December Beautiful Books

Children’s Books

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?

Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen

Walker Books

How does Santa go down the chimney? A question we have all pondered, this wonderfully humorous book explores possibilities. Does he change his shape? Can he see in the dark? Why doesn’t he get covered in soot? And the question that concerns all children with chimneyless homes, what if you don’t have a chimney?

Although we don’t get to know any of his trade secrets, we do get to see some ingeniously hilarious scenarios of how this might be possible. There are some touchingly funny scenes, such as the reindeer giving him a prod when he is stuck in a chimney and some very endearing pages with Santa meeting cats and dogs, and him giving them fuss and treats. Jon Klassen’s illustrations are a perfect match for Mac Barnett’s story, his humour shines through and makes this a delightful and magical Christmas read!

Little Tomte’s Christmas Wish

Inkeri Karvonen and Hannu Taina

Floris Books

Little Tomte lives all by himself in his cosy house. When winter arrives he begins to feel lonely, he realises that Christmas will soon be coming. When he finds that he does he not have the right ingredients for baking his favourite Christmas treats, or the right cooking equipment, he feels sad, even singing a carol doesn’t make him feel better. Little Tomte has an idea, he decides to make candles. Working away, through the night, he fills a big basket with home made candles. When he is finished, his woodland friends arrive and they have an outdoor celebration with candles and food. They sing carols and eat gingerbread until it is time for them to go home. Lighted by Little Tomte’s candles, the forest friends go back to their homes.

This Finnish story has beautiful watercolour illustrations, depicting cosy scenes of Christmas preparations, cooking, crafts and wintery woodland scenes. The story is heartwarming and has the message of sharing, enjoying each others company, the joy of giving and the importance of being together with loved ones at special times.

Yours, Befana; A letter from the Winter Witch

Barbara Cuoghi, Elenia Beretta

Greystone Kids

Befana is a winter witch, she flies on Twelfth Night, visiting homes unseen. She brings small gifts for stockings, sometimes sweets and nuts, sometimes a piece of coal. Her most important gift is the weather for next years harvest, the rebirth of spring and the promise of new life.

Yours, Befana, is told by the witch herself, her story is engaging and her voice authentic. This atmospheric story is one that will appeal equally to adults as it will to children, a timeless tale, just like Befana herself. The story weaves in folklore and customs, and the beautiful illustrations give us a birds eye view of the journey. Painted in gouache earth tones with a flash of bright orange here and there, the illustrations are luminous and convey the mystical and magical feel of the story.

The end pages have fascinating folklore facts about this remarkable Italian character and some traditional and cultural celebrations of flying women! A Christmas story that will leave you spellbound!

Fiery Fox and the muddy gift of kindness

By Teresa Davis, Illustrated by Eli Rees-King

Bear Books

In Fiery Fox’s third adventure, we see him pack his backpack and set off with his friends for a day exploring the forest. They are all having fun until Field Mouse slips on a mound and finds herself falling. She is saved by Badger coming out of her set, who doesn’t look very pleased to have an unexpected visitor. When Fiery Fox and Squirrel also slide down the mound they travel further and land in some mud. Seeing the friends sprawling in the mud makes Badger laugh, once they are helped out, they scrape off the mud and use it to play with.

Reading the story with a little one gives the opportunity to ask questions, such as why do you think Badger didn’t want to see anyone? Did she feel better after playing outdoors with some friends? This element of the story tackles the idea of feeling down and lonely in a very gentle way, allowing us to understand that we all need to reach out sometimes, get outdoors, see our friends and play!

As with all the Fiery Fox series, the rhyming text makes the story a joy to read and the beautiful illustrations brings the forest to life. The details in the pictures are enchanting; the open doors of the animal's homes allows you to peek into to their little rooms, with roaring fires, steaming kettles and a kitchen range.

The back pages have some things to find in the story and provide some good starting points for discussion. Eli Rees-King’s magical illustrations compliment Teresa Davis’ kind and gentle story beautifully.

Fiery Fox Books can be found at www.bear-books.net or Etsy bearbooksltd

Shackleton’s Journey

William Grill

Flying Eye Books

The incredible journey of Ernest Shackleton, his crew and his dogs, has been skillfully retold by William Grill. This big book immerses you in the journey, and the artwork transports you back in time to when this group of young men set off in search of adventure.

