By Katherine Handcock, A Mighty Girl Research Intern
A Mighty Girl is proud to introduce our collection of books celebrating the winter holidays! We hope you enjoy our selection of high quality stories that emphasize values common to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa such compassion, love, and generosity and, as always, feature a host of Mighty Girls and Women. These lovely books are as likely to become favorites of adults as they are to please the children reading them.
Some of these stories explore holidays traditions recounted in folktales from around the world. Books like Habari Gani? What’s the News and Babushka teach children more about the origins of the holidays they celebrate. The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story and Cobweb Christmas: The Tradition of Tinsel show how varied the origins of common traditions can be, while Latkes, Latkes, Good to Eat and Marta and the Manger Straw show how the values of generosity, kindness, and compassion are universal.
Other books celebrate the closeness of family and friends during the holiday season. Together for Kwanzaa and The Farolitos of Christmas capture the importance of family, while The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes and Christmas Farm extend the outpouring of compassion to one’s neighbors. Sometimes, as in A Christmas Tree for Pyn the preparations for the holidays can renew a relationship, while in other stories, like Apple Tree Christmas, the love of family can save the holiday. And sometimes, the best gift of the holidays is a new family member -- just ask the little girl in A Pinata in a Pine Tree: A Latino Twelve Days of Christmas.
Children will enjoy glimpses into the celebrations of the past in books like Christmas in the Big Woods, A Christmas Like Helen’s, and Christmas in the Country. But they’ll be equally fascinated to learn how people today celebrate their holidays in books like Hanukkah Moon, A Kwanzaa Celebration Pop-Up Book, or Light the Lights! A Story about Celebrating Hanukkah and Christmas.
Parents often teach their children the importance of caring for and helping those less fortunate during the holidays. Stories like Nancy and Plum and The Christmas Coat: Memories of my Sioux Childhood can be used to illustrate how fortunate we all are, while Great Joy and The Trees of the Dancing Goats can show children that even the very young can help.
And finally, some holiday books are just plain fun! Whether you’re wondering about Auntie Claus, doing The Hanukkah Hop!, celebrating My First Kwanzaa, or even following a dancer while she is Becoming a Ballerina: A Nutcracker Story, you’re sure to have a great time.
We’re sure that we’re only starting to scratch the surface of the great girl-empowering holiday books out there, so as always, if you think of any suggestions, please use the link at the right to send them to us.
And, if you are specifically looking for Christmas books, please note that we have two distinct collections. The one entitled Christmas within our Holidays/Celebrations section includes all of our Christmas books -- ones that are more secular and religious alike; while the Christian Holidays collection within our Religious Holidays section includes only those Christmas books which approach the holiday from a religious perspective.
To explore the whole collection with books celebrating all three major winter holidays, visit our special feature on Top Mighty Girl Winter Holiday Stories. And, we hope that you have a wonderful holiday season!
