At our house… there are certain things that mark Christmas… especially in the reading department…..
‘The Snowman’ by Raymond Briggs (we have the dvd too – it’s not Christmas without it).
‘Olive the Other Reindeer’ by J. Otto Seibold (i just got the 10th anniversary SCRATCH and SNIFF edition of this yesterday. Thanks to Emma! Ari went off to school with it tucked firmly under his arm.) We also have the animated DVD for early evening Christmas excitement.
‘Merry Christmas, Ernest and Celestine’ by Gabrielle Vincent. It’s a gorgeous story about a Bear and a Mouse who are very dear friends – and Gabrielle’s illustrations are gorgeous – This book is part of a series, and definately worth hunting down!
Let me know your Christmas reading traditions!
xx mikes
i love ‘the snowman’! do you ever read/watch ‘father christmas’ as well? (also raymond briggs) magic!!
i love david bowie at the start of the snowman movie. is that the version you watch? apparently, there is a version where some other dude (possibly raymond briggs!) introduces the film.
oh, david bowie… one of those little kid crushes!
we read a child’s christmas in wales (and watch the movie) on christmas eve. i always cry at the end, then go to bed!
I love the snowman colouring piece! Wow. Reminds me of my art classes when I was a kid 🙂
i bought my little cousins the Olive the Other Reindeer on year – and it took me about 6 viewing to get the “all of”/”olive” thing!!!! argh!
Every christmas eve I call up my Grandma and she reads me The Night Before Christmas… I’m 18 and the tradition’s still going strong 🙂
I like the Night before Christmas too, and the Rankin Bass Christmas specials (which I just managed to find on DVD in Sydney!!) are a big favourite of mine!!
I have just dug out our Christmas reading specials, funnily enough. We also have The Snowman, plus Mog’s Christmas, Happy Christmas Maisy, Paddington’s Chritsmas, The Littlest Christmas Tree, and finally Poppy Cat’s Christmas. This one is our family favourite because when you turn the last page a huge Christmas tree pops up with real twinkly lights and it plays ‘Silent Night’. Cheesy, I know, but we all fight over who gets to turn the last page!
The movies we MUST watch at Christmas include the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Snowman and Charlie Brown’s Christmas!
Oooh, I love a christmas story. We also read the Aussie Night before Christmas. Especially cool as one of the boomers is called Kirsty.
We read the Aussie Night Before Christmas on, you guessed it, Christmas Eve. We also watch all the old Christmas shows (Frosty the Snowman, Little Drummer Boy etc), they don’t make them like that anymore