Grill’s sensitive pencil drawings are wonderful, they show each one of the crew members, a double page spread of each of the 69 dogs, and a detailed drawing of the Endurance, with cross section. The equipment and supplies are drawn too, there’s so much interesting detail to pore over. Each part of the journey has accompanying drawings and maps, a double page spread shows the ocean turned to pack ice, stretched out to the horizon, in the bottom corner you see a tiny ship, these illustrations bring home the vastness of their environment and the extreme difficulty of their task.

The back pages are full of examples of Grill’s artwork, spectacular glaciers, pages of character sketches, trials of colour palettes, annotated with how this artist sets about starting a new book.

This is one of those rare books that is equally as appealing to the adult reader as to the child. The story is one of great hope, courage, and unflagging positivity in the face of what seems like the most impossible mission imaginable.

2025 Children’s Almanac: A Month By Month Guide

Collins

Get ready for 2025 with this wonderful month-by-month guide to world celebrations, international days and festivals! Each month has a calendar of events, a page with some interesting information about the event, and lovely ideas for crafts, activities, recipes and ideas of how to celebrate. The crafts are easy to follow and ideal for a child who wants to try some on their own. The pages are nicely presented, with colourful illustrations, interesting photos and fascinating facts!

There are a variety of days to learn about, Chinese New Year, World Bee Day, Vesak, World Chocolate Day, Winter Solstice, International Joke Day, to name but a few. There are also ideas for seasonal activities such as foraging or growing your own vegetables.

Celebrating world days and festivals is a fun way to learn more about other countries and cultures, this is an ideal book for children who love learning and want some fun ideas for seasonal activities!

The Tomtes’ Christmas Porridge

Sven Nordqvist

Floris Books

In Scandinavian Folklore, a Tomte is a small gnome-like creature who helps and protects a family, secretly repairing broken items and caring for animals. It is traditional for a family to leave a bowl of Christmas porridge out for the Tomtes on Christmas eve, to thank them for their help. Unfortunately, the family has forgotten to leave a bowl out this year. Busy in their celebrations, they forget the waiting family of Tomtes, who look forward to their Christmas treat, not only because they like it, but they want their hard work to be acknowledged with the traditional gift. Mama Tomte is a peacekeeper, and doesn’t want to see Papa Tomte angry, so she makes a plan and sets about getting some Christmas porridge herself!

The illustrations are packed full of detail, the scenes of the Tomtes living quarters are wonderfully inventive, there is so much to see, mice playing with a toy cart, traditional Scandinavian Christmas decorations, small Tomte sized objects alongside some ‘borrowed’ items from the human world. The scenes of celebration in the human world are equally as interesting, with lots of details of a Swedish Christmas to enjoy. The illustrations also show how the Tomte world is joined to that of the farmhouse, with secret stairs and passages, that allows them to move around the farmhouse unseen.

Mama Tomte saves the day, the conclusion is lovely, the Tomtes get their porridge and all is peaceful on the farm. Thanks to an observant little girl, the family is reminded to make sure they leave out their gift of Christmas porridge in the future. A humorous and heart-warming tale, with a message that whilst enjoying Christmas yourself, it is good to remember those who have helped you and perhaps don’t have as much.

Cat Family Christmas

Lucy Brownridge, Eunyoung Seo

Frances Lincoln

This large, lift-the-flap advent book is a delightful countdown to Christmas. The story follows the cat family over their preparations in the 12 days leading up to the big day. Making cakes and mince pies, visiting Grandparents, wrapping presents and decorating the tree, each double page spread covers one of the 12 days, with so much detail in the pictures! The flaps are part of the picture, so you can open cupboard doors, look behind cushions and peek inside parcels. The pictures behind the flaps are fun and interesting, you either get to see what’s inside or you get a scene that shows the mice that also live in this house, busily preparing for their Christmas!

This book would make a lovely tradition to use in the run up to Christmas, reading a page and opening the flaps each day. The pages are thick and the doors are durable, so you can use this one again and again. A delightful tale of feline festivities!