creators of these magical treasures - Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass.  The two produced 35 animated holiday specials, 16 animated TV series, and 6 animated feature films.  Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is the longest-running special in the history of television.  How awesome is that?

Please excuse the orange-hue of this lovely Christmas with Victoria book - which I received from my dear friend Clarice in a giveaway that I won a few years ago.  Talk about inspiration!

This beautiful book, from the creators of Victoria Magazine, is filled with wonderful decorating and craft ideas.  It's also filled with recipes and instructions on simple yet elegant handmade gifts to create.

Faerie tales and fables are always enchanting - especially those with a winter theme to them.  This picture book was illustrated by the delightful Mary Engelbreit!   The Snow Queen is one of Engelbreit's favorites - and her artwork really enchants and draws you into the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale.

Alright, you all know what Tolkien is most famous for.   But did you also know that he conjured up magical tales in the form of whimsically illustrated holiday letters for his children each year?  Every December, letters for Tolkien's children would arrive bearing a stamp from the North Pole from Father Christmas himself!   This book is a compilation of all these adorable letters and drawings.  It is quite an intimate peek into Tolkien's mind - and each envelope, illustration, and letter is such an amazing gift.  

Our Christmas room has little mini holiday books strewn about - here are two of my favorites.  One is A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas and the other is the total opposite - The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike and illustrated by Edward Gorey.  I love mixing the unconventional and the traditional!

Hope you've enjoyed this exploration of some of my favorite holiday books.  Please feel free to share some of your favorites.

Til next time,

Theresa